Review of “Death of a Childhood”

This was a different type of memoir to finish off the month of August. It covered one year of the author’s life - his 11th year. Here’s my review of “Death of a Childhood.” 

Title/Author: “Death of a Childhood: A Memoir of 1989 and the ‘Why Not’ Baltimore Orioles” by Ryan Basen

Rating: 3 of 5 stars (okay)

Review: It’s not unusual for an 11-year-old boy to have troubles in his life as he is moving up from elementary school to middle school or junior high. Add in a change from public to private school so he will not have the same friends at school, a grandmother and beloved pet with health issues and growing apart from his parents and you have that particular year for the author of this memoir, Ryan Basen.

However, Basen did have one thing going for him in that year of change, In 1989, his favorite team, the Baltimore Orioles, made a surprise run in the American League East division and Basen was faithfully following his team. Even though the Orioles fell short in the final weekend to the Toronto Blue Jays, both Ryan and the baseball world got caught up in the “Why Not?” story of the team after an awful 1988 season. 

The book follows the timeline of the 1989 Orioles season and Basen does an admirable job of intertwining his personal life and the fate of the Orioles that year. It did feel strange to be reading dialogue of an 11-year old thoughts with language one expects (mostly - he does curse a few times) and then suddenly to be reading baseball text that is clearly written by an adult. While I enjoyed reading both stories (Basen’s life changes and the Orioles) it just felt a little strange to be reading in different voices, although very appropriate. Overall, a decent book that is an easy read to pass the time on a lazy late summer day. 

I wish to thank the author for providing a copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Death-Childhood-Memoir-Baltimore-Orioles/dp/1958861545/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1IJAVHWT4GRIA&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.440xh3RYJt3Oaph2J4-qTVk1UqS9sy5kToJlRaEDsO7gPpvX8tbq6Inzx0ogb2lIzd8uwzHvNyMCCXShQNf61PRX9pieiQgOMHuoFJAQPCYbro2SSHjGylLXKv7gfHq0.1HziZAbRfXPcLP-L2SdSI5SRyQ8JECjLqNoa8Pr9gcg&dib_tag=se&keywords=death+of+a+childhood+ryan+basen&qid=1756690207&sprefix=Death+of+a+childhood+%2Caps%2C123&sr=8-1 

Review of "The Bandana Express"

 High school football teams are usually the subject of some of the best football books and this one is no exception.  Here is my review of the story of the 1980 Giles Spartans, "The Bandana Express."

Title/Author:

“The Bandana Express: The True Story of the 1980 Gilles Spartans” by Jeremy Heymore

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

One of the great characteristics of sports is that any athlete or team can be a “rags to riches” story when they achieve greatness after a period of struggling.  The Giles Spartans, a high school football team covering a swath of southwestern Virginia, can qualify as one of those stories when they unexpectedly won the 1980 Virgina state championship. Their journey is chronicled in this book by Jeremy Heymore.

Inspired by seeing Ragsdale Field in nearby Narrows, Heymore gathered information and conducted interviews with key people on that 1980 team and penned a story that many compare to Friday Night Lights. I found it similar – but very different in that a forbidden piece of headgear – a bandana – ended up being a symbol of a team and fan base that came together to bring joy to the Giles school district.

The portrayal of coach Steve Ragsdale and his father Harry are the best personal stories in the book – but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of good information on players on the team as well. This includes players like Leon King, who was certainly the star of the team and was a big reason why the Spartans were able to have the success they had.

Readers who like the X’s and O’s in their football books will love Heymore’s write up of the Giles games.  Most of the games have an excellent play by play description. Much like the play of the Spartans, I thought the writing about each playoff game got better and better up to the championship game.  That was very entertaining – not just for the action on the field, but also for the description of Coach Ragsdale’s halftime speech that truly worked. 

Any football fan, regardless of level of interest or which level of the game they follow (high school, college or professional) will enjoy this book on a great story of an underdog team coming together to win a championship.

I wish to thank Koehler Books for providing a copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.

Link: The Bandana Express: The True Story of the 1980 Giles Spartans: Haymore, Jeremy: 9798888247693: Amazon.com: Books

Review of “It Happened!”

While I certainly knew about Jim Lampley before reading this book, I admit to having forgotten that he covered so many different sports before he became known for his work in boxing that earned him enshrinement into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. This book has a story about that day and so much more. Here is my review of “It Happened!”

Title/Author: “It Happened! A Uniquely Lucky Life in Sports Television” by Jim Lampley with Art Chansky

Rating:  4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:  Jim Lampley had a long and mostly successful career in sports broadcasting, most notably for his work in boxing for HBO. He writes about his life and his ups and downs in both his professional and personal lives in this very good memoir.

 

Most memoirs and biographies will follow the timeline from childhood to either the present or death. This one does not do that at all, aside from the beginning, when Lampley describes his childhood and early adulthood. I found that the biggest drawback of the book because unless one is a fan of Lampley and followed his career closely, it was hard to determine where in his life or career he was at. It felt like he wanted to jump to the next story or topic that was on his mind, whenever it might have occurred relative to the last one. 

But the stories he can tell are so good, especially those from his days of covering “Wide World of Sports” and the Olympics (both Summer and Winter Games). His accounts from his vantage points of Frank Klammer’s exciting downhill skiing gold medal run in 1976 and the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” in Lake Placid were two of my favorite stories in the entire book. But the excellent stories are not limited to the Olympics. His account of the George Foreman-Michael Moorer fight and the upset of Mike Tyson by Buster Douglas are also great. Especially the Foreman-Moorer bout where Foreman told Lampley before the fight what he was going to do to his opponent. That was the fight in which Lampley exclaimed his famous line whis is the title of the book, “It happened!”

What makes Lampley’s career even more interesting is the sheer variety of sports he has covered in his career: college and NFL football, Major League Baseball, college basketball, golf, tennis to name just a few as well as boxing. Just about any sport a reader enjoys could be covered in this book.  

There is also plenty of material on his personal life, which is not quite as successful, starting with the fact he has been married four times. To his credit, no matter what happened in his relationships with those women or his children, he never criticized them or had anything bad to say about them. When it comes to stories about this part of his life, the best ones involve his daughter Brooke, whom he had with his second wife Joanne. 

Overall, I felt this was a very good, entertaining and easy to read memoir even if it jumped around at times and felt like it needed more boxing since that is what Lampley is best known for. Nonetheless, if a reader wants to learn more about this very interesting and versatile broadcaster, it is highly recommended. 

I wish to thank Ben Bella Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Happened-Uniquely-Lucky-Sports-Television/dp/1637746431/ref=sr_1_1?crid=7MOKRPPA7IJA&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Rkx2FHEvcoTBEetamWkLLpTGUImrdou6KJhMQK7H0WcHA7UFjeu9oohix8pEyp4-.fq14ZizGJ7kYuJIs50kHL7FM7pgZzcoCDUCcAvIGejE&dib_tag=se&keywords=it+happened+jim+lampley&qid=1755970311&sprefix=It+happened+jim%2Caps%2C120&sr=8-1 

Review of "The Whiz Kids"

With summer winding down, I'm trying to catch up with copies of books sent to have reviews posted before the fall season of new publications.  Here is one that was sent that was a good look at the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies.

 

Title/Author:

“The Whiz Kids: How the 1950 Phillies Took the Pennant, Lost the World Series and Changed Philadelphia Baseball Forever” by Dennis Snelling

Rating: 

3 ½ of 5 stars (good)

Review:

Before 1950, the Philadelphia Phillies had not won a World Series and had only been to one other Series in 1915.  They certainly played second fiddle in their own city to the Athletics and Connie Mack who had 9 pennants and 5 championships under their belt.  But a surprise National League pennant in 1950 changed the perception of the team and this book by Dennis Snelling gives a good look at the team and at Philadelphia baseball history.

The book can be considered to have three separate sections.  The first third of the book deals with Philadelphia baseball prior to the mid 1940’s, primarily about the Phillies of course.  I found this section to have some good information but was somewhat dry.  Admittedly, I was getting antsy to read about their magical 1950 season, especially when Snelling would talk about members of that team in their performance before they gelled that year.

Then came a complete rundown of the 1950 season up to game 4 when the New York Yankees completed a four-game sweep of the Phillies.  From spring training to the last out, Snelling gives a thorough and excellent look at the team, their performance on the field and their chemistry and interactions during the season.  Far beyond focusing on the stars of the team like Robin Roberts and Curt Simmons, just about anything you wanted to know about the “Whiz Kids” are covered there.

The third part of the book then describes how baseball in Philadelphia changed after that 1950 season.  It started off by describing what each player, coach, manager and owner did during that off season.  Also covered is the departure of the Athletics to Kansas City, Connie Mack stepping down as manager and then further talk about Philadelphia baseball.  Much like the first section, I found the information good, but the reading fairly dry, especially when compared to the actual baseball talk in the second section.

Any Philadelphia baseball fan will enjoy this book, dry or not, as this will cover just about anything they will want to know about that team that is one of the most beloved teams that lost a World Series.

I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.

Link: The Whiz Kids: How the 1950 Phillies Took the Pennant, Lost the World Series, and Changed Philadelphia Baseball Forever: Snelling, Dennis: 9781496242686: Amazon.com: Books

Review of “1960”

This book had been sitting in my Kindle Unlimited library for a while. When I won a brand new Kindle from my local library in their summer reading challenge, I decided to make this one the first book read on the new device and it was a good choice - excellent book on the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates. 

Title/Author: “1960: When the Pittsburgh Pirates Had Them All the Way” by Wayne Stewart

Rating:  5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review: The only time a World Series has been won by a walk-off home run in game 7occurred in 1960 when Bill Mazeroski of the Pittsburgh Pirates belted a home run to give the Pirates a thrilling 10-9 victory  over the New York Yankees. This book by Wayne Stewart is a very good account of that special season for the Pirates.

One of the best things about this book is how complete Stewart’s account is of the 1960 Pirates. Going well beyond game summaries and brief biographies, Stewart conducted hundreds of interviews with various players, managers and other people associated with the team. These also included others who observed the team - his interviews with Yankees who played in the 1960 World Series is a great example of this. 

Something that is good about the book is that he goes beyond the walls of 1960 in his accounts of various personnel. The best example of this is his write ups on Branch Rickey and Bobby Bragan. Both men worked in the Pirates organization as general manager and field manager respectively. Both were not with the team in 1960, but both men are credited with helping mold the team into what it became in 1960. Keep in mind these write ups are done mostly through interviews, which is how the bulk of the information in the book is obtained. 

Stewart also addresses many myths or outright falsehoods that may still be said today about that World Series or the team. The most notable one is that the Yankees were a much superior team to the Pirates. While it was true that the Yankees had more star players and were in the midst of a dynasty in which they won 14 American League championships and 9 World Series championships, in 1960 they had only two more wins in the regular season than the Pirates (97 for New York, 95 for Pittsburgh). It was also considered an upset because all three Yankee wins were blowouts (combined score was 39-3) while all four Pirates wins were close. Also, Stewart address other stories such as why Mazeroski wasn’t with the team after the clubhouse celebration and why Roberto Clemente was upset about being snubbed for being named Most Valuable Player as it went to teammate Dick Groat.

If a reader wants to know anything new about that championship Pirates team, this is a great source to find it. Practically no item is left out in capturing that wonderful year in Pirates history.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/1960-When-Pittsburgh-Pirates-Them/dp/B0DFCZ6HNG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2W9ZXCYR6VM0U&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.0OxccJZxxb9bYMzN-pAGE9eTNqvvlSfrcpIMEKVNSuHqU3QJbTRjG1lRn8FzJwgzDBdTkFSq3d5rIQwwnDIYZNrIoCGGYdFiYzRgUdlqbxpJavWT9ANbFD3fWb8awJHYSqMxjF92dKm4Z2ENhlxhzwSgVD7bGev-3Noyhs20EmNutQsN32SQ7dCVGfcUfsr2owIs8l0kV7_p_ywRlvWmvt7orrqkYDy_YOPigQEAEX8.X_06qGj49fhScstvMtazSlqMmLrg4NjdNtn2eeTUrI4&dib_tag=se&keywords=1960+pirates&qid=1755362804&sprefix=1960+pirates%2Caps%2C144&sr=8-1 

Review of "Uncommon Favor"

It's not often I can post two reviews in two days, but I had enough time on my trip to Brooklyn for the basketball game between the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty that I not only was able to read the Candace Parker memoir, but I was also able to start listening to another memoir by a legendary women's basketball figure, Dawn Staley.  This one was even better.  Here is my review. 

Title/Author: “Uncommon Favor: Basketball, North Philly, My Mother and the Life Lessons I Learned From All Three” written and narrated by Dawn Staley

Rating:  5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review: Whenever a person can start with humble beginnings and succeed in nearly every aspect and goals they set out to do, that makes a wonderful and uplifting story. Dawn Staley’s life has been that kind of story and her memoir, narrated by her, is one that any reader or listener will enjoy.

Of course, since Staley’s success has occurred on the basketball court, it does help if the reader is interested in basketball, especially women’s basketball.  Staley was an All-American point guard at the University of Virginia. She played and won on US Olympic Teams, including the 1996 gold medal winning team that was the spark that created the WNBA.  Staley played in that league as well before becoming a college head coach, leading first the Temple Owls and then the South Carolina Gamecocks.  It is with South Carolina where she has won two national championship and gained not only prominence but is also noted for her advocacy for addressing racism and gender equality.

Each of these topics is addressed by Staley in the book in a powerful yet humble manner.  Yes, she speaks out proudly and loudly when needed. The best example is when she talks about some unflattering comments by the Missouri athletic director after a tense game between the two schools.  After the publication of those comments, she gave a strong rebuttal and asked for an apology.  Eventually that came from the athletic director.

Speaking of athletic director, another great example of Staley advocating for change is when she discovered how much less she was making than her male counterpart coaching the men’s basketball team.  Without disparaging her colleague, she made a strong case of how much more success and visibility she brough to the women’s program and ended up with a salary that reflected her success.

Of course, the book is more than just basketball and Staley reflects much about her mother, her (and her mother’s faith) and their upbringing in North Philadelphia.  She tells the stories of the time in North Philly with as much enthusiasm and joy as she does when discussing the 2024 basketball season in which the Gamecocks won their second championship.  This was one of those books where listening to the author telling her stories was much better than reading it on paper or with an e-reader.  I always prefer audiobooks narrated by the author and this book is a great example of why I believe that is better.

 

Link: Uncommon Favor: Basketball, North Philly, My Mother, and the Life Lessons I Learned from All Three: Staley, Dawn: 9781668023365: Amazon.com: Books

Review of “The Can-Do Mindset”

 As I always do when traveling to a sporting event, I try to read a book on the sport I am attending. This past Sunday, I went to my first WNBA game where my favorite team, the Minnesota Lynx defeated the New York Liberty. The book I chose was the memoir of Candace Parker, certainly one of best women to play the game.

Title/Author: “The Can-Do Midset” by Candice Parker.

Rating: 4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:  Candace Parker has had a very successful basketball career.  She was a member of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers championship teams in 2007 and 2008, was the #1 pick of the 2008 WNBA draft for the Los Angeles Sparks, and won three WNBA championships - two with the Sparks and one with the Chicago Sky. After retiring from playing, she has made a successful transition tothe broadcast booth. Through it all, she has time to be a wife, mother and write this very good memoir.

The title of the book comes from the nickname she was given in her childhood. She felt she could do anything with her older brothers - she had that “can-do” attitude. However, as she explains in the book, this hasn’t always been the case. But her perseverance kept her going on whatever challenge she was facing. And there were plenty.

These included injuries in both college and the WNBA, a divorce from her husband (who was also a professional basketball player), how to raise their daughter while she played in both the WNBA and overseas and later marrying a woman she met in Russia while playing in that country. So, just from that little bit of information on her, it’s easy to see she has been through a lot, both good and bad,and she shares a lot.

As one might expect given this, she opens up about racism, LGBTQ+ issues, motherhood, people who played an important role in her life and of course, basketball. While it isn’t uncommon for professional athletes to credit past coaches for their support and lessons, Parker shows a lot of love for her college coach at Tennessee, the late Pat Summitt. That is just one example of Parker’s overall positivity throughout the book. At times the text does get repetitive, but at least it’s mostly positive,despite some of the negative things that happened to her. 

There are five main topics in the book, from the letters of “can do” - Community, Authenticity, Negativity (how she dealt with it, as mentioned above), the Dash and Opportunity. Through it all, this is a very good memoir by a sure-fire Basketball Hall of Fame inductee. 

Link:  https://www.amazon.com/Can-Do-Mindset-Cultivate-Resilience-Passions/dp/1638932182/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.3iIFf4ymYJieQLOIpszGr4ilfi7sY5lyPDvJxFl86RH4bXL_mKm8lL_79rmA4JTEpjYcjiVF7YnaDZtOgdfpFb-P4bZaaKXSKeYgc2JNhZ8L72pCsiatqT6ycunEYezX9z0wnW_SB7BI0M7I3WYgJLdLS7P6VP6IYwbO4-Wg9ICe0vDRkb4vy3m9Pg0i2p84rA3PpP22cR6rPt8b-Jl9LEtQUst2brspnLGY6GQEUEA.pqr1PxLDso6jz6_dDyzmOhomdmlIRqejoy_eKCLXdDw&qid=1754958711&sr=8-2