Title/Author:
“The Best Team Money
Can Buy” by Molly Knight, narrated by Hilary Huber
Tags:
Baseball, professional,
Dodgers, audio book
Publish date:
July 14, 2015
Length:
337 pages
Rating:
4 of 5 stars (very
good)
Review:
The Los Angeles Dodgers had an exciting run
during the 2013 season after spending the most money on player salaries in the
history of the game. This happened shortly after the team was bought out of
bankruptcy by an investment group, with the most recognizable name in the group
being basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson. Then, after losing the National League
Championship Series, the team had even more issues in 2014, including a
complete make over in the front office.
This book by Molly Knight recaptured that time
frame and all the adventures the team went through. One doesn’t even necessarily
need to be a baseball fan to enjoy some of the passages. The long description
of the soap opera ownership of Frank and Jamie McCort is better writing than
anything seen on daytime television. Following key personnel like Clayton
Kershaw, Matt Kemp and manager Don Mattingly is refreshing while reading or
listening to Knight’s style of writing.
The narration by Hilary Huber is also very good
as she speaks about the game as a knowledgeable person. This is one of several audio books on
baseball that Huber has narrated and her narration of this one is easy to listen
to and makes the listener feel like he or she is sitting next to her in the
studio.
While the research and interviews were
thorough, there was one issue through the book that kept repeating that kept me
from giving this five stars. The topic of conversation seemed to keep going off
on tangents. The best example of this occurred in the chapter on Dodgers rookie
outfielder Yasiel Puig from Cuba. The narrator jumps from talking about Puig to
broadcaster Vin Scully to relief pitchers and back to Puig without any
connection. That may work for casual conversation but it was confusing for an
audio book. But it did come all together and overall this was a good recap of
the 2013 and 2014 seasons for the Dodgers. I do recommend this book for
any baseball fan as it is an easy and quick read or listen.
Book Format Read:
Audio book
Buying links:
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