Dear Baseball Fan,

If you're reading this page, then I want you immediately to know that Nostalgia Baseball reflects my passion for the grand game of baseball and its magnificent history. I consider it a gift to others who love the game as much as me. I've spent thousands of hours imagining, designing, and programming so that others may learn from and share together baseball's nostalgic past.

My labors have always been "play" as much as "work." I am grateful to my wife Sandra, who through protests-a-plenty has supported my fascination. She reminds me that, in Psychology, this is known as a "catharsis." I am also grateful to God for a strong imagination and the ability to concentrate on tedious tasks for long periods of time. As a Christian, I have hoped through the years that Nostalgia Baseball would become a basis for community in our culture of rampant individualism, not simply a game. I have also hoped that, despite the self-preoccupation that defines many avocations, God may use it for purposes beyond that which I can presently imagine.

In the early days of the game, it was all about community. On Friday afternoons, a dozen professors or so would gather at my office at Simpson University to watch the games in real time! Gradually, we inducted administrators and students into the Friday ritual and the Nostalgia community became a reality. Over time, owners moved on to other jobs or graduated. But they kept playing! Season after season! Nostalgia Baseball seemed to attract serious baseball people for the long term.

Since I am a busy professor of theology, it has never been my intention to make a living at PC gaming. In one sense, this is a disadvantage. There are no programming teams to implement state of the art graphics. In the Nostalgia Baseball world things tend to happen slowly, like the game of baseball itself. Yet the fact that I do not aspire to "make a living" at this game brings certain advantages, too. I have never worried about following the crowd or competing with other baseball products. My main concern has been to charge enough money to keep the servers running and maintain the many software packages that support the finished product. Moreover, the small size of our endeavor has meant that I can provide personal support to each owner. I truly consider them partners in the evolution of our game.

My interests range beyond baseball! In 2004, I published Bonhoeffer as Martyr: Social Responsibility and Modern Christian Commitment (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press), a book which, gratefully, has been received enthusiastically among Bonhoeffer scholars. Currently I serve on the board of directors for the International Bonhoeffer Society and make frequent trips abroad in that capacity. I am also working on another book manuscript, Playing in the Shadows that takes up the problem of teaching theology in the postmodern university context. My wife and I have two children, Micaela and Marcus, who enrich our lives on a daily basis and keep us grounded in the important things.