Where Nobody Knows Your Name: Life In The Minor Leagues Of Baseball (2014) - Plot & Excerpts
Feinstein is consistently one of my favorite writers, albeit one who tackles the relatively light weight topic of sport. All his books have been very enlightening and are well written so that the reader really related to the protagonists. This is true with this book as much as any of his others and perhaps more so for the struggles (relatively speaking of course) on which he throws his investigative writer's light this time.Central to the premise and reflected in the title is the challenges of fighting through the minor leagues of professional baseball whether for the first time, as a player attempting a comeback or as a broadcaster or umpire. I should make clear that I don't feel sorry for sportsmen and women as a general rule. They typically get paid to play a kids game as the saying goes. However, having said that, there is clearly a world of difference between toiling in the minors and striking it rich as a major league star. It is this that this book seeks, and succeeds in, illuminating.This may be a book that might date quite quickly. Reading it now means there is an immediacy as some of the players and officials are still in the game or have only recently retired, quit or been fired. There is a lot of mention of my KC Royals too, perhaps because they have so often taken people seemingly destined to stay at triple A or below. In 10 years the obscurity of some of these names may well be complete.The book is written in terms of a season, and so the main characters come and go and overall we get an impression of how the season went. The call ups and the send downs are all here and the reader is interested in the fates of those covered and as usual, JF illustrates their feelings, dreams and disappointments with a light and engaging touch.Ultimate the stories are all the same - getting to the bigs is truly everything and doing so is a dream for all in the minors, not realized by all that many at the end of the day. I really enjoy the sport of baseball, but I guess I don't enjoy it enough to read several hundred pages about the minor leagues. I read an excerpt of this book in THE WEEK and thought it'd be a great read. To me, however, it felt disjointed and repetitive. I lost interest early on because the narration shifted between lots of perspectives and some of the players' quotes and observations were used again.I'm sure many readers will enjoy hearing the stories of these players, but for me, this book struck-out (cheesy pun intended).
What do You think about Where Nobody Knows Your Name: Life In The Minor Leagues Of Baseball (2014)?
good book. a little depressing for someone like me who is following my dream too.
—Mags
fun book to read. a good view of the minor leagues.
—xskye12x
Excellent book for any true baseball fan!
—jeaniebee
