Customer Reviews

Satch & Me (Baseball Card Adventures)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Satch and Me" is Dan Gutman's latest novel in the "Baseball Card Adventures" series. Once again, Stosh travels back in time to meet a baseball player. This time, he travels to 1942 to meet Satchel Paige.

Joe Stoshack ("Stosh") and his coach Flip are researching pitching statistics. They learn that Paige was a great pitcher in his time. Stosh and Flip use a Satchel Paige postcard to travel back to 1942 when Paige played. They want to use a radar gun to accurately measure the speed of Satch's pitches.

Stosh and Flip discover that it's not as easy as they expected to find out how fast Satch threw the ball. They time him at 99 mph with the radar gun, but Satch is confident that he can throw a faster pitch. Stosh and Flip try twice more to measure Satch's pitches, but something goes wrong both times.

In the end, Stosh has to return home to the present in Louisville without getting an accurate measurement of Satch's pitches. But the trip back to 1942 was still a success. Flip's life is never the same after the visit with Satchel Paige!

I enjoyed "Satch and Me" for several reasons, but the most important reason is that most of the action in the story involves baseball. Most people who like the sport would probably enjoy reading this book. I especially liked this novel because Satchel Paige was a pitcher, and I am a pitcher for my baseball team. I was surprised to find out that pitchers in the 1940s had the same kind of speed that pitchers do today. I used to think that pitchers back then could only throw about 50 miles per hour.

Read this book! You'll be glad you did.

I gave the book Satch and Me by Dan Gutman a four on a scale of one to five. I really liked this book because, while it was fiction, it also had a lot of interesting facts. What happens in this book is that the main character, Joe Stoschak, a thirteen-year-old boy called Stosh by his friends, has the power to travel through time to meet Leroy "Satchel" Paige. While they are there, they meet Satch and there is some action and romance.

Stosh and Flip travel back to 1942 before the Civil Rights movement. Since Satch was an African-American, Stosh saw how horribly African-Americans were treated. The book does an amazing job of describing this era and how African-Americans were treated unfairly. It's amazing because it accurately describes how Satch and other African-Americans had different restaurants, bathrooms, and even newspapers. I never thought of how bad it was for African Americans until I read this book.

The book also has a good variety of subjects. This means that the whole book isn't just baseball. There is reality, action, baseball and romance. For instance, there is a lot of baseball history but there are also fictional baseball games so you have facts and fiction. I think that having a good variety is important because if the whole book was just one subject then it would be boring. If you have a trade off of subjects then there is a goo mix of everything.

I hope you now have a good understanding of this book. Once again, the book has a good array of genre, and it accurately shows how African-Americans were treated unfairly. I hope you read Satch and Me and the you like it as much as I did. -Kevin G. (10)

My son and I both really enjoyed this latest baseball card adventure by Dan Gutman. Not knowing anything about the Negro Baseball League, I found the history fascinating. Satch, as portrayed by Mr. Gutman, is a wonderful, larger-than-life character. My son was blown away by a surprise ending. We both felt this was the best of Mr. Gutman's books.

This is a great book,I've read many sport books written by Dan.I must admit this is probably the best Dan book i've read.

From,

Tim Carhuff

Stosh is a boy that is an avid baseball fan and that has a special talent. If he can hold an old baseball card in his hand he can travel back in time to the year that the card was published. When he goes on one of his travels he always takes a contemporary card with him so that he can return.

Flip Valenti, the aged coach of Stosh's little league team, brings a radar gun to a practice and the debate then is about who was the fastest pitcher of all time. Citing the testimony of great hitters such as Ted Williams Stosh and Flip believe that it was Leroy (Satchel) Paige of the old Negro Leagues. Their curiosity overwhelms them so they travel back to 1942 in order to use the radar gun to measure Satchel's pitches.

The act of traveling back in time turns Flip into a husky eighteen-year-old again and they find the world much different. They land in South Carolina and it is a heavily segregated world. They meet some of the all-time great Negro League players such as Josh Gibson as they are traveling through on a bus and then meet Satchel as he is driving to his next pitching performance. To say that Satchel was a colorful character is an understatement, but it is not possible to understate his pitching ability.

This is a book for the young baseball fan that also teaches a great deal of social history. Modern young people generally do not understand the history of segregation and how strong Jim Crow was. Gutman spins a wonderful and fanciful tale about the love of baseball and interjects the uncomfortable context of the best players being largely ignored due to bigotry. It is a rare sports book that could be used to teach a valuable history lesson.

This book was a nice surprise.

It's sort of "The Magic Tree House" for big kids (only in the way the time travel happens -- but this book is FAR AND AWAY more enjoyable and better written than a Magic Tree House book). The main character, Stosh, can travel to different times by holding a baseball card. He travels back in time (along with a radar gun) to see whether Satchel Paige of the Negro League was the fastest pitcher in baseball.

The story was very good -- good characters, good values, very likeable ball players, and a surprise ending. Very readable. No bad language, for the most part, although at the very beginning of the book there's a comment that someone "beat the crap out of [the team mascot]." No other red flags.

I would say reading level 4th and up -- readers have to understand some baseball terminology and the segregation issues.

I have read all the baseball card adventure books exept for Mickey and Me. These are such great books!

This was an amazing book that combined history with fantasy in such a way that baseball fans, history buffs and fantasy lovers would enjoy it.

This book series is perfect for children with a strong interest in baseball. You get a good idea of the hero's personality as well as their sometimes quirky and inspirational methods to become great players.

I've particularly enjoyed the Satchel Paige book with him, because I'm originally from Kansas City and have been to the Negro League Baseball Museum there. Now he's asked to visit, so he'll continue his education about sports heroes and racism.

In the five star story Satch and Me there is a young 12 year old boy named Joe Stoshack. He plays on a little league baseball team coached by an old man named Flip Valentine. While playing one of the games there is a player nicknamed "Mutant Man" who sparked an idea for Joe and Flip to travel back in time to try to find the fastest pitcher in baseball. Flip had already borrowed a time clock from the high school coach so they used Joe's baseball card powers to travel back in time.

On their way they meet a waitress that becomes there very good friend. Also the boys almost get sent to jail for counterfeit money because they have money from the future. But the waitress gives the boys enough money for bus tickets to travel up to were Satch's team is playing. Finally they find out at the end if he is or isn't the fastest pitcher in baseball. They then no the secret of the fastest pitcher in baseball.