Title/Author:
“Change Up: how to
Make the Great Game of Baseball Even Better” by Buck Martinez
Tags:
Baseball,
professional, memoir, Royals, Brewers, Blue Jays
Publish date:
March 29, 2016
Length:
304 pages
Rating:
4 of 5 stars (very
good)
Review:
John “Buck” Martinez could be considered
a “baseball lifer”, considering he has been around the game in some manner for
six decades. He writes not only about
his career as a player, broadcaster and (briefly) manager but also shares his
thoughts on the status of the modern game and its strengths and weaknesses.
The book does have a few flaws –
some of the sentences could have used a grammatical make over and Martinez does
jump from topic to topic at times. He
does keep the chapters on his playing career together but the other portions do
seem to skip around. It makes the book
at times a bit of a challenge to read, but does not detract from the points he
makes and the unbridled joy he has for the game.
It is clear from Martinez’s words
that he believes today’s players spend more time working on the flashier
aspects of the game such as home runs and pitch speed and less time on not only
fundamentals, but also time together as a team.
That is mentioned so often that I was picturing a younger reader wanting
to write “#OKBoomer” to Martinez for his “old fashioned” views. While nothing he states is incorrect, the
reader may come away with the belief that the long time Toronto Blue Jays
broadcaster doesn’t like the current status of the game.
That would be an incorrect
assumption on the part of the reader. While it is clear that Martinez has the
time-honored belief of pitching and defense is required for winning baseball,
he acknowledges early that the analytics used by modern personnel are essential
as well. He shows his willingness to
accept change when he writes about his career.
He was one of the players who learned the game in the baseball academy
run by the Kansas City Royals in the 1970’s.
While there, he felt that he learned the game the proper way and it
shows when he talks about his time in the major leagues with the Royals as
probably his best time in the major leagues.
While he was disappointed to leave the Royals, he does write with fondness while remembering his playing days two other clubs, the Milwaukee Brewers and the Blue Jays. Martinez writes several pages about the importance of team chemistry (including mentioning it for the current Blue Jays team at the time of publication) and he credits his time in Milwaukee for providing the education in showing how important that is to the success of a team. As for his time with the Blue Jays, he is grateful to the organization for not only finishing his career with a winning team, but also to allow him to work for the organization for many years, including a short stint as manager which wasn’t very successful and a job that he now admits he was not ready to take.
More than his career recollections,
this book is best when Martinez talks about his vision of the game, what the
game has and what it needs from its past.
The reader may not agree with all of Martinez’s points, but one cannot
argue that he doesn’t love the game and a reader who shares that same
enthusiasm should pick up this book.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)
Buying Links:
Sounds like a good read
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