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Summary: MEMORABLE READING***...
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed GROWING UP BASEBALL. It was definitely a memorable reading experience. --David Dewse
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Summary: IN GREAT TRADITION OF RITTER'S GLORY OF THEIR TIMES
Review: In the great tradition of Lawrence Ritter's Glory of their Times and Donald Honig's Baseball When the Grass Was Real, Mr. Frommer and his son, Frederic, offer an oral history with a narrowed and fascinating
focus: players' personal stories of the role baseball played in their youths. Everyone will have his or her favorite players in the bunch, especially since the wide variety includes old-timers and current players, stars and scrubs, blacks, Latinos, Jews (Al Rosen and Shawn Green), and sons (Dale Berra) and brothers (Ken Brett ) of superstars. Everyone's represented and, as in Mr. Ritter's book, they please us by having loved the game as we'd have hoped and by pretty uniformly looking back fondly on their experiences.
There's a minor but representative moment when Joey Amalfitano is about to sign his first contract and has to go get his father off of a fishing boat where he works:
He was in his working clothes. I introduced him to the two scouts, Ebo and Dutch. We sat in the living room. He signed the contract.
Then they got up, and my father said to me in Italian, "Take me back to the boat."
So I drove him back. My father asked, "What did you sign for?"--meaning what kind of money did you sign for.
I said, "$35,000."
He said, "America is a great country."
In both these books we get to see, once again, how baseball knits together generations of Americans, gives us memories we share first with brothers, fathers and grandfathers and then with sons and grandsons. So, I never got to see Ralph Kiner play, but as a Mets announcer he explained games to me for thirty years, and now, thanks to the Frommers, here he is again sharing stories of his youth and of the game he loves and that he helped me and my brother learn to love. And so his growing up baseball melds into ours. America really is a great country and baseball its great game.
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Summary: FROM THE PUBLISHER
Review: On city streets and suburban sandlots, millions of boys have played the nation's game. Growing Up Baseball recounts the stories of those few whose childhood dreams of playing in the big leagues came true.Noted oral historian Harvey Frommer joins his son Frederic in collecting interviews and published commentary together with photographs to create the first thorough oral history of the "growing up" years of baseball's greatest heroes. Readers will discover new experiences in the words of those who lived them, including:
-- Bob Feller, the winningest pitcher in Cleveland Indians history
-- George "Sparky" Anderson, the only manager ever to have won championships in both leagues
-- Monte Irvin, who was already past 30 years of age when he made his major league debut in 1949
-- Jim Palmer, who won three Cy Young Awards and four Gold Gloves with eight 20-win seasons In addition, Growing Up Baseball features interviews with singular figures such as Bobby Thomson, Don Larsen, Red Murff, Keith Hernandez, Mel Parnell, and Ralph Kiner, and is framed with inspiring commentary by coaches, relatives, teachers, friends, rivals, and scouts. Growing Up Baseball contains a rich and varied montage of memories from players and fans across generations and cultures. Compelling, informative, and overflowing with a deep and abiding love of America's Pastime, it will delight and inspire anyone who's ever treasured a well-worn glove or thrilled to the crack of a bat.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT JOB!!!!!!
Review: The Book Shelf/Purebaseball.com Growing Up Baseball is another type of oral history, one which encompasses a common theme. In this case, as the title indicates, current and former major leaguers relate their introduction to the game. Most, as tradition might dictate, learned at the feet of dad, the pastoral image of fathers and sons playing catch. Some praise the help of a little league, high school or college coach as pointing them in the right direction. Those who share their experiences run the gamut from all-time legends such as Bob Feller and Ralph Kiner to today's role players like Darryl Hamilton and Adam Kennedy. It also spans the decades, from Elden Auker, who first pitched for the Tigers in 1933 to players currently plying their trade. It's eye-opening to see the differences between the childhood experiences of a Feller and the modern player: the advantages of the latter (and not just financially) makes one wonder why the quality isn't better. Frommer, with the help of his son, does his usual excellent job, whether the topic is New York City baseball, Joe Jackson or photographic compilations.
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Summary: This Is a Book for Baseball Junkies
Review: The Frommers interviewed 69 former big leaguers from Dwight "Red"
Adams who played just eight games in the majors, to Don Zimmer who seems like he's been in baseball so long he could have been Abner Doubleday's bench coach.
The book records the stories of former kids who made it to the major leagues, most of whom started out playing catch and games for hours, sometimes dreaming of bigger fields and far away places. It's an oral history, so the ballplayers' stories are told in their own words, sometimes pedestrian, sometimes poingnant. They concentrate on the journey to the big leagues from the backyard games of catch to the first major league game.
This is a book for baseball junkies. It's readable and light.
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Summary: REVIEW FROM BASEBALLOLOGY.COM, BY AMY COHEN
Review: The title and premise intrigued me. A series of mini-bios told in the first person by men who had actually made it to the "Big Leagues." I was looking for an answer, into my own psyche perhaps as to why the game is so compelling. Why do I stay up late for Opening Day and to watch every possible minute of the World Series? Why is Opening Day for my home team so important that I consider it a national holiday and have not missed an opening day game most of my adult life, even traveling over 300 miles to be there? Why are celebrities like Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Kevin Costner and Billy Crystal so obviously obsessed with the game? Even presidents are drawn to the game. Our current president owned a team. Bill Clinton is said to be "bonkers about baseball." It is not just America that is taken with the game. The Japanese passion is well documented as well as Cuba and the Dominican Republic. I thought if I could hear in their own words what brought many major leaguers to the game I could find a commonality and understand why I am so gripped by the game. In Growing Up Baseball players from the past and present - ones who had a fleeting time in the major leagues to ones who are icons - discuss their intimate childhood memories of the game. Players who grew up with and without TV and/or in areas where there was no access to major or minor league teams and areas where cities have several major league teams all have the same passion for the game. Chuck Stevens - Played three years for the St. Louis Browns. Grew up occasionally hearing games on the radio and reading ticker tape reports of World Series games. But spent 23 years in the Browns organization. Scott Brosius - NY Yankees third baseman, knew he wanted to be a major leaguer from age three, but never saw a major league game until he was drafted by the Oakland A's at 22-years old. Jose Cardenal - Native of Cuba whose whole family's life was devoted to baseball. His father played, his older brother played for the Army League, his cousin is Bert "Campy" Campaneris and his sister was the only female official scorer in Cuba. Signed by the Giants but couldn't get very much playing time due to the existing outfield of Mays, McCovey and the Alou brothers, was later traded and played 18 years in the majors. The stories recount tales of parents who encouraged, parents who discouraged. Idols who became mentors. Boys who became men. While Growing Up Baseball was not able to give me insight into my own obsession it does give intimate details and takes a peak into the childhood of major leaguers who we love so much and always wanted to be.
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Summary: TERRIFIC ORAL HISTORY- GROWING UP BASEBALL
Review: This is a wonderful book that explores the Growing Up years of so many interesting players ranging from Bob Feller to Dom DiMaggio to Jim Palmer to lesser known performers like Nelson Briles and Bob Tewksbury. Make Sure you get a copy - - a job well done by the father and son Frommer team.
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