Mickey Mantle Day in Amsterdam [Paperback]

Jim LaBate (Author), Brian Bateman (Author)

Book Description

Mickey Mantle Day in Amsterdam is Jim LaBate's latest novella about growing up. This particular story focuses on baseball and on baseball's biggest name in the 1950's and the 1960's.

The story takes place during the summer of 1963 when Mantle is on the disabled list, recovering from a broken foot. When his car breaks down near the "Rug City," the 12-year-old narrator and his dad stop to help, and Mantle's Amsterdam adventure begins. By the time it ends, 24 hours later, both the narrator and the reader have learned a valuable lesson.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jim LaBate grew up in Amsterdam, New York, and graduated from Saint Mary's Institute and Bishop Scully High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in English from Siena College in Loudonville, New York, and a master's degree in English from The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York.

Jim served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica for two years, taught high-school English for ten years (one year at Vincentian Institute in Albany, New York, and nine years at Keveny Memorial Academy in Cohoes, New York), and worked as a writer at Newkirk Products, Inc., in Albany, New York, for ten years. He currently teaches writing courses at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York, in addition to his writing activities.

Jim lives in Clifton Park, New York, with his wife, Barbara, and their two daughters: Maria and Katrina.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Mohawk River Press; 1 edition (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966210077
• ISBN-13: 978-0966210071
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,545,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Since January of 2000, Jim LaBate has worked as a writing specialist in The Writing Center at Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) in Troy, New York.

Originally from Amsterdam, New York, Jim graduated from Saint Mary's Institute and Bishop Scully High School. He earned his bachelor's degree in English from Siena College in Loudonville, New York, and his master's degree, also in English, from The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York.

Jim has spent his entire career as either a teacher or a writer. He taught physical education as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Golfito, Costa Rica for two years. He taught high-school English for ten years (one year at Vincentian Institute in Albany, New York, and nine years at Keveny Memorial Acadmey in Cohoes, New York). Then, he worked for ten years as a writer for Newkirk Products in Albany, New York, before moving to HVCC .

In his first two works of fiction -- "Let's Go, Gaels" and "Mickey Mantle Day in Amsterdam" -- Jim tells stories about a 12-year-old boy who grew up in the former "Rug Capital of the World," Amsterdam, New York. While those novels covered, respectively, one week and one day in the early life of the narrator, "Things I Threw in the River" covers a much broader spectrum of the narrator's life, and all the stories in the novel end at the Mohawk River. Jim's fourth novel, however, introduces a new protagonist altogether.

Tom Sullivan is a 21-year-old college student, and he's in love with his creative writing professor - as well he should be. Margaret Cavellari is hot! She looks like a cross between Catherine Zeta-Jones and Penelope Cruz. Okay, so no one is really that hot, but Margaret is close. In addition, she's kind. She's funny. She's interesting. And she's a great teacher.

So when Tom accidentally discovers her computer password, what will he do? Will he read her e-mail? Will he look at her pictures and her word processing files? Will he go into her gradebook? Naturally, Tom Sullivan is curious. But is he also stupid? Of course he is. Read all about Tom's computer adventures in "My Teacher's Password," a contemporary novel published by Mohawk River Press.

Jim lives in Clifton Park, New York, with his wife, Barbara, and their two daughters: Maria and Katrina.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every Kid's Dream, November 28, 1999

By 

Robert N. Going Esq "The Judge" (Amsterdam, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mickey Mantle Day in Amsterdam (Paperback)

All right, every red-blooded American male baby-boomer dreamed sometime of having Mickey Mantle come and spend the day at his house and impress the other kids in the neighborhood. It takes an author with the incredible skill of Jim LaBate to transform that fantasy into one of the most charming books of the era. Each character is so cleverly crafted, and the dialogue so genuine, that you almost feel he is writing about real people. No single neighborhood could possibly boast of so many genuine eccentrics! (Could it?)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another gem from the pen of Jim LaBate, June 27, 2003

By 

Timothy J. Kelly (Bethel, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mickey Mantle Day in Amsterdam (Paperback)

Mickey Mantle Day in Amsterdam is another gem from the pen of Jim LaBate, author of the tender Lets Go Gaels. Once again, the author draws on his love of sports and the fond recollections of his childhood to evoke a bygone era, the pre-video era of wholesome heroes and hot summer afternoons when kids everywhere swarmed the baseball diamonds, gear in hand, and every patch of grass was its own field of dreams.

The generous heart of this story beats loudest and strongest in the young narrators exuberant admiration and respect for the singularly great Mickey Mantle and in the vicarious joy the reader experiences as twelve-year-old Jumbos ordinary world is transformed by an unexpected overnight visit from the extraordinary Yankee slugger.

This is not a story of hero worship for LaBates Mantle is life-sized and as common as a next-door neighbor as he plays ball with Jumbo and his gang of friends. Instead, what is ennobled is the broad hearted zeal of youth and its passionate embrace of a game that once defined everything that was great about small-town America. And therein lies the magic and the pleasure of this timeless tale. It captures the beauty and joy of a young boys heart without pretence or precocity so that, after reading it, I felt as if these boys, and the Mick himself, might have even been a part of my own childhood.

But there is a bittersweet cloud behind the joy of LaBates silver-lined fable. Two weeks ago I made a pilgrimage back to my hometown and visited what had been my field of dreams, a broad green expanse with four full ball diamonds, one in each corner, and four full outfields converging and blending together in the middle into one calm sea of grass. It was a beautiful summer day, about two in the afternoon, when I pulled into the lot beside where the dugouts and the water bubbler used to be. On any given summer day when I was twelve, back in 1963, we might have had to rise early to be certain we could get an open field for our daily pick-up ballgames, choosing new sides throughout the day just to make it more interesting. The fields still looked healthy and well-maintained. I got out of my car, walked to home plate and gazed across the fields. There was not a soul in sight.