Customer Reviews

The Kid Who Batted 1.000

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'll keep it simple: if you want to read a great novel with the title, "The Kid Who Batted 1.000" read the ORIGINAL, written in the 50's by Bob Allison and Frank Ernest Hill.

I'm 100% in favor of free expression, especially in a public book review forum such as this one, but shouldn't there be a requirement that people actually read the work before critiquing it?

The author of this novel not only acknowledged right in the book that he had re-written a children's book for adults, not only told the story of how he came to undertake that effort, but dedicated the book to the original authors!

Whether you like the book or not (I loved it, to the tune of five stars), at least have the courtesy to read the whole thing before hurling unfair accusations.

As he has with his golf novels, the author somehow manages to mix laugh-out-loud humor with dark edges and some very serious themes. Any one of half a dozen of the characters in this book could be the lead in his own book, and these wonderful and richly drawn personalities add great texture to the intriguing story. I didn't know anything about baseball when I read this book, but all of a sudden I'm watching games on television. I recommend this book very highly to anybody who loves a good story and great writing.

This doesn't measure up to the author's excellent golf novels
"The Green", which I'd give 5 stars, and "The Foursome", which
I'd give 4 stars. A number of well-known historical incidents
(the Merkle Boner, the striking of of Bench who thought he was
getting an intentional walk, etc) occur to characters in the
book--perhaps interesting to readers unfamiliar with the game,
but somewhat offensive to those who know the true contexts.
I would much preferred not to see a pennant drive as the climax--
too many sports novels/movies seem to think that a Super Bowl
or a world Series being on the line makes things more
interesting--the movie Bull Durham didn't need this device, and
Semi-Tough had the Super Bowl as a rather minor incident. Perhaps
significantly, there are only 17 players listed on the team,
including what appears to be a 3-man starting rotation and two
relievers, and only a few of these players are endowed with
character.
The two best baseball novels are Robert Coover's
Universal Baseball Association, and Roth's The Great American
Novel. In the former, J. Henry Waugh creates a fantasy league
controlled by dice--and rules and is ruled by the game--the
players are all given very distinct characters by Waugh. In the
latter, in 1943 the Ruppert Mundys of the Patriot League are
displaced from their stadium (the war effort, you know) and
play 154 road games. This is a hilarious book, and you get to
know all the misfits (such as Hothead Ptah, the wooden-legged
catcher). People who enjoy baseball will appreciate both these
novels, and the characters have a real depth to them--you do not
need pennant chases to make things interesting. McAllister's
golf novels can be reread with pleasure every couple of years,
and Coover's and Roth's books can also be reread once a year--
but I do not expect to be rereading the review book.

McAllister is better when writing about golf, but this was an enjoyable read. I especially liked the trivia about the evolution of the game.

This is quite possibly one of the worst examples ever of baseball fiction. A vapid story, with enough oddball plays that would not occur in a decade's worth of major league play, much less a one team's single season.
As a very serious collector of adult baseball fiction with over 100 works in my library, this ranks, in my opinion, at the bottom. Nice dust jacket, though.
If you really feel compelled to read this type of work, get a copy of The Curious Case of Sidd Finch, which, while it too is not great fiction, was at least fresh in its time and had some humor in it.

If anybody gives you that "How can you like a stupid game like baseball?" line, hand them a copy of this book. If they still don't get it after reading it, they're brain dead. Find new friends. The Kid Who Batted 1.000 will do for baseball what The Green did for golf.

This book is a worthy addition to over a century of outstanding baseball writing. It's difficult to imagine a fresh angle after all that's been written about the great American pasttime, but McAllister pulls it off in grand style. **Highly recommended** and that includes non-baseball fans, too.

I've read hundreds of books about baseball, nearly all of which romanticize and prettify the game and its players. The Kid Who Batted 1.000 is one of the rare few that tell it like it is, getting down to the real grit of actual human beings in a pressure-packed arena. It reminded of Bouton's classic Ball Four in that regard; I'm even willing to bet that the fictional bench coach in this book is modeled after a coach in Bouton's book. Baseball fans will go nuts over this book, and non-fans who appreciate great writing will love it, too.

This book is another addition in what seems to be shaping up as a string of exciting and well-written novels centered on sports. McAllister has shifted his focus from golf to baseball, and the results are pretty spectacular.

**Highly** recommended!