The 33 Year Old Rookie, How I Finally Made it to the Big Leagues After 11 years in the minors by Chris Coste; Foreword by John Kruk; 2008; 199 pages; Ballantine Books, New York, NY; 6/25/09-6/27/09
Chris Coste (pronounced Coast) finally caught his dream. That was to make it to the major leagues, he chronicles the journey that led him to be a World Series Champion in 2008. Any book that chronicles the brave knights journey to achieve or find requires a few things, a sidekick, a villian, a cast of supporting characters of all shapes and sizes. Coste had all of those things as he made his way to the greatest show on dirt. His Mom, Wife and Daughter fill the roles of Queen Mother, Queen and Princess as he strives towards his Holy Grail. He journeys through a country of Junior Colleges, Independent Leagues, Minor League Affiliates of several teams. His junior college coach, Smith, fills the role of villian who attempts to convince the knight that he is not worthy to wear the armor. His fellow knights are the ballplayers that he meets during his journey constantly encouraging him. The Wizards Simmy and Charlie Manuel guide him towards the Grail and then enable him to become a member of the round table. Then in 2008 he and his fellow knights were awarded the Grail after slaying the Rays. Coste writes well and communicates the emotions he felt at various stops along his journey. His wife Marcia has to be one of the most understanding and supportive women in the history of the world. I hope that Marcia and Chris are buying Casey all the toys they promised her she could have when Daddy made it to the big leagues. RRRR
Battle Leadership, Some Personal Experiences of a Junior Officer of the German Army with Observations on Battle Tactics and the Psychological Reactions of Troops in Campaign by Adolf Von Schell, Captain Staff Corps, German Army; 1933; 95 pages; The Benning Herald, Fort Benning-Columbus, GA; Interlibrary Loan from the University of Idaho, Moscow, ID; 6/22/09-6/25/09
This little book is jam packed with insights into battles and battlefield decisions and leadership. This should be required reading for anyone who is going to lead people, not just in the military but in any endeavor. This articles in the book follows a series of talks that Captain Von Schell gave to American officers in 1933. The talks are examples given are from World War I and the Germans hadn’t completely fallen under the thrall of Hitler. One of the interesting things in the first chapter is the observation, which I have seen in many books on war, is that there will be never be another war like this one. Men won’t ever face one another in hand to hand combat again, that everything will be done at a distance. The more things change the more they stay the same. There are some important lessons here for those who lead troops, but many of the insights from Captain Von Schell could also be applied to any leadership situation. RRRR
Baseball Eccentrics, A Definitive Look at the Most Entertaining, Outrageous and Unforgettable Characters in the Game by Bill “Spaceman” Lee with Jim Prime; 2007; 206 pages; Triumph Books, Chicago, IL; 978-1-57243-953-5; 6/17/09-6/22/09
From Eddie Gaedel to Graig Nettles and everyone in between. This is an entertaining look at some great ballplayers, some medicore and some lousy ballplayers who all have some sort of eccentrics. From Mark Fidyrich to Ozzie Guillen, these are great stories of life among ballplayers, an inside look at the players. I really enjoyed reading these stories. It is a lot of funny stuff. RRRR
Crazy Love, Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan with danae yankoski; 2008; 175 pages; 978-1-4347-6851-3; 6/15/09-6/17/09
Last Saturday I was in Sandy, (east of Portland) and visited our longtime friends Dennis and Cathy Simons and we got talking about books as we usually do. They gave me a copy of the book Crazy Love and told me they had just ordered 10 copies to give away. I started reading it during my commute on Tuesday and read it through. It is really not a commuter book for a couple of reasons, 1) the author occasionally asks you to go to the computer and watch a video and 2) he asks you to meditate on a couple of things. Both of these are difficult when fare inspectors are asking for your proof of payment, the couple behind you are having a loud discussion and the guy on the cell phone thinks he needs to yell to be heard. With all that said it is an extremely good book that I plan on rereading when I am off for a few days in the summer and can sit and think even more about some of the things that Mr. Chan brings out. We need to break out of the traditional christian box, do this, this and this and don’t do this and you will be saved from a fiery eternity. So many of us have entered into this contract with God without reading the terms and conditions of the agreement before accepting. We know only what the salesman tells us, but don’t read the instructions, which are much more radical than the salesman let’s on. We need to be obsessed with God and live more like Jesus than we do. I need to be challenged with this message on a daily basis so that it will continue to sink in deeper and deeper and become a part of my DNA. RRRR
The Card, Collectors, Con Men and the True Story of History’s Most Desired Baseball Card by Michael O’Keefe and Teri Thompson; 2007; 245 pages; William Morrow, New York, NY; 978-0-06-112392-4; 6/12/09-6/15/09
After reading Card Sharks and this one would have to wonder why anyone would collect baseball cards. For the love of the game, and our teams, most of us don’t collect for investment purposes, and I have my doubts about those who collect for investment.
- I remember a lot of what transpired around the Gretzky purchase of the Wagner T206, it was when I was working at Baseball Cards and More and it was talked about by everyone. Over the years I have heard rumors about the card, like about how it could be so pristine after 100 years and have such good corners. O’Keefe and Thompson provide several different history lessons in this book. A history of trading cards, a biography of Honus Wagner, a chronology of the card, and statements from many of those involved in the various sales. Too many of the people involved the amount of money they spent and whether or not the card was cut from a sheet or whatever was less important than the prestige that went with ownership of the card. This is a well researched and documented history of a card that has almost become the Holy Grail of the hobby, even though there are cards that are rarer. RRRR