Title/Author:
“Six Good
Innings: How One Small Town Became a Little League Giant” by Mark Kreidler
Tags:
Baseball, Little
League
Published:
July 1,
2008
Length:
258 pages
Rating:
4 of 5
stars (Very Good)
Review:
When the
Little League baseball team representing a small town becomes the Little League
World Series champions, life in that town will never be the same. This is captured
eloquently in a book by Mark Kriedler about the town of Toms River, New Jersey Beginning with their improbably 1995
championship over the Japanese team, Toms River has been “on the map” for
Little League excellence, and this book covers the 2007 Little League team for
the town. This is not just a recap of
the season, as there are many anecdotes of past teams, what has happened in the
town and to former players and coaches.
What
struck me the most about this book was how in very different ways, the author
has shown what is right with Little League baseball and what is wrong with it
at the same time. The pride that the
kids have for their team and town, the beauty of the game itself (after all it
is still baseball) and the incredible following that this level of baseball can
generate are all great and illustrated in this book.
But there
are drawbacks as well. The players seem
to not be just kids any longer and are carrying a whole town on their
back. In order to play for the Toms
River All-Star team, which is who will eventually represent the town in tournaments,
the players have to sacrifice a lot of their childhood for daily practice and
drills as well as travel and games.
While the author doesn’t share the horror stories of overbearing
parents, some of the sections and passages bear out what seems to be more of a
trend of treating Little League baseball like the Major Leagues. One passage that seems sad to me is about
the baseball training facility opened in Toms River. An instructor at the facility tells of
parents who are asking him to teach their 9 year old son to throw
curveballs. Curveballs at NINE? Maybe I am old fashioned but this just seems
to be detrimental to the purpose of kid’s sports.
Kriedler
does a nice job of describing the important games of the 2007 season and that struck
a nerve with me as well. It felt like an
analysis and breakdown of the game, something that is often seen during the
telecasts of the Little League World Series on ABC and ESPN. (It should be noted that the author has done
work with ESPN) To me, this is another
example of treating kid’s sports as importantly as adults and I don’t agree
with that philosophy.
Because
the book generated these kinds of feelings and opinions from me while reading
it, I do give it good marks if that was the author’s intention. At the very
least, the book does accomplish the mission of illustrating what a small town
will undergo when it becomes the home of a championship team. Baseball fans and readers who enjoy stories
of small towns will like reading this book.
Did I skim?
No.
Pace of the book:
The pace
was very good, both in the recap of past glory for the Toms River teams and the
2007 season which was described.
Do I recommend?
Yes. This book is a great blend of both what is
right and what is wrong with Little League baseball and youth sports in
general.
Book Format Read:
e-book
(Kindle)
Buying Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Six-Good-Innings-Mark-Kreidler-ebook/dp/B001BANJZ6/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389474713&sr=1-1&keywords=six+good+innings
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