The Bullpen Gospels

Dirk Hayhurst's book The Bullpen Gospels is a book that i had waited a few months on for it to come out because of all of the press it had been getting. was it worth the wait? probably not. i was under the impression that it was about a career minor leaguer finally getting the call to the major leagues but it primarily revolved around the revolving door between High A and AA baseball, the personal struggles he had to overcome, and there is scant mention of him actually making it onto a major league roster. mr. hayhurst does not shy away from painful or personal episodes in his life and i admire him for that but i really felt the story was incomplete from the baseball side of things like he was in a hurry to get the story done and over with. my favorite parts had to be the "kangaroo courts" that have been a long time tradition of professional baseball teams. it was sometimes funny, sometimes poignant (i believe those were pretty much the words bob costas used on the front cover), and sometimes painful but i really have to disagree with keith olbermann that this was "one of the best baseball books ever written." i don't think it would be considered required reading and i would wait 'til i saw it in the local public library before i would read it.

although published in 2008, i am just now getting around to reading Slap Shot Original the life story of Dave "Killer" Hanson of the movie Slap Shot fame. an excellent book and a great read and it was the literary version of the movie. the movie made him famous. the book was better than any sequel could have been. it was filled with great stories and real life characters asd a hockey veteran was trying to balance family, career, and jobs while spending most of his life on the road.if dave hanson was anything, he was all about the team and standing up for them no matter what the situation and all of his decisions were geared towards not taking anything away from that even when there was money to be made. the best stories revolved around the movie and his days in the long ago defunct World Hockey Association and none of that stuff- the barroom brawls, fights with fans, the fights on the ice- could happen nowadays without it being played out on Sportscenter or some other sports outlet. back then you were allowed to be a character. it is a great book, a great read (i read it in 2 1/2 days), and a must have for any sports collection. as a personal postscript to the story, i saw where dave hanson's son christian, made it onto the roster of the toronto maple leafs last season and i look forward to following his career as well.

Big Hair and Plastic Grass

every once in a while a sports book will come along that is not only stats and history but is entertaining as hell. dan epstein has achieved that in "Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging '70s". it chronologically covers baseball through the decade of the 1970's. i first started following baseball religiously in 1976. i learned how to read boxscores, calculate batting averages and e.r.a, and became a complete stats freak which i continue to be today. i was 10 years old in 1976 and was a devout los angesles dodgers fan mainly because my dad was a brooklyn dodgers fan and followed them to los angeles. i was always hearing stories about sandy koufax, don drysdale, and claude osteen. my favorie player was ron cey aka the "the penguin" of the la dodgers. i really started following baseball because of my taking up baseball card collecting. my hometown newspaper only came out three times a week at that time, so boxscores and other dodgers news was very slow in coming. espn was still several years away, broadcast news only had sports on for about five minutes, and there were only two games a week on tv-saturday afternoon baseball and monday night baseball. this week in baseball with mel allen was the only baseball magazine type of show and i watched it religiously every week. dan epstein's book brought back some great memories of my childhood, i got to read alot of stories i had never read before, it made me laugh (the don "pussyface" sutton story was my favorite), and ron cey even got a mention. it also made me realize that baseball in the '70s was more in tune with american society than i realized with the tales of alcohol and drug abuse as well as with the racial tension that was going on in baseball and american society. it is a great read and a must have for any baseball collection.