Brief Psychological Analysis of the East Hampton Artists & Writers Charity Softball Game

In recognition of Dan’s presenting sponsorship of the 2025 East Hampton artists and writers charity softball game on Saturday, August 16, we are giving participating artists and writers free reign to write whatever they want in this space each month. Here, Dr. Paul Winum discusses the psychology of the game.

Exhibitionist: A person who behaves so as to attract attention to oneself.

Voyeur: An observer who is usually seeking the sordid or the scandalous.

Yes, every August now for 77 years, a group of aging (for the most part) men and women have gathered on a grassy field in East Hampton for an exhibition titled The Artists & Writers Charity Softball Game. Dating back to 1948, when Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Joan Mitchell, and art critic Harold Rosenberg began this tradition, the growing spectacle was later joined by a who’s who of politicians, actors, musicians and publishers including Dick Cavett, Alan Alda, Betty Friedan, Gene McCarthy, Ben Bradlee, Kurt Vonnegut, Charles Rangle and, more recently, Alec Baldwin, Christie Brinkley, Chevy Chase and Katie Couric, among many others. What do all these esteemed ladies and gentlemen have in common, you may ask? Answer: an irrepressible impulse to display indecent levels of athletic capability in front of a cast of onlookers who come to this game in the hopes of sharing a celebrity moment or a moment of celebrity. They also all have pretty large hearts. For, in addition to the gratification they may get from showing off uncanny eye-hand coordination and blazing speed on the basepaths, this diverse cast of characters knows that the money their on-field shenanigans help raise goes to four very worthwhile charities on the East End of Long Island: East End Hospice, the Eleanor Whitmore Childhood Learning Center, the Phoenix House Adolescent Center, and the Retreat.

How else to explain why the prolific graphic artist and octogenarian Walter Bernard would risk life and limb to take the mound against the ferocious line-drive hitting actor Josh “Dead Poets Society” Charles (the 2010 MVP)? Or why the exceptionally talented artist Domingo Zapata would stray from his comfortable canvas confines onto the dusty diamond to strike out on three pitches (in the 2014 game). Mike Lupica? Carl Bernstein? Walter Isaacson?  Bill Quigley? These are hams and accomplished professionals of the first order — and we love them for it and for their contributions to the game.

And the we? We are the great, slightly washed masses who worship at the altar of celebrity! As does Peter Sellers in Being There, we like to watch. “Isn’t that Lori Singer from Footloose?” “Did you see Dan Rattiner and police commissioner Ray Kelly are umpires this year?” “That Jim Leyritz looks as big as he was with the Yankees — maybe bigger!” “Isn’t that John Franco of the Mets on the mound?” “Look, it’s Juliet Papa from 1010 Wins radio at the announcer’s table!” The bigger the celebrity, the greater the voyeur’s pleasure. Heck, when Bill Clinton shows up, as he has for most of the games dating back to the 1980s, he stops the game for 20 minutes. Even the celebrities are starstruck by Clinton, many leaving their positions on the field to catch an up-close and personal glimpse of one of the top dogs in attracting attention to himself. And we love Bill for supporting our game and the charities it benefits.

It’s all quite good fun, and thanks to the organizers, a strong vein of class, decorum and tradition are maintained. This latter group includes Leif Hope, the godfather of the game for many decades; Deb McEneany, who worked tirelessly for years, as well as recent board presidents Ronnette Riley and David Brandman. Thanks to their efforts, along with Writers team captain Ken Auletta and the many local businesses and individuals who donate money and services, tens of thousands of dollars are raised each year. I can tell you that the men, women, and children who are the clients of the four charities that benefit from the game appreciate all the exhibitionists and voyeurs who make their lives a little better. So may the exhibitionism and voyeurism continue for many years to come!