I have had
this book in my Kindle library for over a year and now that Derek Jeter has
retired, I decided it was time to read it. Or should I say listen to it, as I am now commuting nearly one hour each way, so I will be listening to audio books when reading time is limited. This review was based on the audio book and here is the review of "The Captain."
Title/Author:
“The
Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter” by Ian O’Connor, narration by Nick
Polifrone
Tags:
Baseball,
Yankees, biography
Publish date:
August 16,
2011
Length:
448 pages
Rating:
4 of 5
stars (very good)
Review:
While I
cannot consider myself a fan of either the New York Yankees or of Derek Jeter,
I respect the consistent excellence that both of them bring to the game of
baseball. When I found this book when
looking for a good biography, I picked this up.
I then let it sit on my “to be read” pile for over a year until the 2014
regular season ended and I decided to read it after Jeter played his last
game. I was able to obtain the audio
version of the book at no extra cost, and now that I have a longer commute, I
decided to listen to the audio book and this review is based on that version.
This is a
book that truly lives up to the title.
Ian O’Connor does take the reader on a journey of Derek Jeter’s life and
career. In the opening notes, O’Connor
does state that he did not obtain interviews with Jeter and that the book was a
result of research and interviews with other people. That is the strength of this book as O’Connor
tells the complete story of Jeter’s baseball career from his days in Kalamazoo,
Michigan to the 1992 draft when Jeter was unexpectedly available for the
Yankees (my favorite chapter in the book) to his struggles in the minor leagues
and finally his adventures in pinstripes at both the old and new Yankee
Stadium.
O’Connor
covers many sports in the New York metropolitan area, including the Yankees and
his knowledge of the game and the team shows in the book. He writes not only about Jeter’s ride through
the Yankee dynasty of 1996-2000, but also has many stories about the team itself
and some of the players in those years such as Scott Brosius and Mariano
Rivera. The reader is taken through
those seasons, as well as the more frustrating seasons as the Yankees waited
nine years before winning another title.
Not only
is Jeter’s baseball career covered in the book, but O’Connor also does a fine
job writing about Jeter’s biracial roots, the values his parents instilled in
Jeter and his sister and also the type of lifestyle that many men can only
dream of. What I really liked about this
aspect of the book is that it did not turn scandalous, as many other
biographies do on this topic, nor did it come off as too admiring. Sure, O’Connor states at times that Jeter
seems to be living a charmed life. But
he didn’t overdo it by letting the reader know that Jeter worked hard at
keeping that portion of his life as private as possible, therefore it didn’t
turn into tabloid material.
This isn’t
to say there weren’t problems with the book as well. Because I listened to the audio version, it
was clear that the narrator, Nick Polifrone, was not familiar with some of the
players mentioned in the book as there were several mispronunciation incidents
of player names. Two examples are
Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia – the second syllable was pronounced with a long A
sound instead of the correct short A sound.
Also notable is Robin Yount’s name was pronounced with the first
syllable sounding like “You” instead of the proper “Yow.” Of course this is not an issue for readers of
the paper book or the e-book, but I was disappointed to hear these names not
properly pronounced.
I also felt that at times O’Connor’s writing came across as an admirer of Jeter instead of an objective author. That came across when Jeter would be struggling – he would always find a way to overcome it. Those were written in a way that it seemed like the man could do nothing wrong and if he did, he would correct it. I also felt that O’Connor was critical of players not on the Yankees and other teams when it wasn’t called for. This was especially true when the book would need to include the other New York baseball team. The accounts of the 2000 World Series when the Yankees defeated the Mets and also the comparisons to responses by both teams to the 2001 terrorist attacks felt like O’Connor was trying to show just how much better the Yankees were than the Mets. I am sure that he did not intentionally do this, but that is how it felt, especially when listening to the book instead of reading it.
Despite
these minor issues, I felt that the book was a very good recap of Jeter’s career
and life up to the middle of the 2011 season, including the day Jeter got his
3000th base hit. This book is
well worth the time to read for learning more about Jeter and what lead to his
Hall of Fame- worthy career.
Did I skim?
No
Pace of the book:
Excellent. O’Connor keeps the book moving with
interesting tales on each portion of Jeter’s career. This is not only for his time with the
Yankees but also during his high school days and his struggles in the minor
leagues.
Do I recommend?
Yes. Whether the reader is a Yankees fan, a baseball
fan in general or enjoys well-researched biographies, this book is a good
choice. If the reader is someone who
believes too much attention was given to Jeter during his playing days or strongly
dislikes the New York Yankees, then pass on this one.
Book Format Read/Listened:
Audio book
Buying links:
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