Book Description
Even with a 12-0 loss to start the Â'88 season, Cal Ripken, Jr. had plenty of reasons to love being a Baltimore Oriole. He was playing alongside his brother Bill, and his father, Cal Sr., was managing the team. TheyÂ'd win the next one. But the Orioles didnÂ't win their next game, or the next, and soon what was supposed to be a dream season for Cal slid into a nightmare of losses no one saw coming.
With brilliant and expressive color paintings from Ron Mazellan, future hall-of-famer Cal Ripken, Jr. shares the ups and downs of the OriolesÂ' record 21-game losing streak, and reflects on the rewards of hard work, regardless of whatÂ's on the scoreboard.
Customer Reviews:
Terrific Cal Ripken book.......2007-05-13
If you're an Orioles fan, the 1988 season was a horrible time. The O's lost 21 in a row to start the year. Cal Ripken retells this season in a children's book that teaches perseverance.
I bought this book for my 6-month-old son, knowing he won't be able to understand it for several years. The pictures are outstanding. (If you're an O's fan like myself, you'll get a kick out of seeing familiar names drawn as art.) And the message is a positive one.
I highly recommend the book. One question, Cal: When's the book on the 1989 "Why Not?" Orioles?
Book Description
From the brilliant author of The Long Ball comes an unforgettable account of the epic World Series clash between the celebrated Los Angeles Dodgers and the perennial underdog Baltimore Orioles. Nobody expected the Orioles to win; after all, by 1966, the Dodgers had replaced the Yankees as the dominant team in baseball, winning two of the previous three World Series. Few outside of Baltimore gave the Orioles more than a fighting chance. What transpired over four games astonished and mesmerized a nation in turmoil. Baltimores young pitchers shredded the veteran Dodgers lineup, setting Major League records along the way. Nobody had ever seen dominating pitching like this before: In the entire Series, the Dodgers scored only two runs and collected a mere 17 hits. Their team batting average was a lowly .142, andincrediblyfor the last 33 innings of the series, they were held scoreless.
Customer Reviews:
Poorly Researched Book.......2007-10-03
This book takes a wonderful story about major league baseball and a city and turns it into a minor league work. Adelman apparently never visited Baltimore, consulted a map or talked to anyone who was directly involved in the events he attempts to describe. He relies on second-hand sources and commits enough factual errors (Frank Robinson's Mother's Day home run off Luis Tiant, Baltimore as the capital of Maryland?, etc.)to be put into the DH role. If you are from Baltimore or have fond memories of the 1966 World Series, you'll want to read this book - but you'll be frustrated and angry once you do because the book is a slap at the intelligence of baseball fans everywhere.
BATS VERSUS ARMS.......2007-05-20
THIS IS BOOK IS ABOUT THE 1966 WORLD SERIES, ORIOLES VS DODGERS. IT WAS A CLASSIC MATCHUP OF THE HOMERUN POWER OF BALTIMORE AND THE BEST PITCHING STAFF IN BASEBALL, LOS ANGELES. IT TURNED OUT TO BE A VERY LOW SCORING AND BORING SERIES, IF YOU DON'T LIKE PITCHING DUELS. THIS SERIES WAS A DREAM COME TRUE FOR FRANK ROBINSON AND THEIR VERY YOUNG PITCHING STAFF OF THE ORIOLES. IT ALSO MARKED THE LAST GAME SANDY KOUFAX WOULD EVER PITCH. THE BOOK COVERS IN DETAIL EACH GAME AND ALSO GIVES US MUCH INSIGHT INTO SUCH PLAYERS AS BOOG POWELL, THE DAVIS BOYS AND THE TRUE STAR OF THE SERIES, FRANK ROBINSON. THEIR ARE SOME MINOR ERRORS IN THE BOOK BUT IF OVERLOOKED, IT IS WELL WORTH READING. I SUGGEST IT FOR ALL ORIOLE AND NOSTALIGIC FANS.
Where was the editor? The proofreader? Hmmm???.......2007-05-14
The subject of this book is one that resonates with me more than four decades later --- the year the O's finally broke through, launching 20 years of excellence.
That is why some of the factual errors are so annoying. Admittedly, most of you probably don't care that Frank Robinson's record-setting homer flew out of Memorial Stadium on May EIGHTH (rather than the 7th, as the author claims). However, it is important to me, for two reasons. One, you cannot change the calendar. And, two, I was there when it happened. (Also, F-Robby didn't homer on Luis Tiant's FIRST pitch. The count was 1-1.)
As some of you have stated, it is confusing for Oriole fans of that era if someone refers to "Robby", without clarifying which one ("B" or "F"). Frank was certainly better-known nationally, but, in Ballmer, "Robby" means "Brooks", and "F-Robby" means "Frank".
Finally --- come on --- Baltimore is NOT the capital of Maryland. (Annapolis is the capital. You know ... the city with the famous NAVAL ACADEMY?)
Great Book.......2006-11-06
I bought this book for my husband and he loved it! He talked about it so much that I later purchased it again for my brother.
Black and Blue, The Golden Arm, the Robinson Boys, and the 1966 World Series that Stunned America.......2006-09-18
The title is one mouthful. Being from Baltimore I was expecting a good read about my favorite baseball team and one I grew up watching and listening to. It is a shame the book was written by someone not at all familiar with Baltimore or one would assume baseball for that matter. Continually refering to "Jack Robinson" in the book instead of the name we all know him by as Jackie Robinson was an unbelievable gaff. Then calling Baltimore the capital of Maryland over and over again. Couple these with the other errors that pop out to anyone that lived through the 1966 season and lived in Baltimore and you gotta wonder about the research that actually went into this book and who was responsible at Little John for proofing it. One has to assume that the behind the scenes facts and the interviews were accurate but were they? I guess we will never know until someone writes another book about the 1966 season so that we can compare them. I enjoyed the book for the memories that it rekindled for me about the 1966 baseball season and the personalities on the Orioles team and those in Baltimore. The read for me was a nostalgic trip down memory lane for one that lived through it.
If you want to read a great Baltimore sports book, pick up a copy of Johnny U, The Life and Times of John Unitas by Tom Callahan. It will bring a tear to a true "Baltimoreon!"
Average customer rating:
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Day-by-Day in Baltimore Orioles History
Ted Patterson
Manufacturer: Sports Publishing
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1582610177 |
Book Description
A complete reference detailing the history of the Baltimore Orioles baseball franchise arranged in chronological order, day by day. Five decades of baseball history, from Cal Abrams to Cal Ripken Jr.; from Jim Palmer's first game to Brooks Robinson's last; from Frank Robinson's game-winning home run in the final game of the 1966 World Series to Earl Weaver, Memorial Stadium, Camden Yards, trades, and championships. A retrospective of the good and not-so-good days of the Baltimore Orioles.
Book Description
The Baltimore Orioles are one of baseball's most vibrant and beloved franchises, and everything you need to know about them is in Orioles Essential: the clutch hitters, the dominating pitchers, and the memorable flakes. Looking for a handy reference for milestones in Orioles history? It's here, as are the greatest moments and biggest disappointments, the biggest goats and heroes, and all the personalities that make the O's such an endearing and captivating club. Included are the remarkable moments that made Hall of Fame legends Jim Palmer and Frank Robinson, World Series heroes Cal Ripken Jr. and Eddie Murray, and today's stars Miguel Tejada and Erik Bedard. They're all here in a fun, fact-filled compilation of Orioles history.
Book Description
Where Have You Gone? Baltimore Orioles is a look at what a number of former Orioles have done after their playing careers have ended. Author Jeff Seidel spoke with a wide-ranging number of Orioles from stars like Cal Ripken Jr. and Brooks Robinson to those who had only 15 minutes of fame like Dave Criscione and John Stefero. Also featured are Andy Etchebarren, Chris Hoiles, Mike Flanagan, the Cy Young awardwinning lefty who anchored the Orioles pitching staff in the late 1970s and 1980s; Tommy Davis, the team's first designated hitter; Doug DeCinces, faced with the cruel task of taking over for Brooks Robinson at third base, and Brooks Robinson himself, still a fan favorite nearly 30 years after retiring.
Customer Reviews:
Baltimore O's book.......2007-01-18
I purchased this book as a gift for my mom who is a life long O's fan and she LOVES it- She said it is well written and that it is great to "catch up" with some players who she misses now that they are no longer playing. She has already promised it to many of our family and friends who are fans once she is done reading !!!
Amazon.com
"Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it" is one of those perfect axioms that begs the question, When is baseball gonna finally remember and get it right? Subtitled "The Fabled Life and Untimely Death of the Original Baltimore Orioles, the Team That Gave Birth to Modern Baseball," Solomon's splendidly energetic examination of one of the sport's most powerful and storied franchises stands as a fascinating--and cautionary--study of how a team, regardless of quality, can simply implode. And what a team the Orioles of the 1890s was: manager Ned Hanlon and stars Wee Willie Keeler, John McGraw, Hugh Jennings, Wilbert Robinson, Dan Brouthers, Iron Man McGinnity, and Joe Kelley all deserve their plaques in Cooperstown. As a unit, they created "scientific baseball," redefining the way the game was played and dominating the National League. Yet, by 1903, to Baltimore's horror and confusion, there were no more Orioles. A series of self-destructive choices successfully conspired to export their best players to Brooklyn and remove the franchise--now a member of the American League and playing in New York as the Highlanders--from the Major League standings for nearly half a century.
A fine reporter and writer, Solomon does a remarkable job of bringing the past into the present, exploring how little has changed in terms of baseball business and organizational stupidity through the years. With its marvelous cast of real--and fully realized--characters, Where They Ain't reads as much like a novel as it does like history, and though we know how it ends, it remains an important story worth telling, learning from, and certainly remembering. --Jeff Silverman
Book Description
In the 1890s, the legendary Baltimore Orioles of the National League [sic] under the tutelage of manager Ned Hanlon, perfected a style of play known as "scientific baseball," featuring such innovations as the sacrifice bunt, the hit- and-run, the squeeze play, and the infamous Baltimore chop. Its best hitter, Wee Willie Keeler, had the motto "keep your eye clear and hit 'em where they ain't"--which he did. He and his colorful teammates, fierce third-baseman John McGraw, avuncular catcher Wibert Robinson, and heartthrob center fielder Joe Kelly, won three straight pennants from 1894 to 1896. But the Orioles were swept up and ultimately destroyed in a business intrigue involving the political machines of three large cities and collusion with the ambitious men who ran the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers. Burt Solomon narrates the rise and fall of this colorful franchise as a cautionary tale of greed and overreaching that speaks volumes as well about the enterprise of baseball a century later.
Download Description
Greedy owners, spoiled players, disillusioned fans -- all hallmarks of baseball in the nineties. Only in this case, it's the eighteen-nineties. We may think that business interests dominate the sport today, but baseball's early years were an even harsher and less sentimental age -- when teams were wrenched from their cities, when the owners colluded and the ballplayers held out, when the National League nearly turned itself into an out-and-out cartel. Where They Ain't tells the story of that tumultuous age, through the prism of the eras best team, the Baltimore Orioles, and its best hitter, Wee Willie Keeler, whose famous motto -- "Keep your eye clear, and hit 'em where they ain't" -- was wise counsel for an underdog in a big man's world. Just as John D. Rockefeller did with oil and Andrew Carnegie did with steel, the baseball owners in this era began to consolidate for the sake of monopoly profits. Butt Solomon's fascinating account of the "syndicate" agreement in 1899 between the greedy owners of the Orioles and the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers shows how the Orioles were soon destroyed, how the city of Baltimore lost control of its economic destiny, and how even Willie Keeler, a joyful innocent, ultimately sold out as well. Where They Ain't lays bare the all-too-human origins of our national game and offers a cautionary tale of the pastime at a century's end.
Customer Reviews:
Good History of Early Baltimore Baseball.......2007-04-17
"Where They Ain't," as baseball fans know, is part of the phrase used by Willie Keeler as an explanation of where he hit the ball. Unfortunately appropriately it describes the Orioles major league team relationship with Baltimore between the end of 1902 and 1953. The book opens and closes with Wee Willie's life, transitioning into the Oriole baseball team that identifies so well with him, not to mention John McGraw and Wilbert Robinson. In all, it is a very good book detailing how, basically, Baltimore got the short end of the stick twice in less than 5 years, once each by the National and American Leagues (an equal opportunity shafting). Solomon tells the story well and brings a closeness of Baltimore to the team and the sense of loss when the team leaves, and it's a book that I would recommend for your baseball library.
Great Book.......2007-01-14
Where They Ain't: The Fabled Life and Untimely Death of the Original Baltimore Orioles.
After avoiding 19th century baseball like the plague, I'm suddenly highly intrigued by it and I really enjoyed this book. It starts up in the early 'Nineties after the collapse of the Players' League in 1890 and the American Association (the old "Beer and Whiskey" League) in 1892. The National League incorporated the four strongest of the American Association teams and became a 12 team league.
The author describes how Ned Hanlon took over the old Baltimore franchise and moved it from the defunct American Association into the National League. Hanlon was sort of the Billy Bean of his day: due to severe financial constraints, he was always looking for "diamonds in the ruff." He was also a great evaluator of talent. All he did was put together a team composed of Hall of Famers Wee Willie Keeler, Dan Brouthers, John McGraw, Joe Kelley, Hugie Jennings, Wilbert Robinson, plus Steve Brodie and Sadie McMahon. Within two years, he created a dynasty in Baltimore, arguably one of the best teams of all times, winning pennants in '94, '95, and '96.
After the Baltimore era, the author then covers the period of Syndicate baseball, where one group of baseball magnates controlled more than one team, as the financially strapped Orioles were consolidated with the Brooklyn franchise - and another powerhouse was created. Then he shows how the American League formed out of the mess left by Syndicate baseball and Ban Johnson hoped to form a more "respectful" League, free of much of the "riff-raff," profanity, and umpire baiting that characterized the National League. Needless to say, when McGraw was brought in to start up a new American League Baltimore Orioles team in 1902, he immediately clashed with Johnson and was soon secretly negotiating a return to the National League with a takeover of the Giants.
Throughout the book, the author goes into great detail about the personalities of the covered era and all the ongoing conflicts and politics among players, owners, and franchises. Profits, greed, and deceit were the orders of the day in the cutthroat, "survival of the fittest" world of Major League Baseball as the 19th century came to an end. Plus the author really paints a vivid picture of the "times" and how it affected baseball, including the Panic of '93 and the Spanish-American War. One criticism is that occasionally he goes into too much detail, covering items of little significance that one could never hope to remember. But all in all, it's a great book, one of the best baseball books I've ever read.
If you love baseball history but have been avoiding 19th century baseball - as I have - and want to start getting into it, this is the book for you.
One of the Best Baseball Books I've Read.......2003-09-18
This look at the rise and fall of the original Orioles, and of the changes in baseball that shepharded in the "modern" era is both fascinating and very well-written. Solomon brings the long dead stars of the 1890s to vivid life, while reflecting on the dual nature of baseball as both game and business, and while looking at American life in the same era. This work shows that in some ways little has changed - contraction is a very old idea, as is franchise relocation - and that in some ways the game has benefitted from the end of the reserve clause and the occasional need to reinvent itself.
The reader gets the chance to meet some fascinating characters, such as the young John McGraw, before his days as a manager; Charlie Ebbets, the name behind Ebbets field; and Ned Hanlon, perhaps the father of strategic baseball. Moreover, this book captures the essence of the great pennants races of the past, when winning the regular season title was everything. And it's truly bizarre to learn how much was stolen from Baltimore to build all three of NYC's major league teams.
I highly recommend this to baseball fans of all stripes, as well history buffs.
The Fascinating World of Baseball--1890's Style.......2003-05-27
Although I have always enjoyed baseball history, I have never had much interest in baseball before the first World Series in 1903. I thought that since early baseball was so unlike the "modern" game it was as dry as dust. This book has corrected that erroneous opinion. Mr. Solomon shows the continuity of the game since the early days, yet refers to significant changes in the rules that led to the way the game has, essentially, been played over the past 100 years. The author also does an excellent job of placing the events of his story within the context of the social and economic conditions of the day. However, the most obvious parallel is that the business aspects of major league baseball have changed very little over the years. The more things change, the more they remain the same! This is an excellent book and I highly recommend it.
Bud Selig's Playbook.......2002-04-04
I used to avoid books about 19th century baseball, fearing that I'd find the game too unfamiliar to the one I grew up with. The rules were often different, the style of play was different, and you couldn't watch it on ESPN Classic.
"Where They Ain't", however, is one of the better baseball books I've read. Ostensibly about the old Baltimore Orioles of the National League in the 1890s, this book is really a micro-history of early baseball, tracing the game forward -- both on and off the field -- through the advent of Babe Ruth. Burt Solomon paints a very convincing picture of those Orioles as the team that had the singlemost impact on the way the game is played today. He chronicles the playing and early mangerial days of John McGraw, Ned Hanlon, Wilbert Robinson and Willie Keeler, and shows how they introduced the aggressive style of play -- the hit-and-run, the double-steal, the drag bunt, the Baltimore chop -- that still wins pennants today.
But more than profiling that now-defunct team, Solomon paints a vivid picture of the economics of the game at large. Playing in ornate wood stadiums, a team would be lucky to draw 5,000 fans (or "cranks", in the parlace of the time) to the grandstands and "bleacheries". The owners fiddled mercilessly with cost-cutting ideas such as contraction, team syndicates, and collusion. Indeed, that these ideas all failed so miserably (forging the birth of the rival American League, a revolution which swallowed its own children so rapidly that within three years you couldn't tell one league from the other) that your eyebrows will leap off your head when you see that today's owners are still using them! Certainly fans of the Minnesota Twins, Montreal Expos, and Baltimore Orioles (we've come full circle) will wince in agony as the old Oriole team was destroyed by league management three times in four years -- by ill-advised co-ownership with the Brooklyn Dodgers; by contraction out of the NL; and then by relocation to New York.
Solomon writes in a rich prose style, and footnotes his research extensively. It must have been fun poring through old newspaper accounts for the colorful game descriptions he ultimately finds. He subtly introduces us to historical changes, such as the three-strike out and the foot-long pitcher's rubber, with a broad "that will never catch on!" wink to the reader. My chief complaints would be that "Where They Ain't" is a slow read -- and one so entrenched in Baltimore geography that it's unfathomable that a map wasn't printed inside the book. I lived in Baltimore for parts of six years and even I frequently got lost in Solomon's directions.
Average customer rating:
- ORANGE BLOOD IN MY VEINS
- Go Glorioles
- A great trip back in time.
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The Glory of the 1966 Orioles and Baltimore
Mark R. Millikin
Manufacturer: Saint Johann Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1878282468
Release Date: 2006-10-10 |
Customer Reviews:
ORANGE BLOOD IN MY VEINS.......2007-08-24
I WAS 9 YRS OLD WHEN FRANK CAME TO TOWN. THE BIRDS WERE WINNING AND BALTIMORE WAS EXCITED. I CAN STILL REMEMBER GOING TO DAYTIME GAMES WITH THE SUN SHINING DOWN ON THE BLACK BATTING HELMETS AND BOUNCING OFF THE HOME WHITE UNIFORMS TRIMMED IN ORANGE WITH THE ORANGE LETTERING. 1966 WAS LIKE YOUR FIRST KISS WITH YOUR FAVORITE GIRL WHO YOU MARRIED AND LIVED WITH TILL THE DAY YOU DIE. IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF A LOVE AFFAIR AND FOR ORIOLE FANS OF BALTIMORE WHO LIVED THRU 1966-'83 WE WERE PRIVILEDGED TO SEE BASEBALL PLAYED LIKE IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN FOR MANY YRS. I FEEL PRETTY SPECIAL ABOUT THAT. GET THE BOOK AS I AM TURNING TO THE FIRST PAGE. SEE YOU AT 33RD ST FOR THE WORLD SERIS.
Go Glorioles.......2007-03-15
This is one of the best baseball books ever written. Mr. Millikin does a wonderful job recreating the excitement and drama throughout the entire season of the first Baltimore Oriole World Series Championship. It's a must read for anyone living in Baltimore in the 60s. In fact, anyone living in any sport champion city anywhere. The best parts of this book are the detailed personal stories of the fans, beginning even before the season started, with the signing of Frank Robinson. True sports fans will appreciate the importance of single acts that can be turning points for a team. I give this book Ten Thumbs Up!!!
A great trip back in time........2007-02-25
For long-time Orioles fans, 1966 is an unforgettable year. Mark Millikin has brought that magic season to life with interviews from former players, sportswriters and fans as well as forgotten details from newspaper accounts. He tells the story of the 1966 season and World Series in a clear and concise style that keeps the reader moving to the next page and the next chapter. This book is a treat for long-time fans, but I think it would easily be enjoyed by younger fans, who never experienced the thrill of the Orioles winning the World Series in four straight.
Average customer rating:
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Earl of Baltimore
Terry Pluto
Manufacturer: X-S Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Customer Reviews:
colorful? I think not.......2006-07-25
I couldn't finish this book. I thought it read fine at first with the biographical information that followed Weaver through the highways and byways of minor league baseball en route to getting the Orioles job. That was interesting stuff. But it bogged down when Pluto got into Weaver's relations with umpires and players. I came away from the chapter on Weaver and Palmer with the impression that they were both a couple of pompous, vain idiots. Of his frequent run-ins with umpires -- boring, and if the stories were supposed to be funny I just didn't get it.
I never really cared too much about Weaver anyway or was never too impressed with him -- all those great teams, and one Series title -- but I picked this up because I loved the book Pluto did on the ABA and I was interested to see what he did with this, and I thought maybe I was missing something about Weaver. But the subject was lacking. I find Marvin Barnes to be a much more interesting character than Earl Weaver.
Amazon.com
Broadcaster Jon Miller didn't know he was a baseball "purist" until acting commissioner Bud Selig accosted him with the moniker on national TV in 1993. "At one time," writes Miller in retrospect, "the label 'baseball purist' could've been worn as a badge of honor. Any legitimate fan would've been pleased to be thought of as a purist. But I suppose that to Mr. Selig, a purist was a lonely old man hunched over a windup Victrola, thumbing through a 1929 Who's Who in Baseball, fretting that the game just hasn't been the same since the Babe retired." In Confessions Miller admits to being a purist--loosely defined by him not as a forlorn fan stuck in a period-piece movie but as a fan knowledgeable enough to realize that baseball evolves for the good of the game--despite what myopic owners might try to perpetrate in the short term. In a chapter titled "The Good Old Days Are Now," Miller reminds die-hards of the old adage about things changing and staying the same. To wit, here's Ty Cobb in 1925: "The great trouble with baseball today is that most of the players are in the game for the money." Miller goes on to suggest that the 1990s will be remembered in 20 years as a "golden age" of hitting and that accusations of juiced balls, watered-down pitching, smaller ballparks, and expansion still cannot account for this decade's abundance of outstanding batters. The voice of the San Francisco Giants (and formerly the Baltimore Orioles) holds forth on everything from interleague play (it's good for the game but messy) to traveling with Cal Ripken (a game of Strat-O-Matic baseball reveals just how competitive the Iron Man really is). Occasionally he whiffs--as when he suggests that ballparks install 20-second time clocks to keep pitchers hurling at a reasonable pace. But ultimately what comes through the anecdotes and arguments is his tremendous love for the game and a generous capacity for recognizing the quality of the present and not just the past. --Langdon Cook
Book Description
In Confessions of a Baseball Purist Jon Miller takes us on a journey into the heart of baseball as he's seen it from the best seat in the house. He brings to life the emotion of the night Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive games played record, the history-soaked drama when the Giants and the Dodgers faced off in a crucial pennant-race series in September '97, Eddie Murray's fitting return to the Orioles to hit his 500th home run; and the day Edward Bennett Williams--then-owner of the Orioles--approved the plans for the creation of Camden Yards. But Jon doesn't shy away from pointing a finger at the darker forces at work in the game: the follies of radical realignment; excessive reliance on novelties such as widespread interleague play; and owners and general managers who can't make a move without discussing the economic ramifications, even though that's the last thing their fans want to hear about.
True to the broadcaster's art, Confessions of a Baseball Purist calls the game the way Jon Miller sees it: with wit, with style, and with absolute candor. For the baseball purist in all of us, Miller provides a rallying cry, some warm memories, and reasons to keep believing in the game we love.
Customer Reviews:
Flawed.......2006-05-30
I got this book for Christmas and read it Memorial Day weekend. I love Jon Miller's voice and play-by-play skills. That being said the book leaves much to be desired. The chapter on the "Good Old Days are Now" is extremely silly looking today. Realizing that this was written between the '97 and '98 seasons at first Miller must have looked like a genius as McGwire and Sosa battled for the single season home run record, but in 2006,it seems ridiculous. Especially, after McGwire embarassed himself in front of the Senate the way he did. It's funny how Miller tells the story of how he was amazed at how huge McGwire's biceps were. Rather cocky of McGwire to be showing off his chemically enhanced physique. My other problem is that Miller is not completely truthful. There is a section where he tells of how he would go to A's games with friends (when he was 14) and tape himself broadcasting. Miller was born in 1952, which would have had this happening around 1966 or 1967. He then tells us that sometimes his "broadcasts" would be ruined if a fan sitting close by had brought his boombox. Around this time FM radio was in its infancy and boomboxes did not hit the stores until almost ten years later. Unless, this fan had stepped through a wormhole or was able to warp the space-time fabric, there is no way Miller's broadcasts were ruined by boomboxes. His anectdotes are good enough that he doesn't need to supplement them with such a glaring untruth. It casts a shadow of suspicion on everything else. The is no room for poetic license in a memoir.
humorous and entertaining anecdotes and thoughts.......2004-04-02
This book brings forth the thoughts of one of the most well known and well respected broadcasters in baseball today. This book came out in 1998 when Miller started as a Giants broadcaster. His broadcasts on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball and radio broadcasts for the Giants bring out his personality. He's dedicated to his job and had been interested in broadcasting since he was a child. His passion for the game of baseball and his attentiveness to perfecting his craft only added to his skill in the descriptions of his broadcasts and brought the feel of the flow of the game while it's unfolding live in front of his eyes. If you are familiar with Miller's broadcasts on TV or radio then you won't lose a step when reading his book because it is similar to the way he broadcasts. Miller brings about his thoughts about some of the issues in baseball like realignment as proposed by Bud Selig, to the personalities of owners he has known and how they contributed to the rise or demise of a franchise, and stories about Cal Ripken and some insider accounts from the clubhouse about his consecutive game streak. Miller bring a good light-hearted folksy humor that will make you smirk or guffaw with tongue in cheek. It is interesting in the fact that it feels like he conversing with you like you were at a bar and he was telling interesting stories which would be either intriguing or funny. This is a nice book for baseball fans who want to see things from the perspective of a broadcaster. The book reads easily and shouldn't take too long to read at all.
A Fine Memoir.......2000-01-31
I received this book along with Joe Morgan's as a Christmas present, and it was interesting to read them in tandem, as it shows why they are such a complementary broadcast team. Miller's book is more an anecdotal memoir than a detailed analysis of the game, but that doesn't spoil the enjoyment of it. His tribute to Ken Coleman, the retired Red Sox radio broadcaster, brought back to this Red Sox fan vivid memories of Miller's all-too-brief stay in Boston. The book, however, suffered from an editing job that assumed that the reader had a familiarity with Miller's personal life and career history. For example, there are several references to his first marriage which both assume that the reader knows that Miller was married before and why it ended. But these references are extraneous and add nothing to this picture of Miller as broadcaster and baseball purist -- which, after all, is the book's primary focus.
Funny memoir.......1999-09-01
More of a memoir than anything else, the book is unflaggingly interesting and funny, especially if one can imagine Miller himself reading it. An audiocassette version of this book might well be the ultimate way to experience it. In any case, it just breezes by, leaving you with a warm feeling and a greater desire to hear more Miller broadcasts afterward.
Mediocre.......1999-08-02
Maybe I'm being too critical here. I mean, I like Jon Miller. He's an excellent broadcaster. He certainly knows his baseball. But can he write? The answer (even with assistance) is, disappointingly, no. He has some good anecdotes, and makes some good points, but as I was reading it, I couldn't help wondering, "Where is this book going?" The answer is nowhere. It's meandering and disjointed. He makes all of his "controversial" points in the first chapter, but then offers nothing to back up his theses later in the book. Still, if you want to learn about Jon Miller, to read some interesting stories about the colorful players and broadcasters Miller has encountered over the years, AND get a defense in of Miller's decision to leave the broadcasting booth for the Baltimore Orioles, then go ahead and buy the book. But, perhaps you would feel you're getting your money's worth if you waited for the paperback version or maybe borrowed it from your local library.
Books:
- The Many Adventures of Pengey Penguin
- The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language, Numbered Edition, Brown Alligator and Tan, Bonded Leather
- The Shorebird Guide
- The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America
- The Sibley Guide to Birds
- The Sibley Guide to Birds
- The Sparrow
- The Study of Variable Stars Using Small Telescopes
- The Tale of Pale Male: A True Story
- The Tale of Pale Male: A True Story
Books Index
Books Home
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