Customer Reviews

Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

If you have ever wondered how the players and managers prepare to do the amazing things we see every day of the baseball season this is the book for you! I have loved the game for my entire life, but I never realized so much preparation goes into every little aspect of the game. George Will covers each part of the game - pitching, hitting, and fielding - by observing and interviewing some of the greats of the game; Hershiser on pitching, Gwynn on hitting, Ripken on fielding, and Larussa on putting it all together.

George Will quoted Wes Westrum in this book - "Baseball is like church. Many attend, but few understand." This book increased my understanding of the game and as a result has added to my enjoyment of baseball. I see things I didn't see before I read this book - the nuances of the game have become more clear.

I did not believe I could love the game more, but after reading this book, I do! I would highly recommend this book to both students of the game and to newcomers looking to understand the game.

Ever wondered what goes on behind closed doors as the coaches meet before a game, or how much sign stealing really ocurrs? The answers to these questions and much more about the behind-the-scenes goings on of the great game of baseball are in this magnificent book by the conservative political columnist George F. Will. Will takes you behind closed doors with Tony LaRussa, the best manager in the game. He also takes you to the pither's mound with Orel Hershiser, to the batter's box with Tony Gwynn, and to the shortstop's position with Cal Ripken, Jr. And when he gets you there, he explains every thing that is going on in everyone's head and he does it with stunning detail, and first-hand knowledge that will keep you begging for more after you finish. Will's book is a must have for even the casual baseball fan.

If you have ever had any doubt that baseball is a slow paced, boring sport that withers in comparison to football, basketball, and hockey, then this book is definitely for you. In it, George Will explains the simple pleasures of baseball and the tremendous perfections in which it involves. He goes into great detail of the managers roles, the pitchers roles, the batters roles, and the fielders roles, focusing mainly on Tony LaRussa, Orel Hershieser, Tony Gwynn, and Cal Ripken respectively, but often throwing in stories of other baseball greats. Will gives tremendous insite of the finer points of the game which should be appreciated by any true sports fan. He shows how baseball is not only a game of physical skill, but of tremendous mental skill, and a little bit of luck. I found this book to be amazingly interesting and insiteful. Already being a baseball fan it taught me to enjoy the game on a whole knew level, the strategic level of it and I highly recommend it to any baseball fan, or sports fan for that matter.

So insightful and so true, even 10 years after the book was published. A must for any fan of THE GAME.

This is a fascinating journey into the national pastime. George Will writes economically and wisely not only about what the game is, but also what it once was. The evolution of the sport - although that is certainly not the focus of the book - is illuminating for anyone who is interested in how institutions come to change. Will brings a deep explanation to the chief facets of the game - managing, pitching, hitting and defense. Ultimately they groove together to form a gorgeous tapestry of understanding. There's a word for this kind of non-fiction work: indispensable.

If you enjoy the sport of baseball, you gotta read this book. George Will provides insights into the details of baseball by examining the game from the perspective of the Manager, the Batter, the Pitcher and the Fielder. It's wonderful the descriptions of the minute aspects that make the difference between a regular player and someone with the skills like future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. I've read this book many times, and I never tire of the stories of how this game is meant to be played. You will enjoy the game even more after reading this book.

I put down "Men At Work" with a profound sense of disappointment. I passionately love the sport of baseball. There is no feeling quite like sitting in the stands on a hot summer night and watching two teams play nine innings. I passionately love books about baseball- David Halberstam's "October 1964" being the favorite of the genre. I liked Will's 1998 follow up to this book, which was published in 1990. But I did not like "Men At Work". Here's why-

"Men At Work" reads like a tech manual. Hit, run, pitch, field. Okay fine, but when one distills baseball into such an exact science the passion leaves the game. "Men At Work" makes baseball into a game of economics- put in pitcher W against hitter X because he has a Y-to-Z ratio between his groundball outs and flyball outs . . . This is not why I love baseball.

Also, after a while Will's observations become redundant. George we spent fifty pages learning about the strategy employed by Tony Gwynn in hitting, why do we have to read twenty pages recapitulating the same things from Wade Boggs?

If you want to read a good baseball book, read "October 1964" or "Bunts". Don't read "Men At Work".

I agree with the reviewer who said this reduced baseball to a tech manual, removing the passion. I got the impression that Will enjoys baseball because it allows him to feel sophisticated. I enjoy baseball because it's a thinking man's game, but half of that equation is GAME, with competition, passion and celebration for the winners. At best, Will captures some of that passion in his book. But more often than not, it makes it seem more of an engineered factory product.

There are occasions when I really enjoyed the book. I love baseball, and I do love the minutia. It's fun getting behind the scenes to watch Tony LaRussa's coaches work together, and to see the pure hitting mechanics from a master like Gwynn. But I suppose the simplest way to put it is--it's too much of a good thing at times, it becomes mundane, repetitive and boring way too often. Even more advanced baseball writing (i.e. Hardball Times, Baseball Prospectus) tends to be a lot more fun than this. Check out any of Halberstam's books, or John Updike's essay about Ted Williams' last game titled "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu," if you want pure literary baseball magic.

One last thing--consider these two baseball titles. "Men at Work" versus "The Boys of Summer." Interesting the different images they bring to mind. I prefer the latter.

As Woody Allen's dalliance with Soon Yi ruined his films for many film buffs (especially New York reviewers), George Will's penetrating and often disturbing political commentary seems to have colored Men At Work for some reviewers below. Pay them no mind. Men At Work is a brilliant distillation of the insights of several brilliant Baseball Men who Work very well indeed.

Men At Work is faintly scholarly in tone - use a dictionary if you must (I didn't need one). For us non-scholars, though, if the mechanics of baseball is of interest, this book is for you.

An Example: Tony La Russa outlines nine basic ways to run the double steal - and the defense's proper response to them all. I had no idea! We didn't get this in Little League (on the other hand they don't call it the Big Leagues for nuthin')!

Here's another: An explicit split second analysis of stealing second base - it demonstrates almost beyond doubt that you steal on the pitcher - not the catcher (which perhaps shows that Will is biased against pitchers or in favor of catchers - a form of Baseball Politics?)

Will shows that when Gywnn is (no, WAS) pulling the ball, his timing was off, and why this was true.

Men At Work is not sentimental - if you want the Boys of Summer you won't find it here. What you will find is uncommon insight from some of baseball's best presented by a clearly devoted and talented writer.

George Will does a great job of detailing great figures in the history of baseball and the changes over the last 100+ years. The section on Tony LaRussa shows the excruciating detail that goes into what appears to be a simple game. His writing style makes the reading a little slow at times, and requires a dictionary always within reach. Still a good book for baseball fans.