Review of "We Are the Ship"

While on a long drive back home from visiting family members this past weekend, I decided to listen to an audio book on baseball's Negro Leagues.  I have not listened to an audio book in a long time, so it was a treat to do so.   It was doubly so because this was a very entertaining book to listen to and enjoyable as well.   So, to end 2013, I am posting this review of "We Are the Ship."  Enjoy the review and I wish you a happy and prosperous 2014.   Oh, and I will still be reviewing books as well.  In fact, there are a couple of my resolutions that I am making that are about this blog, so I will be posting them as well.   Happy New Year!

Title/Author:

“We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball” by Kadir Nelson (audio book narrated by Dion Graham)

Tags:

Baseball, history, Negro Leagues

Published:

February 1, 2009

Length:

1 hour 55 minutes total reading time

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (outstanding)

Review:

There have been many books written about the history of the Negro Leagues, so there was really not a lot of new material to be reviewed in this book by Kadir Nelson.  However, the manner in which this book was written and narrated was a refreshing version of the history of players who deserve all the accolades they deserve for the dedication that they gave to the game they love.

The history of the Negro Leagues, from their beginnings under Rube Foster to the decline of the leagues after Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier, is told from the viewpoint of a narrator who was a player in the Leagues, but remained nameless and team-less.  He can best be described as an “Everyman” type of player.  

This player, personified by the terrific reading of Dion Graham, lets the listener feel like he or she is on the dusty fields with the players on those days they play two or three games.  Or on the buses traveling from city to city with the stories of keeping the driver awake or maybe players sharing driving duties.  Or the problems the player faced during the days of segregation when trying to buy food or find a place to sleep for the night.  Or learn a little more about the superstars of this time, such as Oscar Charleston, Satchel Paige or Josh Gibson. Graham’s smooth delivery and happy personification of the “everyman” player makes it a joy to listen to an audio book.

This is sold as a children’s book, a fact I did not realize until after I listened to it and did a little research on Nelson.   While listening to it, I did not get the impression that this was a children’s book (recommended for ages 8 and up).  The language, while fairly simple, was sophisticated enough to keep older children and adults interested.  There are still many facts that can be learned while reading or listening to this book.   Overall, this is a great book for anyone who wants to either learn a little more about the Negro Leagues or just wants to be entertained by some great baseball stories.  

Did I skim?

No. 

Pace of the book: 

This was a quick book.   As I listened, I actually replayed a few of the sections on the CD as I didn’t want to miss some important information.   The narrator didn’t read it so fast that the information couldn’t be absorbed, but because he was very entertaining as well as informative, I replayed certain sections where I missed something because I was laughing.

Do I recommend? 

Yes.  As mentioned in the review, I believed that I gained a much better understanding of this book in the audio format than I would have had I read the paperback or e-book.   But no matter which format the reader prefers, this book should be added to the reading list of every baseball fan.    

Book Format Read:

Audio Book

Buying Links:

http://www.amazon.com/We-Are-Ship-League-Baseball/dp/0786808322/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388453121&sr=1-1&keywords=we+are+the+ship

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/we-are-the-ship-kadir-nelson/1100548463?ean=9780786808328

Review of "Heart of the Blackhawks"

Title/Author:
"Heart of the Blackhawks: The Pierre Pilote Story" by L. Waxy Gregiore and David M. Dupuis

Tags:
Ice hockey, biography, Blackhawks

Published:
October 1, 2013

Length:
400 pages

Rating:
4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review: 
Pierre Pilote was one of the premier defensemen in the National Hockey League in the late 1950’s and 1960’s but ask most hockey fans today if they have heard of him and you will get mostly blank stares. I was one of those who had never heard of him, but when I saw that this book was available for review on Net Galley, I decided to give it a try. I am glad that I did as this book is not only a biography on Pilote, but also a very good illustration of what life was like in the NHL during the last days of the “Original Six” – the time frame when there were only six franchises in the league.

The structure of the book is true to the form that a biography of an athlete takes. That is, it starts with Pierre’s youth, his family background and uprising and how he developed his hockey skills. It follows his career through the Canadian juniors, the minor league team in Buffalo for which he played (remember this is the 1950’s and only six teams – no Buffalo Sabres yet) and then through his days with the Chicago Blackhawks. His career did extend to the Great Expansion of 1967-68 when the NHL expanded to twelve teams and he finished his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

That last fact is a bit ironic, as it was some of the games against the Maple Leafs (as well as the Montreal Canadiens) that Pilote got his reputation as not only an excellent defenseman, but as one of the toughest players of that time as well. The book is filled with many stories from Pilote about those games. Of course, the best ones for both stories and achievement were the 1961 Stanley Cup finals in which the Blackhawks took home the title.
While nearly every sports biography will have stories shared by the athlete portrayed and many fellow players, what made this one a little different was that Pilote talked mostly about two topics – hockey and family. There isn’t a lot of retelling stories in the bars (some, but not many) hotels or trains. That was a positive for me, as I enjoyed the stories about the hockey best. I especially enjoyed those in which the fans were a bit unruly and what the players did to protect themselves.

If there was a negative in the book, I thought it was the overuse of exclamation points by the authors when quoting Pilote or other players. The stories were told as quotations, but each one of them had most of the sentences ending in exclamation points. As a reader, I found this a bit disconcerting, as I would not be able to determine which stories were really exciting for the player to recall. While entertaining, I found these to be distracting.

However, this doesn’t take away the overall enjoyment of reading this book, which was a fun look back at a different era in hockey. Many long-time fans look fondly back at the days of the “Original Six” and this book does that.

I wish to thank NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Did I skim? 
No.

Pace of the book:
At times it felt slow, but overall it is a good read without being tedious. Not being familiar with much NHL history at the time there were only six teams, I took my time in some of the chapters to absorb the information.

Do I recommend?
Yes. While the story is a compact version, it is a good read for anyone who enjoys an uplifting story. The hockey talk is basic enough so that non-sports fan can still understand that part of but enough insight that a fan of the game will enjoy it as well.

Review of "A Champion's Mind"

This was a different autobiography on an athlete - different for reasons that are explained in the review.   Because of these differences, I felt this was an outstanding book on tennis great Pete Sampras and I highly recommend that any tennis fan or reader who enjoys a good autobigraphy pick this one up.  Here is my review. 

Title/Author:

“A Champion’s Mind” by Pete Sampras and Peter Bodo

Tags:

Tennis, autobiography

Published:

June 10, 2008

Length:

320 pages

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (Outstanding)

Review:

Pete Sampras retired from tennis holding the record for most career Grand Slam victories and his journey to setting that record is chronicled here in his autobiography that covers his tennis career.  I added that last phrase to the sentence because unlike most biographies or autobiographies on athletes, this book focuses solely on his tennis career.  There are stories about his childhood, but they are about the development of his game during his youth when he was a tennis “prodigy.”  What is refreshing, however, is that he doesn’t complain about any bad breaks during his youth. There are no bad parent stories as can be so common in tennis (think of the parent stories of tennis stars such as Mary Pierce, Jennifer Capriati or the Williams sisters).   There isn’t even talk of his struggles.   It reads that Sampras is aware that he had a talent for the game, that he was raised comfortably and is appreciative of what his parents provided for him.

That appreciation also transcends to his coaches during adulthood.   He gives credit to Pete Fisher for helping develop his game although Sampras believes the athlete is ultimately responsible for his or her success.   He speaks almost with reverence about Tim Gullickson who ultimately succumbed to brain cancer (more about this relationship later).   Sampras also talks much about Paul Annacone and his coaching and friendship as being another key component to the success he had on the court. 

Because Sampras talks tennis and little else in this book, there is rich detail in many aspects of his game.  Not only match highlights, but he talks much about his mindset to reach certain goals.   From a teenager who burst into the spotlight with his 1990 U.S. Open title up to his last Grand Slam, the 2002 U.S. Open, the reader will follow Sampras’s  career and what he did physically and mentally to achieve the greatness that he attained.   

Two passages that resonated with me were actually connected to each other.  The first one is a moment that anyone who saw it while watching this match like I did will remember.  During a match against Jim Courier in the 1995 Australian Open, Sampras broke down and was openly crying.  He had just learned of Gullickson’s terminal diagnosis and the emotional toll on him finally broke through.   This changed the minds of some media members who felt that Sampras wasn’t emotional or even human – that this outburst finally showed he was “human.”  Sampras always felt that was an unfair image portrayed.  He felt that he was simply able to put those aside when focusing on his tennis.  Yes, he had human emotions and feelings but just didn’t express them openly as often.   I thought that this reaction was a microcosm of the entire book – that Sampras was not apologizing or bragging about his career, he was simply who he was and this was why.   It was refreshing to read such an autobiography.

I also found it refreshing that when reading this, I wasn’t reading about an athlete who was heavily into partying, drinking, drugs or sex.  He didn’t talk much about these topics, but until he met his wife late in his career, he just didn’t find those as important as his game.   Again, something I found very refreshing.   That was a big reason I loved reading this book and will highly recommend it for anyone who either is a tennis fan or simply wants to read a different type of autobiography.

Did I skim?

No. 

Pace of the book: 

Excellent.  Since Sampras talks mostly tennis with very few personal side stories, the book reads quickly and stays in chronological order.

Do I recommend? 

Yes, especially for tennis fans, both avid and casual.   The avid fan will appreciate the inner tennis technical talk, the casual fan will enjoy reliving the highlights of Sampras’s career, and anyone who wants to read an autobiography that isn’t filled with a lot of chest thumping will enjoy this as well.

Book Format Read:

E-Book (Kindle)

Buying Links:

http://www.amazon.com/Champions-Mind-Lessons-Life-Tennis-ebook/dp/B001ANUR2C/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387729911&sr=1-1&keywords=a+champion%27s+mind

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/a-champion-s-mind?store=allproducts&keyword=a+champion%27s+mind

Review - The Soul of Baseball

Any words I add to this will only be repeating what I wrote in this review. An outstanding book on an outstanding baseball player and person. Enjoy this review and by all means, go out and get this book. Whether you buy books, get them from a library, or collect them - this one is a must read.

Title/Author:
“The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America” by Joe Posnanski

Tags:
Baseball, Negro Leagues, history, biography

Published:
October 13, 2009

Length:
306 pages

Rating:
5 of 5 stars (Outstanding)

Review:
Baseball is supposed to be a fun game. Many people will complain about it’s all about the money now, that performance enhancing drugs have ruined the game and other similar maladies. But for those of us who can overlook all of that and just enjoy the GAME itself for what it is, then this is a book that is required reading. Buck O’Neil, even in his nineties, still enjoyed the game as much as a kid.

That enthusiasm also extended to life itself, as the stories he told in this book by Joe Posanski show that he still enjoyed the simple pleasures in life as well. He would hug every lady that approached him for an autograph or chat. He would greet familiar faces, such as sons of former teammates with infectious laughter and cheer.

But what really set these stories apart for me was that O’Neil was never bitter or angry about his life or the circumstances. There were several instances in the book, including an interview on a radio show, where it seemed like someone was trying to make O’Neil angry or tells about how wrong life was for black ballplayers before Jackie Robinson. But it never worked – O’Neil repeatedly stated that his life was blessed and that he wouldn’t have traded it in for anything else.

This type of attitude was reflected in other stories as well. The chapter that told of Buck attending a regular game in Houston was one of the best in the book. In it, he talks about Roger Clemens as a power pitcher, enthusiastically cheering a diving catch in right field, talking about what runners at first would do in his day…in other words, it was all about BASEBALL. Nothing else. Of course, he would get requests for autographs and stories from passing fans, and he would accommodate them. Buck O’Neil was simply the type of baseball player that is the closed thing to the type of player kids will idolize. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book on his later stages of life.

Did I skim?
No.

Pace of the book:
There is never a boring moment in this book. I read it a little slower than my usual reading pace as I did not want to miss anything.

Do I recommend?
Yes. Baseball fans and historians alike will be thoroughly entertained by O’Neil’s stories, his love for the game so many years after he played and Posanski’s great commentary as well.

Book Format Read:
e-book (Kindle)

Buying Links: 
http://www.amazon.com/The-Soul-Baseball-Joe-Posananski-ebook/dp/Boo13TXAoY/

Review of "Big Hair and Plastic Grass"

Having spent MANY nights at baseball games while growing up in Minnesota during the 1970's, I was very interested in this book.  Brought back some good memories and some additional stories that were very entertaining.   Here is my review of "Big Hair and Plastic Grass."

Title/Author:

“Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging ‘70s” by Dan Epstein

Tags:

Baseball, history, politics, society

Published:

May 25, 2010                                                                       

Length:

351 pages

Rating: 

4 ½ of 5 stars (Very good)

Review:

A franchise moves halfway across the country after only one season in the Pacific Northwest.   A controversial book describing the antics of baseball players off the field.  Those are two of the events in baseball in 1970, setting the table for an entertaining and interesting decade for the sport.  The book is broken into chapters for each year 1970-1979 with a few extras on topics such as hair styles and uniforms.  

The baseball season recaps are quite informative and well researched.   Not every detail is included, such as you don’t see the listing of individual award winners listed each year, but there are recaps of the season for each of the four division winners, other teams that played significant roles in the season and then brief recaps of the League Championship Series followed by a detailed account of that year’s World Series.  

None of these are written in great detail, but with enough so that the reader will get a good feel of what it was like to be watching that championship series.  Whether it was the 1971 Series that introduced night games and saw the Pirates become the first team to come back from being down three games to one, or the 1977 Series in which Reggie Jackson hit three homers on three pitches, it is all covered in this book.

If there was a problem with the baseball coverage with this book, I thought that some of the best moments or performances were ignored or omitted in favor of giving more information on only the teams that were contenders.  As an example, there is no mention of Rod Carew at all in the 1977 chapter when he had one of the best individual seasons of the decade with a .388 average, the highest at that time in over 30 years and was the American League MVP.   Another omission was when Mike Marshall became the first player in to lead both the American and National Leagues in pitching appearances. His record 106 appearances with the Dodgers in 1974 is mentioned in that chapter, but his 90 appearances for the Twins in 1979 to set the record in that league is not mentioned.  

However, there is more than just baseball covered in this book.  Using the game as a background, many political and social issues of that time are discussed as well.  As an example, to illustrate the “sexual revolution” of the times, a story of two pitchers who swapped wives is included in the book. The fashion tastes of the decade are covered in a chapter about the uniforms worn by various teams.  As a personal note, I must admit that one of my favorite jerseys of all time is called hideous, among other terms, by the author.  That jersey is the “rainbow” jersey of the Houston Astros. Ah, well, guess I can’t agree with him on everything, right?

As a whole, this book was very entertaining and great stroll down memory lane as I recalled many of the stories and games described.  Some of the social commentary was informative for me as well, especially in the early part of the decade as I was a kid at the time and didn’t fully understand the significance.  Whether you were a fan at the time or just would like to learn more about that interesting decade, this book is a good read. 

Did I skim?

No. 

Pace of the book: 

Excellent.  I moved quickly through each chapter, whether it was a baseball chapter or one on a different topic.

Do I recommend? 

Yes. All baseball fans, regardless of age, will enjoy this look back at that decade.  Fans who followed the game will love remembering the stories and those who were not around then will be entertained at the comparison between the eras in both baseball and American society as a whole.

Book Format Read:

E-Book (Nook)

Buying Links:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/big-hair-and-plastic-grass-dan-epstein/1116932689?ean=9781429920759

http://www.amazon.com/Big-Hair-Plastic-Grass-Baseball-ebook/dp/B003JTHYH6/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386801214&sr=1-1&keywords=big+hair+and+plastic+grass

Winner of baseball trivia books

I have drawn the winner of the baseball trivia 4 pack.   Using the very non-scientific method of drawing the winning name from slips of paper out of my 2009 AL Central Championship Twins hat, the winner is....Lisa!  
Lisa, I will send you an email with the contact information for the publisher.   For those who did not win this time around, I will have another giveaway after the new year.   Will probably do it in mid-February when baseball fans first hear those magical four words - "pitchers and catchers report."

In the meantime, I will be posting a review on a 70s baseball book later this week.   Thank you to everyone who entered and keep reading these great sports books.

Review of "Beyond Birkie Fever"

As I am always on the lookout for books on different sports, I was pleased to run across this one on cross country skiing. A well-known cross country skiing event in northern Wisconsin recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, and this book is a very good source of information on that event and what it means to his life. 

If you comment on this post, or any of the past three posts, you will be entered to win a 4 pack of baseball trivia books.  Details are explained on the November 30 post.

Title/Author:

“Beyond Birkie Fever” by Walter Rhein

Tags:

Cross country skiing, autobiography, endurance sports

Published:

November 20, 2013

Length:

248 pages

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

This story of a cross-country skier’s experienced with the famous Birkebeiner race is a fascinating account of not only the history and trails on the course, but also of his trials and tribulations as an athlete.  More than the sports aspect of the book, the human spirit aspects of the story are what make this book worth the time to read it.

Rhein takes the reader through his own youth and how he got the inspiration to take up the sport early in the book.   His mother was one of the participants in the first “Birkie” (be sure to read the introduction for more great stories on this first races from other participants) and from there he gets the bug.  The story doesn’t read like the typical autobiography, nor is it one where unexpected wins or fantastic finishes are documented.   Rhein’s story reads much like other amateur participants of events like the Birkebeiner, marathons, or other endurance sports.  It is an accomplishment just to finish, let alone win.

Some of the stories are quite humorous. My favorite one was of the time Rhein and his friend Doug decided to train during the summer by using roller skies. Between the hilarious description of the equipment itself and the misadventures while using the equipment, it was a great read.  So was Rhein’s account of one particular marathon he was running when he was getting hungry and saw a partially opened energy bar package lying on the road.  I won’t give any more away about that story, but it is one that the reader won’t soon forget.

Overall, this is a very good memoir about an amateur cross country skier and his trials and tribulations while training for and competing in one of the biggest events in the sport.  Even if a reader knows nothing about the sport, it is still worth the time to read this entertaining book.

Did I skim?

No. 

Pace of the book: 

Excellent. 

Do I recommend? 

Yes.  While the book is mostly stories about skiing, people who are looking for training ideas might also find the book useful as his stories about his marathons and other runs are helpful as well as entertaining.

Book Format Read:

e-book (Kindle)

Buying Links:

http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Birkie-Fever-Walter-Rhein-ebook/dp/B00FEPQ212/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385943771&sr=8-1&keywords=birkie+fever