Schangston

Great stories, Inspirational conversations

Revisado: 04-30-25

Excellent book that should be read by all baseball fans. Larry Gerlach did a great job conducting interviews and conversations with a number of umpires, and bringing us those incredibly personal stories, making these guys human and fascinating. Gerlach brought out their deeply personal struggle to get to the majors, their sacrifice of a normal home life for more than half of the year, every year, and the abuse they took from fans, players, managers, and baseball executives.

The author's extensive research of a segment of the game that frequently goes unnoticed, certainly unappreciated, and heretofore, undocumented to a great extent makes this book vital to our understanding of what it takes to be a major league umpire.

I imagine the interview process was a labor of love for the author, but the hard work of putting it all together is evident, giving us an interesting story and a complete picture of the pride, sacrifice, and integrity that were common elements for each of his subjects. I came away with a greater appreciation of the umpiring profession, and the human element we oftentimes fail to recognize.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Good concept for the story

Revisado: 10-25-24

Boring, disappointing story. Nice idea, poorly executed. I had hoped it would get better. It didn’t.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Worth reading a second time (and more)

Revisado: 06-22-24

One of my favorite baseball books ever, and thanks to Audible, I own it. This is the kind of book I will pick up from time to time and reread a chapter knowing the outcome but loving the story nonetheless. I’ll read anything Golenbock writes, but this one is really exceptional.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Great story, excellent presentation

Revisado: 09-25-23

Really entertaining, this may be one of my favorite King books. It seemed to keep getting better throughout. The author rarely ever disappoints, and this time he hit a home run.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Excellent narration of a wonderful account of an untold story

Revisado: 05-25-23

My favorite Halberstam book with so much information I plan to listen to this again. What a great writer he was… and the narration couldn’t be better.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Great story, well written book…

Revisado: 11-22-22

…but the narrator is obviously not a baseball fan. Too many mispronunciations of names every fan from the Stengel era would know, annoying and should have been caught before being released. Creamer was such a great writer, his words deserved better.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Disappointing

Revisado: 04-04-22

Lots of random thoughts about various memories of 1962, no coherent story, just one unrelated anecdote after another. Not my favorite narrator but that was a minor irritation compared to the disjointed “story”.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Interesting story well told, annoying production

Revisado: 12-28-21

The random music drowning out Carly Simon’s narration was a very bad idea. Otherwise, her frank, open, revealing story was well written and well told. I recommend buying the book, with no distraction of too loud random music that at times made me want to give up. I’m glad I powered through the poor production.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

You don't have to be vertically challenged...

Revisado: 12-11-21

... to enjoy this book, but it helps! This is the first book I've read by this author, but after reading A Short Drink of Water, there will be more! Mara Altman's humor is only exceeded by the keen insights she brings to a topic we can all appreciate whether we are lucky enough to be 6'5" tall, or just barely 5'2" (I'm somewhere in between). She is hilarious, and her humor never gets tiring, her story is interesting and relatable no matter your height. The author narrates this book which is always a plus, and her energy, her personality come through loud and clear.
I was so happy to see she has several other books on Audible, and I imagine they too will be worth the effort. Books like Altman's make my membership worth it, as I don't usually invest my time in books that are "included" in membership, but just tried it with very low expectations. Needless to say, A Short Drink of Water far exceeded expectations. Very well done! Thanks, Audible!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 8 personas

Confusing narration

Revisado: 10-20-21

David Sedaris is terrific, my wife and I have read all his books and enjoyed his performances on Audible. No offense to Tracey Ullman, but this would have been better if David Sedaris had not shared the narration with her… or anyone else, for that matter. It took me a while to accept this woman’s voice as speaking for him.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 6 personas