<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: A Change of Pace
Review: Are you tired of reading the same stories about the same baseball players? Pick up this great little book for a different look at the game. Instead of rehashing old stories the author delves into the careers of some little known but colorful characters. The interviews, though somewhat rough around the edges, allow the author to give you the conversational type of history, as if you were sitting across the kitchen table from these baseball nomads. It's the kind of book you find yourself saying, "I could have written this book". But hey, the author followed through on his idea, and I look forward to seeing more of the same type material from him.
Rating:
Summary: Baseball Has Interesting Characters
Review: Baseball is a game rich in history and stories abound about those who have played the game. Author Tony Salin has provided us with stories of players who are known to true fans such as Chuck Connors, Billy Jurges, Frenchy Bordagaray, and Larry Jansen. A number of stories of very obscure players who have interesting tales to tell as well is also in the book. I especially enjoyed the pronounciation of names in the back of the book. I had hoped to see the name Chris Van Cuyk listed, but, alas, that one will continue to mystify me. The book is a quick read and is worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: Baseball Has Interesting Characters
Review: Baseball is a game rich in history and stories abound about those who have played the game. Author Tony Salin has provided us with stories of players who are known to true fans such as Chuck Connors, Billy Jurges, Frenchy Bordagaray, and Larry Jansen. A number of stories of very obscure players who have interesting tales to tell as well is also in the book. I especially enjoyed the pronounciation of names in the back of the book. I had hoped to see the name Chris Van Cuyk listed, but, alas, that one will continue to mystify me. The book is a quick read and is worth your time.
Rating: 
Summary: the author's dedication shows throughout
Review: This is a book written by someone with a lot of love for the game of baseball. It will mostly benefit others with the same love: Salin has found sufficiently obscure figures that I had only heard of half of them. Where feasible, he lets them tell their own stories, thus preserving their style of speech and bringing them to life (very important as most are very elderly or since deceased).Salin must be a persuasive fellow and is certainly a persistent one; he wangled an interview with the very reclusive Pete Gray, who played major league baseball with only one arm (true story). He has gathered a collection of amusing and interesting stories that tell a lot about the times in which his subjects played. And as if all that weren't enough, there's a great bonus at the end: a pronunciation guide to baseball people's names. How is someone like myself, born in the early 1960s, supposed to know how to pronounce a lot of the names of the past? What a superb inclusion, and the list is both long and phonetically clear. I couldn't believe my good fortune when I got to that part, having thought that the book was over, and was so pleasantly surprised. It was like a performer coming out for a superb encore. Well worth the money and time for enthusiasts of baseball history. I'm going to keep my eye on this author, and I hope we get more.
<< 1 >>
| 
