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Rating: 
Summary: Baseball is dull only to dull minds
Review: Perhaps because he's Canadian (so am I, but I'm completely objective here), Kinsella has a superb understanding of the psyche of baseball -- which is truly America's national sport. It's not all that odd. Alexis de Tocqueville, from France, wrote "Democracy in America" in (1835 and 1840), still the most penetrating and insightful view of the character and core values of American democracy. It took Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw to best understand the English -- no Englishman could write "Pygmalion" upon which "My Fair Lady" is based. Novelist Bernard Malamud summed it up nicely, "The whole history of baseball has the quality of mythology." In about 150 quotes, this book brings that mythology to life. Kinsella is a master observer of baseball. His "Shoeless Joe" became the classic "Field of Dreams" in 1989, the best film yet about the spirit that motivates boys and men to play, watch, understand and love baseball. This is a story of redemption and faith in the best American tradition, and the film captures the magic of Kinsella's story. Baseball is not like other sports. It is a game in which each individual player faces the entire opposing team alone, in batting and base running to score points. Think of Canada's ice hockey in similar terms -- requiring a single player to face nine opponents to score a goal. It's tough enough to "kill a penalty" in hockey when a team is one player short; hockey, like most sports, is a team effort. Baseball reflects the American spirit, a "lone eagle" against the world. Yet, it is also the poetry in action of superb teamwork; from pitching to fielding, from the subtle grace of a curve ball to a double or triple play, it has the grace of a lyrical ballet perfomed on fresh mown grass instead of a dull indoor stage.
In a world of factoids, sound bites and trivia, "Diamonds Forever" collects the best sayings about baseball by players, fans and others. Kinsella's skill is knowing what to include and what to omit, and he offers up the meaning of life as well as the inner qualities of baseball. Like Tocqueville who understood American democracy before Americans could define it, Kinsella offers an outsider's view of the magic that makes baseball the quintessential American sport. Baseball isn't automatic success. Thomas Boswell wrote, "If you do everything right, you'll still lose 40 percent of your games -- but you'll also end up in the World Series." Ted Williams said much the same, "Baseball is the only field of endeavour where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer." Tired of being criticized ? Reggie Jackson noted, "Fans don't boo nobodies." It's why, as Humphrey Bogart noted, "A hot dog at the ball park is better than steak at the Ritz." Casey Stengel of the Yankees offered the surest wisdom for a happy life, "The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided." As broadcaster Bryant Gumbel said, "The other sports are just sports. Baseball is a love." Or look at it philosophically by Dagwood Bumstead (drawn by Chic Young), "Baseball, my son, is the cornerstone of civilization." Perhaps Hall of Fame catcher Roy Campanella expressed it best, "You gotta be a man to play baseball for a living but you gotta have a lot of little boy in you." True enough. Baseball is a game for those who have the enthusiasm and faith of little boys - - who know everything is possible. It's why only Americans have walked on the moon, it's why the US is what it is today. Kinsella, like Tocqueville, understands the spirit of baseball. It makes this book eminently worth buying. Beg, buy or borrow it, read it, think about it and remember the best of its quotes for a perceptive insight into America and her game. As for the title of this review, it was originally said by sports writer Red Smith. It's like America itself, as expressed by pitcher Satchel Paige, "Ain't no man can avoid being born average, but there ain't no man got to be common." Now . . . . . as an afterthought - - - why doesn't some public spirited American do the same for Canada and hockey ?
Rating:
Summary: Baseball is dull only to dull minds
Review: Perhaps because he's Canadian (so am I, but I'm completely objective here), Kinsella has a superb understanding of the psyche of baseball -- which is truly America's national sport. It's not all that odd. Alexis de Tocqueville, from France, wrote "Democracy in America" in (1835 and 1840), still the most penetrating and insightful view of the character and core values of American democracy. It took Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw to best understand the English -- no Englishman could write "Pygmalion" upon which "My Fair Lady" is based. Novelist Bernard Malamud summed it up nicely, "The whole history of baseball has the quality of mythology." In about 150 quotes, this book brings that mythology to life. Kinsella is a master observer of baseball. His "Shoeless Joe" became the classic "Field of Dreams" in 1989, the best film yet about the spirit that motivates boys and men to play, watch, understand and love baseball. This is a story of redemption and faith in the best American tradition, and the film captures the magic of Kinsella's story. Baseball is not like other sports. It is a game in which each individual player faces the entire opposing team alone, in batting and base running to score points. Think of Canada's ice hockey in similar terms -- requiring a single player to face nine opponents to score a goal. It's tough enough to "kill a penalty" in hockey when a team is one player short; hockey, like most sports, is a team effort. Baseball reflects the American spirit, a "lone eagle" against the world. Yet, it is also the poetry in action of superb teamwork; from pitching to fielding, from the subtle grace of a curve ball to a double or triple play, it has the grace of a lyrical ballet perfomed on fresh mown grass instead of a dull indoor stage.
In a world of factoids, sound bites and trivia, "Diamonds Forever" collects the best sayings about baseball by players, fans and others. Kinsella's skill is knowing what to include and what to omit, and he offers up the meaning of life as well as the inner qualities of baseball. Like Tocqueville who understood American democracy before Americans could define it, Kinsella offers an outsider's view of the magic that makes baseball the quintessential American sport. Baseball isn't automatic success. Thomas Boswell wrote, "If you do everything right, you'll still lose 40 percent of your games -- but you'll also end up in the World Series." Ted Williams said much the same, "Baseball is the only field of endeavour where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer." Tired of being criticized ? Reggie Jackson noted, "Fans don't boo nobodies." It's why, as Humphrey Bogart noted, "A hot dog at the ball park is better than steak at the Ritz." Casey Stengel of the Yankees offered the surest wisdom for a happy life, "The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided." As broadcaster Bryant Gumbel said, "The other sports are just sports. Baseball is a love." Or look at it philosophically by Dagwood Bumstead (drawn by Chic Young), "Baseball, my son, is the cornerstone of civilization." Perhaps Hall of Fame catcher Roy Campanella expressed it best, "You gotta be a man to play baseball for a living but you gotta have a lot of little boy in you." True enough. Baseball is a game for those who have the enthusiasm and faith of little boys - - who know everything is possible. It's why only Americans have walked on the moon, it's why the US is what it is today. Kinsella, like Tocqueville, understands the spirit of baseball. It makes this book eminently worth buying. Beg, buy or borrow it, read it, think about it and remember the best of its quotes for a perceptive insight into America and her game. As for the title of this review, it was originally said by sports writer Red Smith. It's like America itself, as expressed by pitcher Satchel Paige, "Ain't no man can avoid being born average, but there ain't no man got to be common." Now . . . . . as an afterthought - - - why doesn't some public spirited American do the same for Canada and hockey ?
Rating:
Summary: a great book for everyone that loves the game of baseball.
Review: when I started to read this book I read the whole thing in one sitting.
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