Play by Play: Baseball, Radio, and Life in the Last Chance League [Paperback]

Neal Conan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 18, 2003

After being shelled, rocketed, bombed, and held captive in the desert, Neal Conan, one of NPR’s top foreign correspondents for more than twenty-five years, decided to pursue a lifelong dream—to become a baseball announcer.

Play by Play is Conan’s diary of the 2000 season of the Aberdeen Arsenal, a franchise of the independent Atlantic League. From his position in the announcer’s booth, on the team bus, and in hotels and motels along the way, we meet the coaches, fans, and, of course, the players. In this league of last chances, most players are on their way out rather than up, but they are still happy to be getting paid to play ball.

Conan captures the soul of a great sport through the lens of the minor leagues and reveals the way men face age, come to terms with their limitations and ambitions, and look for new challenges when they’re no longer young phenoms.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Following his lifelong dream, National Public Radio personality Conan took a sabbatical to do baseball play-by-play. Toiling in an independent minor league, the rookie sportscaster writes of the daunting task of filling the airwaves during his Aberdeen (Md.) Arsenal broadcasts with compelling stories and anecdotes; Conan the fledgling author seems to find filling the pages of his book just as difficult. Quotes from players and coaches go on far too long and reveal far too little (and are often unattributed). Conan's childlike enthusiasm for the game is undeniable and his storytelling skills solid, but there's nothing about this band of ballplayers, managed by former major league slugger Darrell Evans that's particularly engaging. It's questionable whether the book's best story a lengthy account of Conan once being held hostage in Iraq while pursuing an NPR feature belongs in a baseball book. Similarly, the author's love note to his son feels out of place. All the minor league clich‚s are here: players on their way up or on their way down, the talented kid with the bad attitude and the kid with the great attitude and marginal skills, and the lonely life of a baseball nomad. America's rediscovery of minor league baseball has meant numerous love-of-the-game articles and programs focusing on the lesser leagues' pastoral charms. Conan's take on it, however earnest, offers little that's new.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

A veteran announcer in radio's majors, National Public Radio's Conan was thrilled to get a call to baseball's minors and spent a happy summer of 2000 doing the play-by-play for the independent Atlantic League's Aberdeen Arsenal. Here he recounts his small-time baseball sabbatical, some of which he previewed on NPR's "Baseball Diary."
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (February 18, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400046807
• ISBN-13: 978-1400046805
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,420,266 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Pursuit Of A Dream, June 14, 2003

By 

W. C HALL (Newport, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Play by Play: Baseball, Radio, and Life in the Last Chance League (Paperback)

Neal Conan is really telling two stories here...one is about his season as play-by-play announcer for the Albany Arsenal, the other is about his own mid-life crisis that led him to take a leave from his job at National Public Radio to spend a season as that team's play-by-play announcer.

The author introduces us to the manager of the team (major league veteran Darrell Evans) and to the players, none of whom are familiar at the beginning of the tale. That's because independent leagues are dependent on those young men who got sidetracked on the way to The Show...whether there was a flaw in their game or in their personality, they had been tossed aside by the big league organizations, and were out to make the most of one final chance with this independent club.

We follow Conan through his shaky start at the beginning of the season, which mirrors the difficult start the team experiences; while Conan steadily gains confidence and skill, it's much more of an up-and-down experience for the Arsenal. This is a thoughtful, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, very human story. I truly enjoyed reliving the year with Conan, and hope you will, too.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good stuff, September 2, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Play by Play: Baseball, Radio and Life in the Last Chance League (Hardcover)

Neal Conan, longtime National Public Radio host/correspondent/producer, has offered up a fine volume on the subject of his sabbatical year as play-by-play announcer for a minor league baseball team. With baseball - and its labor disputes, nascent drug scandals, and rapidly tarnishing image as the American Game - much in the news these days, the fit is a most appropriate one. And he delivers the goods. Minor League ball is currently all the rage, and this book gives you the background and personal stories which fill in a complete picture of a fascinating world most of us know only from the grandstands. His writing flows nicely, his story is compelling, and his team...well, you'll just have to read it and find out what happens to the Aberdeen Arsenal during the course of this singular season. Let's just say that it's good Conan had a job waiting for him back at NPR. Can't wait to hear what his next book is going to be about.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Nothing new here, May 12, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Play by Play: Baseball, Radio and Life in the Last Chance League (Hardcover)

Many books have been written about the minor league experience. But this one offers little new or refreshing. Rather, it is the obvious story of a man in the midst of a mid-life crisis. At one point, amazingly, his wife even asked him if he wanted permission to sleep around during his hiatus from home, children and ostensible repsonsibility. I'm surprised he declined. Grow up, Mr. Conan. You should have stayed at NPR.

For readers interested in a great book about life in the minors, check out David Lamb's classic, Stolen Season. That's a book worth owning and reading.