Things Happen for a Reason: The True Story of an Itinerant Life in Baseball [Paperback]

Terry Leach (Author), Tom Clark (Author), Paul Auster (Preface), David Cone (Preface)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 14, 2000

Born in 1953 in Selma, Alabama, Terry Leach first plays baseball as a Little Leaguer. In college, he stars at Auburn until an arm injury threatens his future. He recovers sufficiently to pitch sidearm and enter the independent leagues in Louisiana, which leads to his major league career. For every Sosa, there are a dozen major-league players such as Leach. His professional pitching career began in 1976 with an independent minor-league team in Baton Rouge and ended in 1993 with Birmingham in the Triple AAA minors. In between, he pitched parts of 12 seasons in the majors, won 38 games, pitched almost 700 innings, and had a very respectable 3.37 earned run average. He was never a star, and every season of his career was a struggle to make a major-league roster. What dominates this book is Leach's love for the game, its camaraderie, its history, and his small role within it. Guys turning down contracts for millions of dollars often say—and fans know better—"It's not about the money." It's nice to know there are some players who can truthfully say that. Leach is such a player. This book relates his precarious experiences in baseball. His perspective is that of someone who was always fighting for the last roster spot on the team because he was never quite talented or young enough.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Leach was a journeyman pitcher for the Mets and the Twins in the 1980s and 1990s, and this book relates his precarious experiences in baseball. His perspective is that of someone who was always fighting for the last roster spot on the team because he was never quite talented or young enough. Leach is aided here by poet Clark, who has written a handful of books on baseball, including One Last Round for the Shuffler, the story of Phil Douglass, a journeyman pitcher from the 1920s. Here, we do not get many glimpses of rich and famous teammates, since the focus is on Leach's struggle to survive. At times, the text is quite striking and entertaining; at other times, it seems of no great significance. Libraries in the New York and Minnesota regions will be interested. [With introductions by David Cone and Paul Auster.DEd.]DJohn Maxymuk, Rutgers Univ. Lib., Camden, N.
-DJohn Maxymuk, Rutgers Univ. Lib., Camden, NJ
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

For every Sosa, there are a dozen major-league players such as Leach. His professional pitching career began in 1976 with an independent minor-league team in Baton Rouge and ended in 1993 with Birmingham in the Triple AAA minors. In between, he pitched parts of 12 seasons in the majors, won 38 games, pitched almost 700 innings, and had a very respectable 3.37 earned run average. He was never a star, and every season of his career was a struggle to make a major-league roster. What dominates this book is Leach's love for the game, its camaraderie, its history, and his small role within it. Guys turning down contracts for millions of dollars often say--and fans know better--"It's not about the money." It's nice to know there are some players who can truthfully say that. Leach is such a player. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 185 pages
• Publisher: Frog Books; 1st edition (March 14, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583940502
• ISBN-13: 978-1583940501
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,547,158 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A nice try, but it comes up short, April 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Things Happen for a Reason: The True Story of an Itinerant Life in Baseball (Paperback)

To be honest, I really wanted to like this book because Terry Leach seems like a good guy and an honest man, but this book isn't one that I'll think of when I think about good baseball books. It's an autobiographical account of his playing days in college at Auburn, the minor leagues, and the big leagues with the Mets, Royals, Twins, and White Sox. It's not a very well-written book. For example, there are a number of grammatical errors. He tends to use the word myself a lot when he could just use I or me. He also makes way too many excuses for his failures (I wasn't used right, I was hurt, etc., etc., etc.,) and he also complains too much about not being treated right by the different teams that unceremoniously dump him. When he does taste success he can't stop raving about himself or praising himself. On the plus side, this book is easy to read and easy to follow. It's possible to finish this book in the amount of time it takes to watch an entire major league baseball game. Another good thing is that he doesn't have anything bad to say about old teammates, managers, etc. The closest he comes to bad-mouthing someone is when he says that he didn't care for some of his teammates in the minors. He seems like a genuinely good man, and that's why it's too bad this book wasn't a bit more interesting to read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An OK baseball book, October 13, 2000

By 

AARON L DAVIS (Indianapolis, Indiana United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Things Happen for a Reason: The True Story of an Itinerant Life in Baseball (Paperback)

This book is a short fast read a fairly detailed account of Terry Leach's major league career. While it contains almost no controversy or dirt, espicially when he was a member of the "bad boy" Late 80s Mets, the book is a good read when if you would like to know about the lesser players in baseball.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Things Happen For A Reason, October 20, 2008

By 

John M. Mcnamara "JMAC" (Staten Island, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Things Happen for a Reason: The True Story of an Itinerant Life in Baseball (Paperback)

This was a very simple easy read autobiography of a baseball player. It was enjoyable to read and being a Mets fan when he pitched made it all the more informative. The average sports fan may not read this book but all Mets and/or baseball fans should.