Reviews

Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game by Dan Barry

conorak's review

2.0

Bleh. Boring.

Sports, plus religious allusions. The ball is life and the game is God testing you and blah blah blah. I'd rather read Jaden Smith's tweets.

duparker's review against another edition

4.0

A quick paced good read. It was interesting the way the author mixes the game and the life of the player, Dave Koza, who hit the winning single at the bottom of the 33 (Over Cal Ripken's head). The intertwined baseball and history is well done, and worth reading.

nomadtla's review

5.0

I'll be honest when I started this book I was not a fan. It seemed to meander through tangent after tangent and had little to do with the content of the actual game described.

Somewhere near the end of the normal 9 innings my mindset began to shift and I started to see the book as a collection of short stories threaded together by baseball's longest game. Once this switch flipped I immediately fell in love with the style and characters. I couldn't put it down as it started to become a wonderful representation of the sport and honestly life itself. We all have our own personal stories that we bring with us to the ballpark, or work, or wherever we go. Life is filled with a million stories in everyone you meet. Sometimes a few of those threads intertwine into a historic event like the worlds longest baseball game. The book challenges us to ask what is more important, the numbers of that game which will be recorded forever, or the lives that were involved with a ball field on a frigid Rhode Island night?

wescovington's review against another edition

4.0

The author does a great job in tracking down the principal participants in the longest baseball game in professional baseball history. Their stories about the game and their lives are much more interesting than the game, which is the book's strength. The game was more than just a statistical oddity. It was an exercise in endurance. You get a feeling that you, like the players and umpires, were stuck in some sort of baseball purgatory.

scottpm's review against another edition

4.0

When I started this book I was not impressed. I thought the author was in love with words, but somewhere along the way it all started to come clear. Mr. Barry wasn't in love with words, he was in love with this book and this story. Reading this was like listening to a game on the radio, pure enjoyment.

aforeman's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

4.25

andrearbooks's review against another edition

4.0

Bottom Of The 33rd: Hope, Redemption and Baseball's Longest Game by Dan Barry is so incredibly well-written. It's a nonfiction read, and yes, there is in fact a real life baseball game that once went 33 innings! This is a trek back through that game in 1981 between the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox and Rochester Red Wings, but y'all it's so much more. The author dives into the stories of the players (which includes two guys you may have heard of - Wade Boggs and Cal Ripken Jr), as well as the fans that were in attendance. Minor league baseball is a fascinating place, and this is such a thorough and beautiful examination. I've read a lot of sports books through the years, and this is one of the best. This has been on my list for some time, and I'm so glad I finally found it at Powell's, so I could have the experience of reading this in my life.

thomcat's review against another edition

4.0

This rambling history covers more about the players, staff and spectators of the longest game in baseball history than about the game itself. Each of the stories is interesting, though some needed a smidge more. For me, this was a three star book that never slowed rounding second and slid into third just under the tag - safe. Because I'm a Sox fan and have been to a game at McCoy, add half a star and sacrifice the runner home.

ajediprincess's review against another edition

adventurous informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

4.5

I tell ya’ Bob, this book was a nailbiter! This book was an intense, fast-paced journey—a play by play and a deeper look at the longest baseball game in history. I love baseball; it’s one of the most beautiful sports and there’s nothing quite like going to a ballgame. This book took me there, to that cold and frosty Easter morning, feeling the wind against my face and ache of my bones in my frigid bleacher seat as I watched the agonizing back and forth of this seemingly never-ending game. I turned each page with bated breath, hoping one team would finally score, and everyone could go home and get some rest. But this book did even more than just recreate the atmosphere and tension of this game for me. It also provided a personal albeit brief exploration into the lives of each of the players, coaches, and even some of the spectators. By the time this book ended I felt as though I had experienced a snapshot of a pivotal moment in time for so many real, living people who went on to do a number of different things in their lives. Wade Boggs is obviously one of the biggest names in this minor league game, but I was also fascinated by people like Cal Ripken Jr. and Bob Ojeda. The constant tension between the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Socks was thrilling and Barry gave even and equal attention to both teams and their coaches, even giving a look into the people behind the game, who made the game and even the stadium where history took place possible. From start to finish, this book was incredible and if you love baseball, I absolutely recommend it.

stephanie_garrott's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

3.5