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Title: Men at Work : The Craft of Baseball by George F. Will ISBN: 0-06-097372-2 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 24 April, 1991 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.91 (35 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The Inside Pitch
Comment: George Will is a witty columnist, television personality and author that has won many awards over the duration his career. He spends most of his time writing columns for Newsweek and The Washington Post. Also, he makes appearances on the ABC network commenting on political issues. My focus is on his 1990 number one best selling book that stayed on top for over two months, "Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball."
Many books are available today that focus on the game of baseball. There are all sorts of reading material obtainable if you are looking for such things as history of the game, pitching strategies, tips for hitting and the list goes on. Nobody else but George Will can bring all of these elements into one clever written piece of literature.
Will breaks his book down into four main branches of baseball. He focuses on the managing, pitching, hitting and defending aspects of the game. This is done with the help of some protracted interviews with some of baseballs legends. In the managing section he interviews Tony La Russa, one of baseballs' great all time managers. He provides insightful details on getting the winning edge over the opponent. "He is responsible for wringing the last drop of advantage from the situations that will occur in each game. To do this he must know the abilities his players have revealed in their past performances and he must have similar knowledge of the players in the opposite dugout" (Wills 7). With his vast knowledge of the game, Will certainly communicates to us how meticulous managers have to be to become successful.
In the next three sections he gives us a very informative look at baseball interviewing Orel Hershiser for pitching, hitting with Tony Gwynn and defense with Cal Ripken, all of which are legend of the game. He focuses in on these sections just as he did for the first section, full of enlightening insight of strategy and looking extremely close of the inter workings of the game. Not just through his eyes but also through the eyes of these great players. Will also portrays the game of baseball as a difficult sport to master because "baseball is a game of failure, even the best batters fail about sixty five percent of the time" (Will 1). Many people don't appreciate the level of skill it takes to be able to either thrown a 90mph pitch or hit a 90mph pitch. Will makes it clear that constant effort and much practice is needed to succeed at the game of baseball.
I found that this book is for the baseball blooded competitor that wants every advantage possible when playing the game. Although, Will might be over-analyzing America's national pastime to the point of exhaustion, he makes us realize that there is more to the game than just playing it. He makes us realize that baseball doesn't ride on talent by itself but hard work and determination gets players to the next level.
I think George Will has written a great book that has definitely put a solid image of what it take to be a ballplayer in the readers head, not just physically but mentally. He has broken down the barrier of the unknown and has taken us through an insider's look of what baseball is really all about. Baseball on the outside is just a simple game where most would agree that only physical challenges are met. But Will shows us the professional baseball mind and how the game gets so much more complex as the competition grows stronger. One cannot help but gain an understanding and a deep appreciation for the game of baseball through all of his Will's insightful words and thorough analysis of some of the greatest players that ever lived.
Rating: 4
Summary: Very detailed
Comment: George Will does a great job of detailing great figures in the history of baseball and the changes over the last 100+ years. The section on Tony LaRussa shows the excruciating detail that goes into what appears to be a simple game. His writing style makes the reading a little slow at times, and requires a dictionary always within reach. Still a good book for baseball fans.
Rating: 1
Summary: George Will Doesn't Know......
Comment: George Will is a pompous ass who knows even less about baseball than he does about politics. In this rag, he states something to the effect that Tony LaRussa is the perfect manager....that if you were going to construct the perfect manager you would end up with none other than Tony. What a crock. Just ask any Cardinal fan, who see his inept moves every day, what they think of LaRussa. I could name at least 50 managers that are more skilled. Go back to politics and your big words. You know nothing about baseball, George.
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Title: BUNTS by George F. Will ISBN: 0684853744 Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 04 March, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Tim McCarver's Baseball for Brain Surgeons and Other Fans : Understanding and Interpreting the Game So You Can Watch It Like a Pro by Tim McCarver, Danny Peary ISBN: 0375753400 Publisher: Villard Pub. Date: 16 March, 1999 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: With a Happy Eye But . . . : America and the World, 1997--2002 by George F. Will ISBN: 0684838214 Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 19 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $27.00 |
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Title: Fair Ball : A Fan's Case for Baseball by Bob Costas ISBN: 0767904664 Publisher: Broadway Pub. Date: 03 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Restoration by George F. Will ISBN: 0029347130 Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 31 December, 1993 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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