Author: fartheroffthewall

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“Called Up: Ballplayers Remember Becoming Major Leaguers”

The author:
Zak Ford

The publishing info:
McFarland
190 pages; $35; released Dec. 17, 2023

The links:
The publishers website; the authors website; at Bookshop.org; at Powells.com; at Vromans.com; at {pages}; at BarnesAndNoble.com; at Amazon.com

The review in 90 feet or less

Back on Day 7 of this series, we dialed into the call-up that Fr. Burke Masters once experienced. As a college player at Mississippi State, he thought someday he’d be in the minor leagues and get that summons for MLB duty. Instead, he experienced something that we’d like to consider a higher calling.

All in all, getting the call up to the big leagues — whether it’s winning a spot in spring training or sent up to fill in during the season — will never be a dull deal. It can be awe inspiring.

Zak Ford, a lifelong San Francisco Giants fan, chapter leader with the Society for American Baseball Research and on the advisory committee of the Pacific Coast League Historical Society, took up the task of sending out dozens of requests to former MLB players to ask about the emotions they felt, the circumstances they encountered, and the staying power they experienced when that event happened.

Turns out, 109 responded, from those who started back in the 1960s up through the 2000s. As well known as Sam McDowell, Jason Kendall, Jerry Reuss and Bob Tewksbury, who’ve written their own autobios. There’s Bobby Grich, Gene Tenace, Scott Spiezio, Atlee Hammaker, and James Loney. Far more in the somewhat obscure range as Randy McGilberry, Nyls Nyman, Bill Sampen, Andy Shibilo and Jonathan Van Every.

And every one has a story.

“Baseball Heaven: Up Close and Personal,
What It Was Really Like in the Major Leagues”

The author:
Peter Golenbock

The publishing info:
Rowman & Littlefield; 344 pages; $28.95; released March 5, 2024

The links:
The publishers website; at Bookshop.org; at Powells.com; at Vromans.com; at Walmart; at BarnesAndNoble.com; at Amazon.com

The review in 90 feet or less

Gaze upon the heavens today.

If you’re in Cleveland, today rocks. While waiting for the start of the Guardians’ home opener against the Chicago White Sox, the ballpark was be filled with thousands staring into space to witness a rare total solar eclipse.

Hopefully, precautions were taken. We did this drill in 2017. Some need reminders.

The Guardians of our baseball galaxy decided to push the start of its game to 5:10 p.m. local time, two hours after this celestial event is celebrated. The eclipse peaked at 3:13 p.m.

Cleveland’s team then blinded the White Sox a few hours later in a 4-0 win.

This kind of event hasn’t happened in Northeast Ohio since 1806, and it isn’t supposed to happen again until 2444, if the planet hasn’t melted. It is cause to pause and consider if former Cleveland first baseman Julio Franco had a career that spanned that long.

Heaven also help us, as Peter Golenbock has come up with another idea to make us wonder if an Iowa cornfield really is heaven on earth.

“Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of
Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball”

The author:
Keith O’Brien

The publishing info:
Pantheon Publishing
464 pages, $35
Released March 26, 2024

The links:
The publishers website; the authors website; at Bookshop.org; at Powells.com; at {pages}; at Walmart.com; at BarnesAndNoble.com; at Amazon.com

The review in 90 feet or less

The stories wedged into our data stream with the non-latest on Shohei Ohtani’s curious plight of paying off someone’s gambling debts — his own, his interpreter, or something else we’ve lost in translation — essentially hits on the same few notes.

A) Major League Betting … er, Baseball … in bed with gambling websites is hypocritical going back to 2018;

B) Sports wagering isn’t legal in California and maybe should never be;

C) A story of this magnitude was bound to blow up some day and “you’d be insane to think there isn’t going to be a scandal,” and;

D) didn’t we already cover this with The Life and Times and Bad Bets and No Remorse of Pete Rose?

Pull up a bench, Johnny. The story isn’t over til it’s been done over and over.

“Baseball’s Great Expectations:
Candid Stories of Ballplayers Who Didn’t Live up to the Hype”

The author:
Patrick Montgomery

The publishing info:
Rowman & Littlefield
214 pages; $35
Released March 5, 2024

The links:
The publishers website
at Bookshop.org; at Powells.com; at {pages}; at Vromans; at Walmart; at BarnesAndNoble.com; at Amazon.com

The review in 90 feet or less

The headline in the New York Post on March 21 screamed bloody murder. Because, really, what else would you expect from Ye Old Post of Newish Yorkshire Pudding:

The story contained the fact: “As part of their historic off season spending frenzy, the Dodgers rewarded Yamamoto the largest pitching contract in MLB history this past off season.”

Hey, maybe go easy on dousing the words “off season” into the recipe of one meager sentence. We got it the first time … OK, go on …

“To beat out the Yankees, Mets and Phillies, among others, Los Angeles gave Yamamoto $325 million over 12 years, beating Yankees ace Gerrit Cole’s previous record by $1 million. With such a contract comes expectations to be among the league’s best.”

Missing fact from that paragraph: Cole, the former UCLA star entering the fifth year of a $324 million contract, is now projected to remain sidelined until at least June 1, forcing the Yankees to find more pitching depth elsewhere and never likely to get full value from their investment.

Also buried in the last paragraph of that Yamamoto story: “While his outing stood out, the Dodgers had pitching problems throughout the game as six other pitchers combined to allow 10 runs in eight innings.” He wasn’t the only one looking shaky on the mound that day in South Korea.

So as epic a meltdown for the ages of anyone making their MLB debut as it was Yamamoto … We are happier for his self worth that he was not a member of the Yankees or Mets, or else the black-page, block-letter headlines would have been made into a T-shirt and NYC Library Book Bag.

Oh, quick followup: When Yamamoto made his second start of the season, on March 30 at Dodger Stadium, posting five shutout innings on both ends of an eventual rain-delay — who does that any more — the Dodgers’ extra-inning loss to the Cardinals was framed this way in the N.Y. Post:

As this AP story includes, Yamamoto “bounced back from his dismal MLB debut on March 21 … ” And taking that further, L.A. Times’ Dylan Hernandez followed up with a column headlined: “Forget the loss. Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto proves he can pitch in MLB.”

Yamamoto, 25 years old, with several years of fame in Japan, has made two MLB starts. Two. His next is Saturday at Wrigley Field.

Get a grip.

Maybe come back with your trumpet solo in 2036, when Yamamoto hopefully reaches the age of 37 as his Dodgers deal ends. At that point, there will be no more newspapers to even be around covering things so vital to our survival.