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Rating: 
Summary: A fast and entertaining read.
Review: "Field of Screams" was a fast read and a lot of laughs but make no mistake about it, the author wanted to and did show the underbelly of what once our national pastime. I enjoyed the book, however one must remember like most things in life there are two sides to a story and baseball is no different. As a lifetime fan of the game the book did not in any way taint my view of the game of baseball. I still think it's the greatest sport ever devised by man however humans are flawed and baseball is no different. For those of you that have an overly romantic view of the game perhaps you should stay away from the book. But if you are a realist and a baseball fan by all means get this book. It's very entertaining and I think will give you a different insight to a game that parallels the history of our country and the attitudes of our no so distant past.
Rating:
Summary: A fast and entertaining read.
Review: "Field of Screams" was a fast read and a lot of laughs but make no mistake about it, the author wanted to and did show the underbelly of what once our national pastime. I enjoyed the book, however one must remember like most things in life there are two sides to a story and baseball is no different. As a lifetime fan of the game the book did not in any way taint my view of the game of baseball. I still think it's the greatest sport ever devised by man however humans are flawed and baseball is no different. For those of you that have an overly romantic view of the game perhaps you should stay away from the book. But if you are a realist and a baseball fan by all means get this book. It's very entertaining and I think will give you a different insight to a game that parallels the history of our country and the attitudes of our no so distant past.
Rating:
Summary: All the dirt you'll find on a pair of old cleats
Review: And what dirt it is! Yes, this book is a useful corrective for those who think of Baseball as something sweet like lemonade or mother's milk. Like stand-up comedy, baseball seems to attract humans who are closer to monsters than most regular people, so mixed in with the good guys is a wide variety of cheaters, losers, misanthropes, crooks and brats. Indeed, no matter what team you root for, you know in your heart they aren't all perfect gentlemen all the time.
Ty Cobb alone deserves a whole volume to himself. Of course for every bigot, etc., there's a Branch Rickey so the whole picture isn't as bleak as Scheinin paints it. Still, he's a talented writer with a knack for decoupage, and his cut-up stories amuse and provoke. Batter up!
Rating: 
Summary: A for content; D- on style
Review: Field of Screams provides a number of interesting anecdotes about the dark side of baseball. Unless you enjoy being patronized, though, you probably won't like it. The author assumes you've heard none of these stories and comes off as thinking he's superior because HE has. He also thinks he's better than you because you, poor fool, believe there's some romance to baseball. Fear not; Richard Scheinin is here to enlighten you. I've tried to read it three times and put in down in disgust after ten minutes or so each time. If you want a good look at the steamy side of baseball from someone who doesn't come off thinking he's better than you, try Dan Gutman's Baseball Babylon instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Field of Screams is a magnet which your eyes can't repel!
Review: I have read numerous baseball books most of which are out of print books that I have collected over the years. Field of Screams is available and is a must have for those like myself that possess a library of books pertaining to baseball. Many books have attempted to portray the darker side of the game and failed. This book details the bad boy within the hero. Story after story depicts on and off the field events that will astound even the most addicted baseball fan like myself. I read Field of Screams in 3 days because I could not remove it from my fingers, nor did I want to. It has several excellent photos to enhance the text. If you love baseball then you have no choice but to read this book. I will rate it a 10 only because there is no higher rating in which to choose. -Frank C. Sulka Chardon, Ohio USA
Rating: 
Summary: This is the "Married with Children" sitcom of baseball lit.
Review: Scheinin's expose of the underbelly of professional baseball has enough dirt to satisfy even the most sated of baseball cynics. Only a game that has spawned as much cultural mythology as baseball could turn up this many tales of greed, egomania, viciousness and general mayhem. Anyone who thinks spitting at an umpire is the lowest form of behavior on the field will quickly realize that today's baseball is well-behaved compared to the trash of its past. This book is not complexly written; it simply recounts the most wretched players, coaches, and fans (let's not forget them), showing them in their worst possible light decade by decade. The minute they start behaving well, they're dropped from consideration. Needless to say, the portrait of buffoonery that emerges (with strategically chosen illustrations) distorts the overall history of the game, but stands as a tonic to the way that the sport is marketed in the big-media world of MLB these days. Whatever the book's merits, we owe Scheinin a thanks for utterly destroying the nostalgic haze invoked by the names of Ruth and Williams (Ted, that is), among others. One final note: even given the grungy lifeforms the book offers for comparison, Billy Martin comes off as one of the most pathetic individuals ever to don pinstripes. Baseball was well rid of him.
Rating:
Summary: SUBJECT MATTER NOT LIMITED TO BASEBALL
Review: The book is entertaining to read, but let's not think this subject matter is limited to the sport of baseball. Equally disgusting incidents could be dug up regarding other sports. Let's not be so naive to think the people who play baseball are somehow different than those who populate other sports. To me, a pitcher who throws beanballs is a coward. It is the batter's job to hit the ball, and the pitcher who feels he must drill a batter for doing that is a coward. You don't see a batter throwing a bat at the pitcher for striking him out. I also found a couple of mistakes. Ordinarily a spelling mistake would be minor, but the author spells the name of Walt Hreniak as Walt "Wreniak". He should know better. Of greater significance are the pictures of Ted Williams on pages 257 and 277. The same picture shows Williams appearing to be jumping up in a fit of anger. Page 259 states that this happened when "Ted Williams throws bat 75 feet into stands, where it hits Red Sox general manager Joe Cronin's housekeeper." While true, the author would like to have us believe it was intentional. Page 277 states that this same picture is one in which Williams spat at the fans. The pictures that shows Williams jumping with his arms in the air and cringing is the one in which the bat ACCIDENTALLY slipped out of his hands and landed in the stands. However, these identical pictures I referred to are NOT of him spitting nor intentionally throwing the bat in the stands as the author would have us believe. The picture is his reaction to fear of what is going to happen when the bat lands in the stands. Ted explained this picture in one of his own books. I found the book entertaining, but we certainly could find equally disgusting incidents in other sportrs, also. Finally, if the author was aware of the story behind the picture of Williams on the listed pages, and chose to embellish, shame on him. Otherwise, it is a mistake that could easily have been corrected with more research.
Rating:
Summary: SUBJECT MATTER NOT LIMITED TO BASEBALL
Review: The book is entertaining to read, but let's not think this subject matter is limited to the sport of baseball. Equally disgusting incidents could be dug up regarding other sports. Let's not be so naive to think the people who play baseball are somehow different than those who populate other sports. To me, a pitcher who throws beanballs is a coward. It is the batter's job to hit the ball, and the pitcher who feels he must drill a batter for doing that is a coward. You don't see a batter throwing a bat at the pitcher for striking him out. I also found a couple of mistakes. Ordinarily a spelling mistake would be minor, but the author spells the name of Walt Hreniak as Walt "Wreniak". He should know better. Of greater significance are the pictures of Ted Williams on pages 257 and 277. The same picture shows Williams appearing to be jumping up in a fit of anger. Page 259 states that this happened when "Ted Williams throws bat 75 feet into stands, where it hits Red Sox general manager Joe Cronin's housekeeper." While true, the author would like to have us believe it was intentional. Page 277 states that this same picture is one in which Williams spat at the fans. The pictures that shows Williams jumping with his arms in the air and cringing is the one in which the bat ACCIDENTALLY slipped out of his hands and landed in the stands. However, these identical pictures I referred to are NOT of him spitting nor intentionally throwing the bat in the stands as the author would have us believe. The picture is his reaction to fear of what is going to happen when the bat lands in the stands. Ted explained this picture in one of his own books. I found the book entertaining, but we certainly could find equally disgusting incidents in other sportrs, also. Finally, if the author was aware of the story behind the picture of Williams on the listed pages, and chose to embellish, shame on him. Otherwise, it is a mistake that could easily have been corrected with more research.
Rating:
Summary: Hilariously Demented Book That Suffers A Few Factual Errors
Review: When I first began reading this book, I was a little turned off by the author's style of writing. It was as if he wanted to say, "Nah nah nah nah boo boo," about everything he was relating to his readers. As I continued deeper into the book, though, his style grew on me and I really enjoyed reading it. The author does make a few mistakes in his reporting, though; for instance, Casey Stengel did not win eleven American League penants and eight World Series while managing the New York Yankees. Stengel won ten AL penants and seven World Series with the Bronx Bombers. This type of error hardly ruins the book, but it is especially irritating considering the author's know-it-all attitude. The main premise of the book is that baseball historians are too sentimental about the past, referring to different eras as the "golden age" while shamelessly glossing over the game's seedier moments. It would be hard to argue against this theory. For years sportwriters were well aware of Babe Ruth's excesses off the field, but refrained from reporting them to the public because journalists were not as cutthroat as they are now and they wanted to protect the game and Ruth's image as a legendary hero. Part of the game's long history involves events that weren't pretty, but nonetheless deserve their mentions in the history books as much as the great moments. It is both humorous and frightening to read about the animosity with which men like Ty Cobb, John McGraw, and Billy Martin operated. The constant feuds they caused are an important part of the game and shouldn't just be swept under the couch like they never happened. The strange thing about this book is that the author can't seem to decide whether he should celebrate the bad behavior of players past and present or condemn it. The next time he takes on such a lofty project, he should determine the attitude he is going to exude towards his subject matter, whether that attitude be good, bad, or indifferent. Such an approach would lend his book more consistency.
Rating:
Summary: Hilariously Demented Book That Suffers A Few Factual Errors
Review: When I first began reading this book, I was a little turned off by the author's style of writing. It was as if he wanted to say, "Nah nah nah nah boo boo," about everything he was relating to his readers. As I continued deeper into the book, though, his style grew on me and I really enjoyed reading it. The author does make a few mistakes in his reporting, though; for instance, Casey Stengel did not win eleven American League penants and eight World Series while managing the New York Yankees. Stengel won ten AL penants and seven World Series with the Bronx Bombers. This type of error hardly ruins the book, but is especially irritating consindering the author's know-it-all attitude. The main premise of the book is that baseball historians are too sentimental about the past, referring to different eras as the "golden age" while shamelessly glossing over the game's seedier moments. It would be hard to argue against this theory. For years sportwriters were well aware of Babe Ruth's excesses off the field, but refrained from reporting them to the public because journalists were not as cutthroat as they are now and they wanted to protect the game and Ruth's image as a legendary hero. Part of the game's long history involves events that weren't pretty, but nonetheless deserve their mentions in the history books as much as the great moments. It is both humorous and frightening to read about the animosity with which men like Ty Cobb, John McGraw, and Billy Martin operated. The constant feuds they caused are an important part of the game and shouldn't just be swept under the couch like they never happened. The strange thing about this book is that the author can't seem to decide whether he should celebrate the bad behavior of players past and present or condemn it. The next time he takes on such a lofty project, he should determine the attitude he is going to exude towards his subject matter, whether that attitude be good, bad, or indifferent. Such an approach would lend his book more consistency.
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