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danchibnall's review against another edition
1.0
This was not a good book. The characters had no substance and it seemed as if everyone was a good guy throughout. It seemed like Deford was afraid to have any character be evil in any way. Even after the main character was accused of rape, all we hear about him is how great a guy he is. Even their names were strange, which is a odd thing to pick on, but the names just seemed so ridiculously made-up.
The book was not really about baseball, either. Deford couldn't make up his mind about what the book was about. Is it about contemporary baseball? Or is it about this weird rape case thing with baseball in the background? It seemed more like a celebration of the phrase "boys will be boys." The dust jacket claimed it was better than "The Natural", "Field of Dreams", and other great baseball books. This book was not even close. The language was pretty bad too, with the word c*** being used to describe a woman.
Deford is great on NPR and his work with Sports Illustrated is also of a high-caliber, but this was just a bad book.
The book was not really about baseball, either. Deford couldn't make up his mind about what the book was about. Is it about contemporary baseball? Or is it about this weird rape case thing with baseball in the background? It seemed more like a celebration of the phrase "boys will be boys." The dust jacket claimed it was better than "The Natural", "Field of Dreams", and other great baseball books. This book was not even close. The language was pretty bad too, with the word c*** being used to describe a woman.
Deford is great on NPR and his work with Sports Illustrated is also of a high-caliber, but this was just a bad book.
commabookshop's review against another edition
2.0
I wish Frank Deford hadn't written this book.
I love baseball and I love baseball novels. I loved the baseball parts of this novel.
But what the hell was he thinking? Let me summarize the plot for you: A hot young star ("the next Babe Ruth") is accused of rape. His manager witnesses part of the (alleged) assault. The manager initially covers for him, then has a crisis of conscience and decides to go to the police with what he knows. The manager's daughter, who is herself a survivor of rape, offers the superstar/accused rapist a quid pro quo: if he'll make sure that her father will keep his job, she will convince him not to go the police.
What. The. Eff.
I love baseball and I love baseball novels. I loved the baseball parts of this novel.
But what the hell was he thinking? Let me summarize the plot for you: A hot young star ("the next Babe Ruth") is accused of rape. His manager witnesses part of the (alleged) assault. The manager initially covers for him, then has a crisis of conscience and decides to go to the police with what he knows. The manager's daughter, who is herself a survivor of rape, offers the superstar/accused rapist a quid pro quo: if he'll make sure that her father will keep his job, she will convince him not to go the police.
What. The. Eff.
blevins's review against another edition
4.0
Wavered between 3/4 stars...went with 4 since it is one of the better baseball novels I've read in awhile. Deford has written a lean, multifaceted little story about the modern game of baseball and some of the trappings and attitudes. I was surprised I liked this a lot but I guess I shouldn't as I've always been a fan of Deford's TV/journalism but hadn't read any novels by him.
imabrunette23's review against another edition
3.0
I actually really liked this book. The action felt like it hinged on one event, way at the beginning, then the reader is led to how we got there through flashbacks. It's a format I usually really like, and this was no exception. Plus, baseball is the one sport that makes sense to me so the sports stuff wasn't bad at all
philippelazaro's review against another edition
3.0
"Just do your job. Show up ready to play. It's always the fringe players, the guys who make all the noise with their mouths instead of their bats, who play up the family crap. And those are the guys who end up managing. They get the last word. They get to push the buttons of the next generation of the guys who can do things they never could themselves."
–Frank Deford
The baseball fan in me was intrigued by the setting, and that's about all I had to go on before diving into this book, which had been sitting on my shelf for some time by the time I got to reading it.
I enjoyed the story. It wasn't anything life changing or entirely memorable, but enough to keep me entertained enough for a week.
–Frank Deford
The baseball fan in me was intrigued by the setting, and that's about all I had to go on before diving into this book, which had been sitting on my shelf for some time by the time I got to reading it.
I enjoyed the story. It wasn't anything life changing or entirely memorable, but enough to keep me entertained enough for a week.
jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. What I really can't stand in modern day sports journalism is how everyone who played/coached before the 1990s is just such a great guy because he played before the era of free agency and ridiculous salaries. This makes him a better person because he does not have the sense of "entitlement" that the modern day athlete apparently just stumbled upon overnight.
Take the case of Howie Travler. The guy was a lousy husband and father, and yet because he toiled in the minors for years and paid his dues as a coach before becoming a manager, the author chooses to portray him more sympathetically. Yeah sure he's a louse in other aspects, but he's a "true baseball man."
Meanwhile Jay Alcazar, the spoiled brat athlete, is portrayed negatively even though he comes off as more confused and troubled by his past than anything else. He works hard to become the best player in the game, but its not good enough for Travler or anyone else. He is too spoiled, thus he is a bad person because he doesn't respect the game.
Hypocrisy. Otherwise, its a decent read I guess. Predictable.
Take the case of Howie Travler. The guy was a lousy husband and father, and yet because he toiled in the minors for years and paid his dues as a coach before becoming a manager, the author chooses to portray him more sympathetically. Yeah sure he's a louse in other aspects, but he's a "true baseball man."
Meanwhile Jay Alcazar, the spoiled brat athlete, is portrayed negatively even though he comes off as more confused and troubled by his past than anything else. He works hard to become the best player in the game, but its not good enough for Travler or anyone else. He is too spoiled, thus he is a bad person because he doesn't respect the game.
Hypocrisy. Otherwise, its a decent read I guess. Predictable.
turophile's review against another edition
3.0
What is about baseball fiction that is so appealing? Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, this book, others - all favorites of mine even though I’m somewhat indifferent to the game itself. (I can quote Bull Durham backward and forwards). Does baseball really parallel life that well, as the author of this book, Frank DeFord, suggests?
It was not hard for me to like this book. I’m a huge fan of Frank DeFord, a sportswriter who appears weekly on public radio. As I read the book to myself it was almost as if I could here his voice reading the words out loud. If you’re a fan of his, you may find this book close in style to his essays, even though it’s fiction.
It was not hard for me to like this book. I’m a huge fan of Frank DeFord, a sportswriter who appears weekly on public radio. As I read the book to myself it was almost as if I could here his voice reading the words out loud. If you’re a fan of his, you may find this book close in style to his essays, even though it’s fiction.