Rating: 
Summary: From the Heart
Review: Durwoods book is from the heart. There are some typo's but, his book shows the real side of umpiring. I am an ump on the non pro end of baseball. He is the type of person he says he is in the book. I read the book and wrote him. He did write back and told me to stay in touch. This book is highly recommended for all to read. It is funny and sad but you do get a good feeling while reading it.
Rating: 
Summary: A Must Read Book!!
Review: His stories are so descriptive and colorful you feel like you're right there. I would like to see him umpire a game sometime in person. One of the best sports books I have ever read. It gives you a different outlook on the game of baseball. When is his next book coming out?
Rating:
Summary: The most entertianing book ever!
Review: I loved this book, its full of the history of the game. It has everything from growing up in Texas, to umpiring games in Puerto Rico, to umpiring in the Majors. This book is so fun, I've owned it for 4 years and I read it completly once but I've kept picking it up and rereading parts, that I must have read each page about 15 times. Some of the information is slightly outdated but he did make the prediction that if Mark McGuire ever had an injury free year he would break Roger Maris's 61 home run record! He is a very smart man.
Rating:
Summary: Reading it a second time!
Review: I loved this book. As a 31 year old high school baseball umpire and a Christian, Durwood sets a great role model for me. I hope I can teach my kids the values he brings to everything he does. The world needs a few more Durwoods. The only sad part of the book was the sections on Steve Palmerio. Steve was a great umpire who has tragically had his career cut short. Durwood's love shines through every word he writes, and in the era of mega salaries, and mega egos, it reminds me what I love about the game: its the friends you make and the lessons you learn. Thanks Durwood!
Rating:
Summary: From a non-professional umpire, what a personal glimpse!
Review: I read maybe 1 book a year, but, I guess, because of the subject, it took me about 2 days! A real life look into what it takes to make it to the BIGS and still remain humble. I only wish that the last chapter was moved to the front of the book, thus ending the book on an upbeat note that was prevalent throughout the rest of the book. A must read book for any umpire!
Rating: 
Summary: It's an interesting book, but...
Review: It was interesting and a change of pace to read a book from an umpire's perspective. I enjoyed Merrill's insights and stories. However, this book is in need of heavy editing. Did anyone proofread the manuscript? On countless occassions, Merrill repeats something he mentioned in an earlier chapter. There are also quite a few spelling errors and typos. Editing would have made this book a hundred times better.
Rating:
Summary: You'll hesitate the next time you "boo" an umpire.......
Review: It's a light read, but Durwood is very colorful and sincere in his writing. I felt as if he was my Grandpa sitting next to me telling me these wonderfull stories. You'll enjoy it even if you're not a baseball fan. If you ARE a baseball fan. You'll hesitate the next time you "boo" an umpire at a game. (but only for a second or two) :)
Rating: 
Summary: Typical sports pot boiler.
Review: Merril may be a funny man on the field but in the book he is boring. As in many sports stories the subject gives the writer a line and the writer blows it up to a paragraph or a nonsensical chapter.
Rating:
Summary: You can't write and your publisher stinks too.
Review: Somebody messed up badly. Being an amateur baseball umpire I am biased towards umpires in general and those in baseball in particular but Merrill does not do himself and his profession justice. The ghostwriter, assuming there was one, must have been drunk and illiterate and the publisher too lazy, or do we call that cost conscious, to proof read the manuscript. I ended up reading a book that should not have been published and does not do justice to a man who became an umpire in a different and much tougher era. The book does not do him justice, god rest his soul. Maybe the publisher could be so kind and honor him with and revised edition.
Rating:
Summary: Humerous
Review: The book could have been funnier but the one liners were still very funny. I esspecialy liked how he changed the way the bad words were.
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