In the Ballpark: The Working Lives of Baseball People [Hardcover]

George Gmelch (Author), J.J. Weiner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 17, 1998

In the Ballpark is a collection of interviews with twenty-one people who work in all parts of Major and Minor League Baseball: usher and broadcaster, beer vendor and sportswriter, clubhouse attendant and field manager, ticket seller and owner, scout and general manager, mascot and player. Organized by setting—the stands, the field, the press box, and the front office—the accounts yield a wealth of insight into little-known aspects of the game. The new concluding chapter provides updates on the subjects since they were interviewed ten years ago as well as updates on how their jobs and the game itself has changed since In the Ballpark was first published.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

An oral history with academic credentials behind it, In the Ballpark is a clever hybrid of sober scholarship and good fun. Conceived by a practicing anthropologist who once played Minor League ball, the book takes you into the game's corners to tell the stories of the people, most of whom you don't even know are there, who make baseball the experience it is. This isn't a book extolling on-field glory--though Yankee centerfielder Bernie Williams is among its voices; it's a book primarily about the game's grunts.

Shuffling between the farm teams and the Show, Ballpark resonates with the first-person narratives of beer vendors, ushers, clubbies, trainers, denizens of the press box, and front-office personnel--even the Phillie Phanatic. If some are more fascinating than others--hey, that's baseball--all contribute to the book's evocative texture. An epilogue in the form of an essay dissects baseball work with the dry edge of erudition, footnotes and all, offering such wisdom as "When we compare work in the minor leagues with the big leagues we find the higher one ascends the professional baseball ladder, the larger the staff and the more complex the division of labor." Don't hold that against it. If Ballpark's extra innings flag, the individual voices that precede it are wonderfully different, lively, and generally filled with charm. --Jeff Silverman

Review

This is the rare book that can actually make you see a baseball game in a different way.... -- The New York Times Book Review, Allen St. John

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Smithsonian (February 17, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560988762
• ISBN-13: 978-1560988762
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,264,531 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kudos to the authors, June 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: In the Ballpark: The Working Lives of Baseball People (Hardcover)

The fact that the subject is baseball is beside the point. The authors have shown skill, humour, and insight in their ability to identify and highlight all the areas that go into making the game what it is. Some of the people are likable, some you even feel sorry for, but the tact, taste, and even the occasional lack of objectivity serve to make this an enjoyable read. (Coming from a family with many anthropoligists, I can say I've never read anything as fun to read as this.)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting look at a different dimension of baseball, April 19, 2000

By 

Samuel Wachtel (Merrick, New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Ballpark: The Working Lives of Baseball People (Hardcover)

Beneath all the publicity, the stories of superstars signing for mega-bucks and of those who blow it all, this book gives us a look at the people who try to make a career in baseball just because they love the game. Some of them succeed, others fail. But they all seem to have an undying love for the game and what it means to the American way of life.

This book was certainly well worth the time. I recommend it to any baseball fan.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, April 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: In the Ballpark: The Working Lives of Baseball People (Hardcover)

I would of given it a twelve but that rating was not allowed. By far the best and funniest book on baseball I have read in a long time. A refreshing departure from the usual baseball book. I can't believe two guys from Schenactady, NY were able to put this together. Maybe that Weiner kid really did get something out of Union.