Okay - in my 2 previous posts (Part One is here and Part Two is here) we looked at some of the very best books about baseball that were released during 2010. Baseball continues to be the game of history, with stories passed down from fathers to sons, and with the impact of newspapers lessened every year (sadly), books have truly become the best way to keep the history of the game alive. It's not like there haven't been treasure-troves filled with great baseball books in prior years; it's just that, for whatever reason, 2010 seemed to truly be the "year of the great baseball book."
Moving forward, we'll list the "Top 5" of 2010 over 5 posts, and end the year (some time next week) with our all-time favorite baseball book list.
I would heartily recommend each and every book on these lists for any baseball-lover on your holiday list!! As someone who has received numerous baseball books for gifts over the years, I can tell you that, long after the book has been read, the memory of the stories inside live on - and lending books to someone else allows them to share these memories with you, as well! (Okay- I'm off my soap-box now, and on to the reviews!!)
5.) THE BULLPEN GOSPELS: Dirk Hayhurst
I can still remember the first time I read Jim Bouton's classic, "Ball Four" - I was all of 10 years old, and my dad had read and re-read the book a number of times. It was a beaten up paperback by the time I read it, or at least that's how I remember it- turns out, more than likely, it only became beaten up AFTER I read and re-read it!! I couldn't believe that ballplayers could act in the manner in which they were portrayed in Bouton's book - and thoughts of "poppin' greenies" made me reluctant to eat jelly-beans for a while. The most lasting memory for me, after reading it the first time, was the fact that there was actually an entire way of life inside a baseball clubhouse that was both alien to me and exciting at the same time! Prior to having read "Ball Four" I thought that ballplayers came to the ballpark, got dressed, and went right out to the field; after games, they simply got showered and went home. Thoughts of hotels/motels, airline fights, locker-room antics and pill-popping were the last things I ever thought about where the game of baseball was concerned.
Just like Bouton did for major league baseball, so did Hayhurst do for minor league baseball. Hayhurst, drafted in 2003 by the San Diego Padres in the 8th round out of Kent State, bounced around the minor leagues for parts of 5 seasons until being called up in August, 2008. At the end of the '08 season, Hayhurst was put on waivers and claimed by the Toronto Blue Jays, only to be waived again and sent to the Jays minor leagues. In June of '09, he was again promoted to the bigs, relieving in 15 games for the Jays, totaling 22.2 innings- not exactly workhorse numbers. Hayhurst missed the entire 2010 season, due to injury, and begins 2011 once more as a minor leaguer trying to fight his way back to the big leagues. Obviously, his "success" in baseball isn't his biggest claim to fame- his insightful book, "The Bullpen Gospels" - is! Hayhurst's battle to reach the big leagues ultimately drives the narrative forward, but it's the colorful characters (Slappy, Mad Dog, Pickles - all pseudonyms to protect friends/fellow ballplayers) the hilarious situations (don't get me started on the Octopus & the bag-pipes) and the hard reality (living in his grandmother's spare room) that make "The Bullpen Gospels" so compelling and such a quick-read.
Part Bouton, part Holden Caulfield and part Pat Conroy, it's Hayhurst's honesty, about his own career, those of his fellow "prospects," and the yo-yo life of a minor league ballplayer, that separates this book from other "tell-all" stories that preceded it. The life of a minor league ballplayer, as Hayhurst portrays it, is not filled with the glory that most of us ascribe to it. Imagine that everyone on your team was once the "best" at their position in the small-town they came from; and now imagine that each and every one of you are competing for one of the same 25 spots on a major league roster, except there are many more of you- by the hundreds - then there are spots to acquire- and the "game" part of the equation grows ever-distant while the "business" side gains traction, sadly. In the end, you're left with a portrayal of a man searching to achieve his "true calling" - and you can substitute nearly any career for baseball and the poignancy would be the same. However, in writing about the many ups and downs he faced, Hayhurst does, indeed, become a major leaguer- except his path led him towards a future as a compelling writer more then that of a successful pitcher.
In high school, one of my English teachers said that, in his opinion, the best writers were those who honestly portrayed the human condition, warts and all, and in so doing, always kept a sense of humor about themselves and their subjects. By those standards, Hayhurst certainly succeeds, and then some...he didn't have to throw anyone under the bus...he was honest about his own short-comings...and he paints a portrait at times funny, at times sad, and at times serious, but one thing is for sure- you'll walk away from reading "The Bullpen Gospels" with a better understanding of what it takes to play the game of baseball as well as some additional insight at what it means to follow your dreams, wherever they may take you. A quick read, and one you'll be glad to have read, I wholeheartedly recommend adding "The Bullpen Gospels" to your library- and those of your friends!!
Next: #4 on our list...something about a Yankee owner...
Moving forward, we'll list the "Top 5" of 2010 over 5 posts, and end the year (some time next week) with our all-time favorite baseball book list.
I would heartily recommend each and every book on these lists for any baseball-lover on your holiday list!! As someone who has received numerous baseball books for gifts over the years, I can tell you that, long after the book has been read, the memory of the stories inside live on - and lending books to someone else allows them to share these memories with you, as well! (Okay- I'm off my soap-box now, and on to the reviews!!)
5.) THE BULLPEN GOSPELS: Dirk Hayhurst
I can still remember the first time I read Jim Bouton's classic, "Ball Four" - I was all of 10 years old, and my dad had read and re-read the book a number of times. It was a beaten up paperback by the time I read it, or at least that's how I remember it- turns out, more than likely, it only became beaten up AFTER I read and re-read it!! I couldn't believe that ballplayers could act in the manner in which they were portrayed in Bouton's book - and thoughts of "poppin' greenies" made me reluctant to eat jelly-beans for a while. The most lasting memory for me, after reading it the first time, was the fact that there was actually an entire way of life inside a baseball clubhouse that was both alien to me and exciting at the same time! Prior to having read "Ball Four" I thought that ballplayers came to the ballpark, got dressed, and went right out to the field; after games, they simply got showered and went home. Thoughts of hotels/motels, airline fights, locker-room antics and pill-popping were the last things I ever thought about where the game of baseball was concerned.
Just like Bouton did for major league baseball, so did Hayhurst do for minor league baseball. Hayhurst, drafted in 2003 by the San Diego Padres in the 8th round out of Kent State, bounced around the minor leagues for parts of 5 seasons until being called up in August, 2008. At the end of the '08 season, Hayhurst was put on waivers and claimed by the Toronto Blue Jays, only to be waived again and sent to the Jays minor leagues. In June of '09, he was again promoted to the bigs, relieving in 15 games for the Jays, totaling 22.2 innings- not exactly workhorse numbers. Hayhurst missed the entire 2010 season, due to injury, and begins 2011 once more as a minor leaguer trying to fight his way back to the big leagues. Obviously, his "success" in baseball isn't his biggest claim to fame- his insightful book, "The Bullpen Gospels" - is! Hayhurst's battle to reach the big leagues ultimately drives the narrative forward, but it's the colorful characters (Slappy, Mad Dog, Pickles - all pseudonyms to protect friends/fellow ballplayers) the hilarious situations (don't get me started on the Octopus & the bag-pipes) and the hard reality (living in his grandmother's spare room) that make "The Bullpen Gospels" so compelling and such a quick-read.Part Bouton, part Holden Caulfield and part Pat Conroy, it's Hayhurst's honesty, about his own career, those of his fellow "prospects," and the yo-yo life of a minor league ballplayer, that separates this book from other "tell-all" stories that preceded it. The life of a minor league ballplayer, as Hayhurst portrays it, is not filled with the glory that most of us ascribe to it. Imagine that everyone on your team was once the "best" at their position in the small-town they came from; and now imagine that each and every one of you are competing for one of the same 25 spots on a major league roster, except there are many more of you- by the hundreds - then there are spots to acquire- and the "game" part of the equation grows ever-distant while the "business" side gains traction, sadly. In the end, you're left with a portrayal of a man searching to achieve his "true calling" - and you can substitute nearly any career for baseball and the poignancy would be the same. However, in writing about the many ups and downs he faced, Hayhurst does, indeed, become a major leaguer- except his path led him towards a future as a compelling writer more then that of a successful pitcher.
In high school, one of my English teachers said that, in his opinion, the best writers were those who honestly portrayed the human condition, warts and all, and in so doing, always kept a sense of humor about themselves and their subjects. By those standards, Hayhurst certainly succeeds, and then some...he didn't have to throw anyone under the bus...he was honest about his own short-comings...and he paints a portrait at times funny, at times sad, and at times serious, but one thing is for sure- you'll walk away from reading "The Bullpen Gospels" with a better understanding of what it takes to play the game of baseball as well as some additional insight at what it means to follow your dreams, wherever they may take you. A quick read, and one you'll be glad to have read, I wholeheartedly recommend adding "The Bullpen Gospels" to your library- and those of your friends!!
Next: #4 on our list...something about a Yankee owner...
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