Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Dan Barry (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 12, 2011

“Bottom of the 33rd is chaw-chewing, sunflower-spitting, pine tar proof that too much baseball is never enough.” —Jane Leavy, author of The Last Boy and Sandy Koufax 

“What a book—an exquisite exercise in story-telling, democracy and myth-making.” —Colum McCann, winner of the National Book Award for  Let The Great World Spin 

From Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Dan Barry comes the beautifully recounted story of the longest game in baseball history—a tale celebrating not only the robust intensity of baseball, but the aspirational ideal epitomized by the hard-fighting players of the minor leagues. In the tradition of Moneyball, The Last Hero, and Wicked Good Year, Barry’s Bottom of the 33^rd is a reaffirming story of the American Dream finding its greatest expression in timeless contests of the Great American Pastime.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

New York Times columnist Barry provides a charming, meditative portrait of a minor league baseball game that seemed to last forever. Because of a rule-book glitch, the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Rochester Red Wings played for 33 innings on a chilly Saturday night into the Easter morning of 1981. Using the game as a focal point, Barry examines the lives and future careers of many of the players, including the then unknown Wade Boggs and Cal Ripken. Barry also profiles the Red Sox team owner, the fans and workers, and even the stadium and the depressed industrial town of Pawtucket, R.I. The game gives Barry ample opportunity to explore the world that surrounds it. Not every Triple-A player becomes a Cal Ripken, and Barry gives generous attention to those who didn't make it—the powerful outfielder who can't hit a curve, the eccentric Dutch relief pitcher with the unlikely name of Win Remmerswaal, the 26-year-old who feels like an old man among younger prospects. The three decades that have passed since the game allow Barry to track the arc of entire lives, adding emotional resonance. Barry is equally adept at describing the allure of a ballpark and the boost it can give to a struggling town like Pawtucket. (Apr.)
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Review

Winner of the 2012 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sportswriting ( )

Dan Barry has crafted a loving and lyrical tribute to a time and a place when you stayed until the final out...because that’s what we did in America. Bottom of the 33rd is chaw-chewing, sunflower-spitting, pine tar proof that too much baseball is never enough. (–Jane Leavy )

“What a book -- an exquisite exercise in story-telling, democracy and myth-making that has, at its center, a great respect for the symphony of voices that make up America.” (–Colum McCann )

“Dan’s Barry’s meticulous reporting and literary talent are both evident in Bottom of the 33rd, a pitch-perfect and seamless meditation on baseball and the human condition.” (–Gay Talese )

“A fascinating, beautifully told story... In the hands of Barry, a national correspondent for the New York Times, this marathon of duty, loyalty, misery and folly becomes a riveting narrative...The book feels like ‘Our Town’ on the diamond.” (–Los Angeles Times )

“An astonishing tale that lyrically articulates baseball’s inexorable grip on its players and fans, Bottom of the 33rd belongs among the best baseball books ever written.” (–Cleveland Plain Dealer )

“Meticulously researched and tremendously entertaining!” (–Columbus Dispatch )

“[Dan] Barry does more than simply recount the inning-by-inning-by-inning box score. He delves beneath the surface, like an archaeologist piecing together the shards and fragments of a forgotten society, to reconstruct a time and a night that have become part of baseball lore.” (–Associated Press )

“Whether you’re a baseball aficionado or a reader who just enjoys a good yarn, you’ll love this book.” (–Minneapolis Star Tribune )

“A worthy companion to Roger Kahn’s classic Boys of Summer ...[Dan Barry] exploits the power of memory and nostalgia with literary grace and journalistic exactitude. He blends a vivid, moment-by-moment re-creation of the game with what happens to its participants in the next 30 years.” (–Stefan Fatsis, New York Times )

“Brilliantly rendered...The book is both a fount of luxurious writing and a tour-de-force of reportage.” (–Washington Post )

“[An] heroic conjuring of the past.” (–New York Times Book Review )

“[A] masterpiece...destined for the Hall of Fame of baseball books.” (–Publisher's Weekly )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Harper; First Edition edition (April 12, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006201448X
• ISBN-13: 978-0062014481
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (89 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #357,310 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dan Barry writes the ``This Land'' column for The New York Times, a feature that he inaugurated in January of 2007. In traveling to all 50 states, he has, among other experiences, witnessed an execution in Tennessee, visited a Yup'ik village in western Alaska, and interviewed Meinhardt Raabe, who played the Munchkin coroner in ``The Wizard of Oz,'' in Jacksonville, Fl. Once, while on a boat to report about the Asian carp that leap by the thousands from the Illinois River, he was struck by one of the fishy projectiles; he has since recovered, though flashbacks remain a problem.
Barry joined the Times in September 1995. Since then he has held several positions at the Times, including Long Island bureau chief (where he oversaw a staff of two, including himself), City Hall bureau chief, and, from June 2003 until November 2006, the ``About New York'' columnist. He was a major contributor to the newspaper's coverage of the Sept. 11 catastrophe and its aftermath, as well as its coverage of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Born in Jackson Heights, Queens, in 1958, he grew up in Deer Park - Exit 51 on the Long Island Expressway. His mother, Noreen, was from County Galway, Ireland; she could spin a tragicomic tale of Homeric proportion out of a trip to ShopRite for a quart of milk. His father, Gene, was from Depression-era New York City; he could find evidence of a conspiracy against working people out of a trip to ShopRite for a quart of milk.
Barry graduated from St. Bonaventure University with a bachelor's degree in journalism, then dug ditches and worked in Long Island delicatessens before earning a master's degree in journalism from New York University -- after which he dug some more ditches. He went on to work at the Journal Inquirer, in Manchester, Conn., where he covered one too many zoning board meetings, and the Providence Journal, in Rhode Island, where protesters once burned copies of one of his stories outside the newspaper's building.
Barry has won several journalism honors. In 1992, he and two other Providence Journal reporters won a George Polk Award for an investigation into the causes of a state banking crisis. In 1994, he and the other members of the Journal's investigative team won a Pulitzer Prize for a series of articles about Rhode Island's court system. His other honors include the 2003 American Society of Newspaper Editors Award for deadline reporting, for his coverage of the first anniversary of Sept. 11, and the 2005 Mike Berger Award, from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, which honors in-depth human interest reporting. He was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 2006, for his slice-of-life reports from hurricane-battered New Orleans and from New York, and in 2010, for his "This Land" articles.
In addition, in 2001 he received a fifth-place award for feature writing from a national bowling organization; the certificate misspelled his name.
Barry has written three books: ``Pull Me Up: A Memoir,'' published in May 2004; ``City Lights: Stories About New York,'' a collection of his ``About New York'' columns, published in November 2007; and "Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game," published in April 2011.
He lives in Maplewood, N.J., with his wife, Mary Trinity, and their two daughters, Nora and Grace.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book About the Sweet Romance and Bitter Reality of Baseball March 15, 2011

By scesq VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

The opening of this book sets the stage perfectly for what is to come. It begins by stating that a baseball game that started on Holy Saturday, which is the "pause between joy and sorrow", has surrendered to the first hour of Easter. The rest of the book talks about this amazing game and the joy and sorrow faced by those at the game.

As a baseball fan who never made it past little league I envy those who get paid to play professional ball at any level. Yet for many at the game playing Triple A ball is bittersweet because the players are so close to their dream and for most they will always be one stop short of playing major league ball. For many Triple A is the place where "sweet romance meets bitter reality."

While Wade Boggs and Cal Ripken went on to greatness and a number of other players like Bobby Ojeda, Bruce Hurst and Rich Gedman had good careers, most of the players in this game never made it to the majors. Some were on the rise and hit their peak and others were on the way down and just trying to stay in the game. It is their stories that make this book so successful.

Yet, Dan Barry also talks about the game itself. This is another great thing about this book. Baseball is the amazing game that it is because it has no time limits. There are no clocks. Three outs are the only limits to an inning. A scheduled nine inning game will last until the bottom of the 33rd if that is what it takes to have a winner, even if the game has to be started again on another day.

Dan Barry does a good job of talking about the lives of these players, as well as the lives of the coaches, bat boys and team owners, in the context of the 33 inning game. He manages to talk about those involved in the game while at the same time talking about baseball itself.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Bittersweet American drama February 12, 2011

By Malvin VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

"Bottom of the 33rd" by Dan Barry is a terrific account of baseball's longest game. More than a sports book, Mr. Barry expertly contextualizes the event and profiles its participants to bring an uniquely American drama to life. Written by an award-winning journalist at the top of his game, this captivating book is certain to be appreciated by a wide audience.

This is not a mere pitch-by-pitch recount of the game. Mr. Barry has the ability to see outside the chalk lines to bring our attention to certain themes that add character and dimension to the story. Mr. Barry writes about the players, managers and families who struggle mightily to achieve their dreams, documenting their sacrifices as they achieve fleeting moments of success or, in a few rare cases, major league immortality. Among the dozens of character sketches, the bittersweet profile of the game's hero, Dave Koza is particularly praiseworthy for its profound insight and sensitivity.

Importantly, Mr. Barry draws interest from elements of the story that might be easily overlooked. Mr. Barry paints a portrait of the hardscrabble industrial town of Pawtucket, Rhode Island whose elders took great pride in building the minor league ballpark whose peculiarities would contribute to the game's drama. Mr. Barry finds spiritual meaning as the players struggle for their baseball lives in the early hours of Easter morning. The author also has a penchant for unearthing the kind of detail that adds enormously to the story's appeal: the shivering radio broadcasters who wouldn't quit; the ejected manager who kept his eye on the game through a secret peephole in the fence; the angry wife who couldn't believe her husband was still playing ball; and much, much more.

I highly recommend this outstanding book to everyone.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Thin Line Between Fame and Obscurity February 9, 2011

By The Ginger Man VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

We all know that an inning cannot begin in baseball after 12:50 a.m. However, the rule prohibiting this was unintentionally dropped from the 1981 International League Instructions for Umpires, Managers and Players. That fact, combined with an absurdly strict constructionist interpretation by Chief Umpire Jack Lietz, set the stage for the longest game ever played in Pawtucket, Rhode Island on the night before and the morning of Easter 1981.

Author and New York Times columnist Dan Barry uses this game to analyze life in the minor leagues. He shows a good eye for the rituals of the game telling the story of how the mud used to rub baseballs was first found by Slats Blackburne on the shore of a South Jersey Creek. Barry describes the sometimes jury-rigged style that characterizes the game played at this level. The ball park for the Pawtucket Red Sox is owned and maintained by the city and is used to store sand and salt in the winter, a practice that is not employed at Fenway. He also probes the history of this Rhode Island city which includes a strong dose of machine politics, a ballpark into which cement trucks disappeared during its construction and a Pulitzer Prize winning poet.

But above all, the book is about the thin line that separates the near poverty and virtual anonymity of minor league life from the exalted status of the 12,000 men who have played in the Show. We see Cal Ripken Jr destined for greatness from his first day and Wade Boggs who seemed to be consigned to Triple A status for life until Carney Lansford was injured late in the year and there was no one else available to bring up.... This is contrasted with Dave Koza, one of the best athletes ever to come out of Wyoming, who spends the long drives home from the East wondering why he was not one of the lucky few to receive a September 1 call up from the parent club. We share the thoughts of 26 year old former FSU star Larry Jones who is realizing that the dream may be ending: "He thinks the manager is more interested in internal politics than in player development. He thinks that one Baltimore executive in particular is the worst man he has ever met. He thinks - no, he knows - that the meter is running; that athletes don't get better with age."

It is fascinating to watch this moment frozen in time (all 33 innings of it) as the eternally obscure Russ Laribee plays next to Lee Graham, who got a cup of coffee with the big club, as well as Bruce Hurst and Bob Ojeda, destined to square off against each other on a very different stage in the 86 World Series, and Wade Boggs, at this point no different than Graham and Laribee, but destined for 3000 hits and the Hall of Fame.

My only complaint is that the author tries a bit too hard in the early sections of the book. We get some overwritten passages such as: "The backstop netting behind home plate sways in and out of focus to lay blurry crosshatches across the unfolding scene, as if to underscore the impenetrable separation between past and future." I wonder if catcher Rich Gedman saw it that way? Fortunately, there are far fewer of these passages as the book and the innings progress. Read more ›