Omar!: My Life on and Off the Field [Paperback]

Omar Vizquel (Author), Bob Dyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2003

* Now in paperback * A new Postscript by the author comments on the 2002 baseball season, off-season changes for the Indians, and the controversial responses to the hardcover edition of Omar! from Albert Belle and Jose Mesa.

Four weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List in 2002.

—

You don’t have to be a baseball fan to be an Omar Vizquel fan.

Omar doesn’t just make the tough plays look easy. He makes the toughest plays look fun. Widely considered one of the best defensive shortstops in the history of baseball, he is often praised by teammates, opponents, and fans alike for working so hard at his game—and for obviously enjoying it so much.

His hard work has paid off. Omar won an amazing nine consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Awards and holds the highest career fielding percentage of anyone at the position. He has been selected for three American League All-Star teams, has played in two World Series, and has been a key member of six Central Division Championship Cleveland Indians teams.

In this, his first book, Omar tells the story of his life in baseball, from the sandlots of Caracas, Venezuela, to Game Seven of the World Series and beyond. Along the way he offers a candid look inside the locker room of those powerhouse Indians teams, shares anecdotes about fellow major league ballplayers, and gives plenty of lively opinions on the game they all play.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up-This autobiography by the Cleveland Indians shortstop covers his early life in Venezuela and how he was chosen at the age of 17 to come to the United States to play ball. Vizquel's delightful sense of humor is evident when he explains that as a child he had always assumed that Batman and the Sesame Street characters he watched on television were Venezuelan and was shocked upon coming here and finding that the characters spoke English. Readers will be interested in the chapter "Cashing In," in which the author presents eye-opening information about baseball salary contracts. On the other hand, lack of strong organization has readers jumping back and forth in time. Sections about the athlete's favorite music, hobbies such as paintball, and his opinions of surfers read more like bits of trivia found in fan magazines than fodder for an autobiography. Vizquel's many asides to readers ("more on that next chapter-") are annoying and his digressions on fake grass and Astroturf, Cleveland's odor, the state of his baldness, and the number of vacuum cleaners or refrigerators in his house are more intrusive than informative. Sixteen pages of full-color photos appear in a centerfold. Strictly for avid fans of the game.
Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Noted glove artist Vizquel's career as a big-league shortstop has mirrored the careers of earlier Venezuelan stars such as Luis Aparicio and Dave Concepcion. Helped by newsman Dyer, Vizquel talks of his life as a player, husband, and father. He speaks proudly of the nine Golden Glove awards he has won for fielding, his other baseball achievements, and his hobbies, businesses, and possessions. Omar gives frank appraisals of fellow players, too admiringly of Cleveland teammate Jim Thome, for instance, and negatively of moody slugger Albert Belle. Mainly useful around Cleveland and Seattle, the two cities where Vizquel has played as a regular, this autobiography can serve adult and YA sports collections. Morey Berger, St. Joseph's Hosp. Lib., Tucson, AZ
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Gray & Company Publishers (May 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886228590
• ISBN-13: 978-1886228597
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,281,806 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Everything I wanted and more..., May 2, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Omar!: My Life On and Off the Field (Hardcover)

Omar Vizquel is one of the greatest shortstops to ever play the game. Often overshadowed by Jeter, ARod, and Garciaparra, he makes the barehand play look routine and turns a double play better than any of them. This book gives you the insiders view of Game Seven of the World Series and the come-from-behind Seattle game (down 12 runs in the 7th). It was also cool to read about what the players do off the field. If want great stories about baseball and the greatest shortstop playing the game, then this is the book for you...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A must for any OMAR fan!, September 6, 2002

By 

Nancy Pierce (Stow, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Omar!: My Life On and Off the Field (Hardcover)

I love Omar - and reading this book made me love him even more! It's a fun book to read because it's filled with great Omar stories, all written in a very "conversational" tone. The co-author is Bob Dyer, a local newspaper columnist, who I have long thought to be a terrific writer. You will love this book! (His new video is great, too!)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unintentionally controversial, May 6, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Omar!: My Life On and Off the Field (Hardcover)

It is unfortunate that this entire book has become enmeshed in the Belle controversy - Omar mentions the corked bats only briefly, in an effort to tell about the personalities of his teammates. The whole book is more of an uplifting, sometimes humorous, story of a guy from Venezuela who came to the US without a word of English, who worked hard to become the best-fielding shortstop in baseball history.

Omar's storytelling is as straightforward as his glovework. He's not a great writer, certainly. But the honesty and candor that have sometimes won him the enmity of his teammates (including, obviously, Belle) work for the reader here. It's an easy read - not great literature, but enjoyable for an afternoon...