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One Shot at Forever: A Small Town, an Unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season by Chris Ballard
resslesa's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing! Mt. Auvdel coaches baseball in the 1970's -a great true story-everyone should read it!
jonesannleslie's review
4.0
Lynn Sweet is the coach I wish I could be. Not so much because his team won, but rather because he had such an amazing impact on the students he coached and taught.
upstatelibrarygal's review against another edition
5.0
Think "Hoosiers" but with baseball. The cover picture pretty much sums up the whole team and that season in 1971 - a bunch of relatively small, farmboys with no baseball budget (the uniforms don't even match) from a high school of about 250 kids, managed to start beating teams from Chicago with far greater resources. Also fascinating commentary on the times; these kids and their coach were not playing ball the way all the other teams were (they warmed up to "Jesus Christ Superstar"!), and the coach was a mystery to most parents and adults (he had long hair!). It's an amazing story about the coach, players, small town life and even what happens after all is said and done. Highly recommended for anyone who likes sports. Also, a great candidate for the Alex Award- good teen appeal for an adult book.
thomcat's review against another edition
5.0
Great book - how has it not been made into a movie yet? High school baseball and hijinks and hippies and heartaches pepper this story about a coach and a team and their unlikely playoff run. Excellent sports writing and research, the people of Macon come alive. Highly recommended!
walruz's review against another edition
5.0
A delightful story. If you enjoyed books like Seabiscuit and Boys in the Boat, this book is right up your alley -- a compelling narrative about the triumphs of the underdog in high school sports.
The best aspect is Ballard's memoir is his ability to humanize the characters who played a significant role in their journey to play the game of amateur baseball as it should be played, for fun and for the development of individuals where they are in their lives as teenagers from a remote farming town (of 1200 population) as they bonded together as a team in pursuit of the pinnacle of the Illinois state championship in 1971.
The best aspect is Ballard's memoir is his ability to humanize the characters who played a significant role in their journey to play the game of amateur baseball as it should be played, for fun and for the development of individuals where they are in their lives as teenagers from a remote farming town (of 1200 population) as they bonded together as a team in pursuit of the pinnacle of the Illinois state championship in 1971.
bobbo49's review against another edition
4.0
While it is a little more microscopically detailed and therefore longer than it needed to be, this is a wonderful true story about an inspirational, if unconventional teacher/coach and his little rural Illinois baseball team. Set in the early 1970s, it was easy for me to relate to the passage from 50s to 60s to 70s small town America. Not scintillating writing, but the story holds its own.
scamp1234's review against another edition
5.0
Small town, high school baseball, and the state championship run. This had to be one of my favorite baseball books now!
justread's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book because my husband enjoyed it so much. We took two back-to-back road trips and, while he'd reluctantly take his driving shift, he much preferred to read. So I drove, and he laughed and groaned his way through this story of a 1970-71 high school baseball team. I don't even like baseball, but I LOVED this book. Chris Ballard is a Sports Illustrated writer and he has a wonderful way of telling the story of a small-town bunch of boys and their unconventional coach, weaving in backstory while building tension as the team advances to the state championship. In this era, there was no such thing as divisions or classes in sports based on the size of the school, so the team, coming from a school of less than 200 students, goes up against a team from a school of 5,200. But much more than the David vs. Goliath sports story, the author tells the story of the players, the coaches, and the community members in a compelling way that really makes the reader care about the individuals. Both my husband and I started our teaching careers in small towns where we coached volleyball, learning to navigate the complex politics of high school sports. This brought back memories for both of us. This story would make a fabulous movie!
debrichmond's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing book!!! I love it. One that you immediately want everyone else to read!