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A review by zzazazz
The End of Baseball by Peter Schilling Jr.
3.0
Another book I really wanted to be great that is merely good. It really needed to be longer. There are a lot of characters in this book and some of them get a short shrift. One character in particular that comes in late. He is nothing more than a uniform that plays well. I'm not even sure he has a speaking part.
I was disappointed by the portrayal of Satchell Paige. From what I have read when he made it to the major leagues he toned down his Satchell Paige act and concentrated on showing the world he belonged in big league baseball. In this book he behaves like he's barnstorming around the country. I found that to be a false portrayal of the man.
The center of this book and the most rounded character is Bill Veeck. He is the heart of and soul of the book. He's driven, smart, funny and fallible. Veeck and his partner Sam Dailey are the two most realized and living characters in the novel. Scenes that contain the two can sometimes be so good that other scenes, often involving the players, pale in comparison.
Other reviewers have mentioned that some of the baseball scene are unrealistic, and they are. Unrealistic in, I think, a purposeful way. I think the writer was trying to create a mythic season mixed with realistic characters and he doesn't quite get there.
If you enjoy a good baseball novel then you will enjoy this book even if, like me, you find it a little uneven.
I was disappointed by the portrayal of Satchell Paige. From what I have read when he made it to the major leagues he toned down his Satchell Paige act and concentrated on showing the world he belonged in big league baseball. In this book he behaves like he's barnstorming around the country. I found that to be a false portrayal of the man.
The center of this book and the most rounded character is Bill Veeck. He is the heart of and soul of the book. He's driven, smart, funny and fallible. Veeck and his partner Sam Dailey are the two most realized and living characters in the novel. Scenes that contain the two can sometimes be so good that other scenes, often involving the players, pale in comparison.
Other reviewers have mentioned that some of the baseball scene are unrealistic, and they are. Unrealistic in, I think, a purposeful way. I think the writer was trying to create a mythic season mixed with realistic characters and he doesn't quite get there.
If you enjoy a good baseball novel then you will enjoy this book even if, like me, you find it a little uneven.