Review roundup, May 30

♦ James Bailey takes a look at Marietta College Baseball: The Story of the ‘Etta Express in this review.

♦ I did an interview with Paul Staudohar last week, the results of which will be posted as a podcast in the near future, While Googling around for some info on him (among other things, he’s the editor for a collection of popular short stories on baseball), I came across this review he did for Nine on The End of Baseball as We Knew It: The Players Union, 1960–81, by Charles Korr.

♦ Bill Hall offers this review for Bruce Spitzer’s ted Williams novel, Extra Innings. Upshot: “It’s clear that Spitzer has read deeply in the Williams literature, and the man in these pages rings true to the image of the fiercely competitive, intensely loyal, rugged individual who patrolled the Green Monster for nineteen seasons. This story packed an emotional punch I did not expect, and I don’t want to be guilty of any spoilers; I will say I finished “Extra Innings” with both a smile on my face and a lump in my throat. “Extra Innings” will stay with me for a long time to come. ”

This spurred me to get this book finished. I’ve picked it up and put it down on several occasions; that alone tells me something. If it was that great, I’d have plowed through. If it was dreck, I would have tossed it. But I’m constantly giving it one more chance, hoping it will somehow get better. It’s not a terrible book, but it does have a lot of problems, mostly in the repetitive nature and other style points; it doesn’t have to be as long as it is and the fact that it keeps trying for the emotional nerve is a bit overdone. That’s all I’ll say until I post my own review.

♦ Now this really annoys me. It is not a review, as one might think given the headline, “Author William B. Moran Hits Homerun with His Newest Novel, ‘One Season: A Baseball Tale’.” In fact, this is a press release, so the fact that it offers praise is disingenuous, to say the least. It continues: “Novelist William B. Moran and Dog Ear Publishing announce they have joined in an agreement to publish his latest book. This captivating major league baseball story is destined to take its place alongside the game’s most memorable novels.” [emphasis added]. FYI, DEP is a vanity press, so it’s more like he signed them than, say, Doubleday signing a John Grisham or a Steven King.

That may well be true; things are memorable for reasons other than that they’re good.

(And note to whoever wrote this: Home run is two words.)

Here’s an excerpt from the release, offering a synopsis: “At 45 years old, a serious car wreck left him with a freakishly deformed right arm — and an unexpected ability to throw pitches that no one had seen before. Unable to resist a spring amateur-day tryout, Meek appeared on the mound in Florida and put away seasoned pros one after the other.” If this sounds familiar, recall Rookie of the Year, a 1993 feature film. Its IMDB blurb: “When an accident miraculously gives a boy an incredibly powerful pitching arm, he becomes a major league pitcher for the Chicago Cubs.” Hmm.

Sorry if this seems excessively petulant, but I do not like misrepresentation, although to be fair, the reader is left to draw his or her own conclusions from the text of the release.