I picked up this book in the hopes of learning more about baseball's first family, the Boones. They were the first family to have three generations of big league players and while the book was mostly about the third generation, it was still a good read. Here is my review of "Home Game."
Title/Author:
“Home Game: Big-League
Stories from My Life in Baseball’s First Family” by Bret Boone and Kevin Cook
Tags:
Baseball, memoir, Mariners,
Reds, Braves
Publish date:
May 10, 2016
Length:
272 pages
Rating:
3 of 5 stars (okay)
Review:
Bret Boone made
history when he was called up to the Major Leagues by the Seattle Mariners in
the 1992 season. His grandfather Ray
Boone and his father Bob Boone also played in the Major Leagues, so his call-up
made the Boones the first family to have three generations of players in the
Major Leagues. Bret shares his stories
of his trip through the major leagues, some family memories and his life after
playing baseball in this memoir.
It reads much like a
typical sports memoir with early childhood memories, the adventures of high
school, college and minor league baseball on the way to the majors, insight
into the life of a major league player and what he has done after he had to
make the painful decision that he could no longer play the game. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if a
reader is looking to find out more information on this family that has produced
three generations of big leaguers, it doesn’t contain a lot of stories on Ray
or Bob Boone. There are a few, mainly what was passed down to Bret, but from
the title, one might expect more about father and grandfather.
Instead, there is a lot of information about Bret that he shares. The style of writing is also typical of a sports memoir, complete with jock talk, some locker room hijinks and a lot of the confidence that Bret had in his quest to make it to the major leagues. This isn’t to say that there is not much information on the family – in fact, one of my favorite lines comes when his younger brother Aaron is also called up to the majors, saying that in June 1997, “…the Reds promoted a skinny punk of a backup infielder, Aaron Boone, from Triple A to the majors.” Sounds like some loving brotherly talk.
The book also sheds
some insight from Bret Boone’s point of view about the rising use of
statistical analysis in the game, performance enhancing drugs, the 1994 strike
that wiped out that year’s World Series (Bret was very active in the player’s
union) and some other historical moments.
One of the better baseball chapters was when he recalled the 2001 season
for the Seattle Mariners. He was a
member of that team who set the current record for most wins during the regular
season at 116.
Overall, this is a fun
book to read and I admit I did try to find a reason not to enjoy it when I realized
that it would be mostly about Bret and not very much about his father and
grandfather. Nonetheless, I did finish
it and I am glad I did. Recommended for
readers who enjoy sports memoirs.
I wish to thank
Crown Publishing for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in
exchange for an honest review.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)
Buying links:
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