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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
Good insight into the life of a minor league baseball player. Mostly short stories of antics you would expect from 20-something males on long road trips together. Not really much about the actual game here. Fairly crass at times... in case you're thinking of letting your children read this one.
Was a bit miffed to learn that these aren't necessarily all Dirk's stories that he's telling. I hear he's working on another book as well.
Was a bit miffed to learn that these aren't necessarily all Dirk's stories that he's telling. I hear he's working on another book as well.
Very disappointing. I was looking forward to reading this book, as it received heavy praise from respected sports writers. Clearly, though, my expectations were way off.
This book really isn't about baseball at all. Hayhurst spends very little time talking about what it's like to be a minor league *player*. Instead, he focuses on what he and his teammates do and talk about when they're in the clubhouse/on the bus. Almost everyone is referred to by nicknames, so you have no idea who anyone really is, and the concrete baseball things -- game details, differences in playing in high-A and AA, Hayhurst's own evolution as a pitcher -- are glossed over. And since Hayhurst reveals what I try to ignore about my favorite baseball players -- namely, that most of them are intellectually incurious and unapologetically misogynistic -- I found most of the book neither engaging nor humorous. (It also didn't help that his editor apparently refused to rein in his metaphor use.)
When Hayhurst actually focuses on baseball stuff, like his descriptions of spring training, minor league ballparks, etc., the book zipped along. Sadly, those sections were rare.
This book really isn't about baseball at all. Hayhurst spends very little time talking about what it's like to be a minor league *player*. Instead, he focuses on what he and his teammates do and talk about when they're in the clubhouse/on the bus. Almost everyone is referred to by nicknames, so you have no idea who anyone really is, and the concrete baseball things -- game details, differences in playing in high-A and AA, Hayhurst's own evolution as a pitcher -- are glossed over. And since Hayhurst reveals what I try to ignore about my favorite baseball players -- namely, that most of them are intellectually incurious and unapologetically misogynistic -- I found most of the book neither engaging nor humorous. (It also didn't help that his editor apparently refused to rein in his metaphor use.)
When Hayhurst actually focuses on baseball stuff, like his descriptions of spring training, minor league ballparks, etc., the book zipped along. Sadly, those sections were rare.
I've read better baseball books (try Moneyball, Ball Four, all the books by Ron Luciano, and so on), but this is an enjoyable read from a guy who seems like a genuinely nice person.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I'm not usually much one for non-fiction but I found Hayhurst's account of life in the minor leagues to be entertaining and revealing. The big theme of the book, about players being, at their core, just human beings, really shone through the stories, at times hilarious and at others touching. I laughed out loud at several points, and I kept going back to reread my favourite passages, like this one:
Describing his host family: "They had a pool, a spare room, and all-you-can-eat groceries. To balance things out, they also had a dog who hated me. A little Jack Russell terrier who thought I was pure evil. It would growl at me whenever it saw me, lurk around corners giving me the stink eye, and crap in my shoes. I got even with it by waiting for it to fall asleep on the family's plus-size beanbag, at which time I would leap on the bag launching the dog like a mortar shell across the living room and into the wall. Jack Russells are surprisingly aerodynamic." (p. 133-134) Passages like these, and others about the team's antics, were balanced with more serious topics, like Hayhurst's father's injury and subsequent decline, his brother's alcoholism, and his own personal demons (in the form of the Baseball Reaper).
I loved how the narrative about Trevor Hoffman comes full circle at the end, as well.
Hayhurst tells a great story, and does so with both humour and heart. Really enjoyed this.
Describing his host family: "They had a pool, a spare room, and all-you-can-eat groceries. To balance things out, they also had a dog who hated me. A little Jack Russell terrier who thought I was pure evil. It would growl at me whenever it saw me, lurk around corners giving me the stink eye, and crap in my shoes. I got even with it by waiting for it to fall asleep on the family's plus-size beanbag, at which time I would leap on the bag launching the dog like a mortar shell across the living room and into the wall. Jack Russells are surprisingly aerodynamic." (p. 133-134) Passages like these, and others about the team's antics, were balanced with more serious topics, like Hayhurst's father's injury and subsequent decline, his brother's alcoholism, and his own personal demons (in the form of the Baseball Reaper).
I loved how the narrative about Trevor Hoffman comes full circle at the end, as well.
Hayhurst tells a great story, and does so with both humour and heart. Really enjoyed this.
Very well written look inside the mind and heart of a player struggling to make the major leagues. It has some Ball Four-ish behavior in it-(then again, every baseball memoir gets compared to Ball Four at some point)-but the story is unique, crackles with life, and is well worth your time. Some episodes contain very crude humor and very adult behavior.
Funny, raunchy, and genuinely moving. Hayhurst recounts the grueling life of minor leaguers who endure brutal travel, poverty wages, and cramped quarters for the chance to wear the jersey another day and the hope of being called up.
As the book begins, Hayhurst is thinking about quitting baseball altogether. The 2007 season starts with bitter disappointment, but he has little to go home to (during the off-season he chooses to sleep on an air mattress in his hilariously mean grandmother's sewing room because it's better than living at home). So, he decides to stick it out through Kangaroo Courts, food poisoning, and epic humiliation in front of his pitching hero.
A little cheesy at the end, as Hayhurst's conversations seem to lose their realism and move into afterschool special territory, but I don't hold it against him. He earned himself a little soap-boxing.
As the book begins, Hayhurst is thinking about quitting baseball altogether. The 2007 season starts with bitter disappointment, but he has little to go home to (during the off-season he chooses to sleep on an air mattress in his hilariously mean grandmother's sewing room because it's better than living at home). So, he decides to stick it out through Kangaroo Courts, food poisoning, and epic humiliation in front of his pitching hero.
A little cheesy at the end, as Hayhurst's conversations seem to lose their realism and move into afterschool special territory, but I don't hold it against him. He earned himself a little soap-boxing.
I'm not sure what Hayhurst wanted this book to be, and for me it fell into the crack between the outrageous tell-all and the inspirational underdog story. The hokiness, for me, ultimately undercut the humor. There wasn't enough of either to make me really cheer for him.
http://dsbs42.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/the-bullpen-gospels-%E2%80%93-review-%E2%80%93/
As a baseball fan I really enjoyed this book. It was super funny and just all around enjoyable.
My baseball-lovely absolutely raved The Bullpen Gospels, so much so that I wanted to read so I could see what all the fuss was about.
This is a guy's book, full of locker-room humor. Dudes who are into sports and funny stories about poops will find think some of the chapters are absolutely hilarious. But, it is also the gut-wrenching all-true story of the trials and triumphs of playing minor-league baseball, and is an moving, honest look that will be interesting for any fan. I surprised myself by really liking it.
This is a guy's book, full of locker-room humor. Dudes who are into sports and funny stories about poops will find think some of the chapters are absolutely hilarious. But, it is also the gut-wrenching all-true story of the trials and triumphs of playing minor-league baseball, and is an moving, honest look that will be interesting for any fan. I surprised myself by really liking it.