Customer Reviews

Hitting In the Clutch

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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This book is hilarious! I have not yet finished it, and I can already tell you I will buy every book Brad Bauer ever writes. Bauer is a cross between Dan Jenkins and Peter Gent. I reccommend this book to anyone who likes to laugh. This book is the funniest book I have read in at least five years. I cannot wait for Bauer's next book to come out.

It has a cover, pages, and typed words inside! it certainly qualifies as a book! Also this book is quite hillarious; Bauer(who i think infringes on the "24" copyright by using that name) makes you laugh with his quirky and lovable, yet outrageous characters. I aint gonna lie i actually had fun while reading this tale...which is more than I can say for most other books out there. Go out there give "Clutch" a read!

Billed as a Baseball book for the Maxim crowd, Hitting in the Clutch is a rowdy, crude, hilarious look at what really goes on inside the clubhouse and on and off the field among professional baseball players.

This books is a HOOT! I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a fictional Ball Four, written during the 2004 Arizona Diamondbacks season. Clutch, the fictional author of the book, and his buddies are a lot like high-school boys, always cracking one-liners, talking crude and looking for monkey. It may be fiction but I thoroughly believe a lot of it is likely to be the way some ballplayers really are (or do I just want to believe it?). As crude and rude as Clutch is, I found myself actually caring about him by the end of the book. It's one of the funniest books I've read in a while. Run, don't walk, to your nearest bookstore and get a copy. You won't be sorry. Highly recommended!

Mr. Bauer has penned a glimpse of the baseball world that some only hear about. This no-holds-bar account of what really happens in the clubhouse is a must for baseball fans who want the dirt on America's pasttime. Written in down-to-earth language that even a major leaguer can understand, Hitting in the Clutch should bring a smile or an evil grin to your face! Definitely recommended!!

Mr. Bauer has been frequenting Barnes & Noble in uptown Dallas since it opened. We got an advanced copy of Hitting in the Clutch and everyone on staff loved it. We passed it around until the release date and now our store is stocked. The book continues to entertain us on breaks throughout the day.

I've never been a baseball fan, but that certainly didn't impede my enjoyment of the book. The endearing characters and themes of camaraderie certainly drive the story more than mere sports trivia. I can honestly say that this is, at last, a "guy book" that girls can not only tolerate, but enjoy and learn from as well. My boyfriend and I decided to read the book together and I was surprised by the number of conversations it sparked.

We have a lot of authors that come through our door, but I can say with certainty that Mr. Bauer is amongst the most down to earth, friendly, and genuinely funny ones. Rumor has it, he's also cute as a button. I look forward to reading anything else he plans to write.

In Bauer's first novel, we get a behind-the-scenes look at what really drives baseball players. And it's not just the money. Okay, the money does have an influence, but so do the women, the fame, all the juicy stuff we love to imagine about celebrities. A definite enjoyable read for baseball lovers and non-baseball people alike.

After reading a few chapters in Brad Bauer's novel, Hitting in the Clutch, I realized I had gotten exactly what I paid for (though I bought it for my boyfriend instead of me). The back of the book says it's a "baseball book written for the Maxim crowd," about the daily musings of a Major League Baseball player. Within the first few chapters, I was thrust into the midst of crude, sexual, and bathroom humor that can't help but to elicit some smirks and genuine laugh out loud moments.
Let's get one thing straight: Bauer knows baseball. I can't help but wonder if this is how "baseball players really act (again, per the back cover)," when the cameras aren't around. The situations are sometimes too bizarre, the language too crass, or the intense desire for "monkey (re: women)" too chauvinistic for the reader to imagine one of the nation's golden boys like Alex Rodriguez or Cal Ripken Jr. to do or say. But I can't help but wonder if it's all fiction. No matter how peculiar one of Clutch's journal entries is, it doesn't seem too far out of the ballpark to wonder if there is some truth in it. Hasn't anyone else wondered if real baseball players play fantasy baseball?
The one-liners never stop and I found myself connecting with Clutch. As a female reading this, am I offended? Do I tire of the nonstop barrage of potty humor intertwined with sports knowledge? Surprisingly, the answer is no.
Then, midway through the book something changes and the book takes a screeching turn. We suddenly realize that maybe this book isn't just about baseball, women, and money. We see Clutch cling to his friends, his brothers, and his city. We see the fierce competition and loyalty amongst them all that I know I still have with my friends today. Despite the R-rated (and sometimes X-rated) material, the novel manages to slide in some literary merit. Is it a little strange that amongst this dirty, entertaining novel that the owner of Clutch's baseball team's initials are J.C.? Is it a little strange that we really don't know if Clutch Thompson will be the same person on page 200 that he is on page 1? How can we disagree and borderline hate our hero at times, yet constantly laugh at and with him and root for him to succeed?
Bauer writes in a fast paced, `zinger a paragraph' style that had me finish the book two days after I picked it up. It won't win any awards anytime soon, but that doesn't seem to be what Bauer set out to do. In this way, the book succeeds tremendously. When you shell out $[...]for Hitting in the Clutch, you know what you're getting. Loved it.

This book is a laugh out loud riot. I don't like sports, but was intrigued by watching someone else laugh out loud at this book. I laughed so hard I had to put it down and wait for the tears to stop rolling down my face so I could see the words again. I don't think I have ever laughed this hard with a book. I recommend this to everyone, even if you don't like sports. I have read all three of these books and will read them again. I couldn't put them down. I had to read them all. Waiting for the third one to come out was almost excruciating. READ THIS BOOK!!!!!

I was introduced to the Clutch series by a friend who thought I would enjoy them because my husband is a professional baseball player. I literally could not put Hitting in the Clutch down. I was so enthralled with "Clutch Thompson" that I found myself constantly thinking about him and what was going to happen next throughout the day! Once I finished Hitting in the Clutch, I quickly read Homering in the Clutch and Coaching in the Clutch. These books instantly grab you and do not let go. I laughed out loud so much that my husband had to find out what all of the fuss was about and began reading the first book. Clutch Thompson is an in your face, no nonsense character. He is so gravely grotesque, crude, and outrageous that you surprise yourself when you realize how much you are rooting for him! I highly recommend Hitting in the Clutch, Homering in the Clutch, and Coaching in the Clutch to anyone who loves a good laugh and a great story.

I was either giggling or choking with laughter for most of this book. I think that the last time that I hooted this much while reading a sports book was when I was reading some of Dan Jenkins stuff. Jenkins isn't into scatology and sex like Bauer is, but to each his own. I liked it.