The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero
Continuing on the theme of place in reading, I read the majority of this book in exactly one spot: on my couch in front of the television during the commercials of Red Sox playoff games. For those of you whose teams make it into the playoffs, I highly recommend reading a book during the games. Obviously, it's not good if you're watching with others, but if you're watching on your own, reading during the commercials can be a very calming influence.
There are many benefits to this, including:
1. You will not have to listen endlessly to the same commercials over and over again. I may be the one Boston or Tampa fan who doesn't want to kill Frank Caliendo after all his Frank TV commercials. I'm not saying that I want him to have a career, but if I happened to see him on the street, I would not accost him, unlike the majority of baseball fans.
2. When the umpires make a bad call and the networks go to a commercial without showing a replay, you will at least have a way to simmer down.
3. All those brain cells killed by your drinking of beer during the game and/or listening to Chip Carey or Tim McCarver can be magically revived through the power of reading.
Obviously, a sports book works best, though I've found any non-fiction book works well. For me, fiction doesn't particularly work, simply because the constant interruptions don't allow me to get immersed into the story, but your mileage may vary. And don't worry. I wasn't stupid enough to try to read Crime and Punishment during a baseball game.
As for the book, I picked it up because Roberto Clemente was probably the best player who I didn't really know anything about. I'm glad I read it, because Maraniss is right that Clemente may have been baseball's last hero. I can't see today's players doing as much for the poor as Clemente did.
Unfortunately, for me at least, the Red Sox did not make the World Series, or else I would have finished this book a lot earlier.They were eliminated with about 100 pages left, and it took me awhile to get around to reading those final 100 pages. While the book was well done, I have to say that I was disappointed at times.
Maraniss seems to be primarily a political reporter in his work for The Washington Post, and he sometimes goes off on tangents that I didn't particularly care about. For example, when I picked this up, I have to say I wasn't thinking, "Gee, I wonder what Richard Nixon thought of Roberto Clemente?"
He also spends a lot of time going into the background of the owner of the plane Clemente died in as well as the pilot. It makes sense, as Clemente's tragic death was due to the negligence of these people, but sometimes I think I just wanted to read more about baseball.
Continuing on the theme of place in reading, I read the majority of this book in exactly one spot: on my couch in front of the television during the commercials of Red Sox playoff games. For those of you whose teams make it into the playoffs, I highly recommend reading a book during the games. Obviously, it's not good if you're watching with others, but if you're watching on your own, reading during the commercials can be a very calming influence.
There are many benefits to this, including:
1. You will not have to listen endlessly to the same commercials over and over again. I may be the one Boston or Tampa fan who doesn't want to kill Frank Caliendo after all his Frank TV commercials. I'm not saying that I want him to have a career, but if I happened to see him on the street, I would not accost him, unlike the majority of baseball fans.
2. When the umpires make a bad call and the networks go to a commercial without showing a replay, you will at least have a way to simmer down.
3. All those brain cells killed by your drinking of beer during the game and/or listening to Chip Carey or Tim McCarver can be magically revived through the power of reading.
Obviously, a sports book works best, though I've found any non-fiction book works well. For me, fiction doesn't particularly work, simply because the constant interruptions don't allow me to get immersed into the story, but your mileage may vary. And don't worry. I wasn't stupid enough to try to read Crime and Punishment during a baseball game.
As for the book, I picked it up because Roberto Clemente was probably the best player who I didn't really know anything about. I'm glad I read it, because Maraniss is right that Clemente may have been baseball's last hero. I can't see today's players doing as much for the poor as Clemente did.
Unfortunately, for me at least, the Red Sox did not make the World Series, or else I would have finished this book a lot earlier.They were eliminated with about 100 pages left, and it took me awhile to get around to reading those final 100 pages. While the book was well done, I have to say that I was disappointed at times.
Maraniss seems to be primarily a political reporter in his work for The Washington Post, and he sometimes goes off on tangents that I didn't particularly care about. For example, when I picked this up, I have to say I wasn't thinking, "Gee, I wonder what Richard Nixon thought of Roberto Clemente?"
He also spends a lot of time going into the background of the owner of the plane Clemente died in as well as the pilot. It makes sense, as Clemente's tragic death was due to the negligence of these people, but sometimes I think I just wanted to read more about baseball.
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