Is This a Great Game, or What?: From A-Rod's Heart to Zim's Head---My 25 Years in Baseball [Paperback]

Tim Kurkjian (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 27, 2008

ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian has spent more than twenty-five years covering almost three thousand major league baseball games and interviewing about that many players, coaches, managers, and executives.

            In Is This a Great Game, or What?, Kurkjian combines his years of experience, uncanny knowledge, and deep love of the game, to create a book filled with some of the most fascinating insight into Major League Baseball this side of Jim Bouton’s bestseller, Ball Four. Whether he’s explaining what goes through a ballplayer’s mind when he faces a fastball in the chapter “My Face Was Crushed by a Bowling Ball Going 90 MPH,” detailing bizarre rituals and superstitions performed by baseball’s greatest players, or taking us into the locker room to see what transpires in the clubhouse of a major league team, Kurkjian’s tales are at times hilarious, other times horrifying, yet always entertaining.
            Kurkjian has spoken to some of the greatest ballplayers ever over the years, and they have revealed details about themselves and the game they love with a candor that readers won’t find anywhere else. Filled with anecdotes and fascinating insights, this is an essential book for baseball fans or anyone curious about America’s pastime.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

ESPN commentator Kurkjian waxes nostalgic about baseball and his career covering the major leagues. Much in the style of a broadcaster's chatter during a game or the baseball notes columns in newspaper sports pages, Kurkjian peppers the reader with a succession of stories, many no longer than a paragraph. He argues that baseball is the "ultimate skill sport," far superior to football, basketball and all other sports, as well as being the game where players have the most fear of being hurt (by the ball, in this case). He goes on to say that baseball is the funniest game, its stats are the most significant, it has the best preseason, and it is the best game for kids. His rapid-fire stories in support of baseball deification sometimes come at an ad nauseam pace, but there are many entertaining ones in the bunch, including a player who confused the words "erudite" and "hermaphrodite" and another player who brought a live ostrich into a team meeting. His chapters on scouts, stats and spring training are among the best, while the behind-the-scenes chapter about ESPN's Baseball Tonight will be too much insider baseball for most readers. For a book that covers almost all angles of the major leagues, Kurkjian writes only briefly in his final chapter about the recent steroids scandals, a glaring oversight when discussing the modern game. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Kurkjian, who has covered major-league baseball for 25 years, was the little kid with a million baseball cards who couldn't play a lick, but he found a career in the game anyway. This is a collection of mostly humorous anecdotes collected on the baseball beat, but the standout chapter is a serious examination of the element of fear in the game. A baseball traveling at the speed it does--either pitched or hit--can do considerable damage when it comes in contact with an unprotected body part. Kurkjian interviewed many players who have sustained serious injuries when hit by a ball. Some recover physically but not mentally. Others overcome the fear but can't compensate for permanently altered vision. Kurkjian also has a wonderful chapter on baseball's unsung heroes, the scouts, underpaid lifers who travel thousands of backroad miles per year to find the next-best version of Mickey Mantle or Roger Clemens. Kurkjian is a fine writer who absolutely loves his work. Even as they savor every word, readers will be jealous: Why can't we love our jobs as much as this guy does? Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (May 27, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312362242
• ISBN-13: 978-0312362249
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #161,743 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Miscellaneous > Sports Broadcasting

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Is this a great book or what? May 4, 2007

By Peter A. Henderson

Format:Hardcover

My wife picked up a copy of this book for me last weekend. I read it over the course of two days. What a great read. I've always enjoyed Tim Kurkjian's commentaries on baseball, be it on the radio, TV, or print and his take on the past twenty five years doesn't dissapoint. There are some really interesting stories that he shares, that you don't (at least I haven't) heard anywhere else.

There is a chapter about the fear of the baseball. Conversations with numerous players who were hit in the head with a pitch and how it affected them. There is a chapter called "Ambidextrous" that share funny stories about players like Mark Mulder, a left handed pitcher, who does everything below the waist (tie his shoe, golf, bowling) right handed.

The book was also very well written and well laid out. Very much an enjoyable read.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great read, but could have been better July 9, 2007

By Craig VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I've always thought that Tim Kurkijan was the second-brightest mind on Baseball Tonight following the amazing Peter Gammons, and that's pretty much reaffirmed by this book. His insights and observations are excellent, and his discussion of the rightful place of statistics in the game is outstanding. He doesn't downplay the role of statistical analysis in baseball, but he does point out that the numbers should always be viewed in the proper context.

The book itself is written at times in what is almost a stream of consciousness format. The stories about individual players or personalities jump around at times, but they're still incredibly funny and poignant. TK also does a great job of throwing in little historical and statistical footnotes.

The book only got to me a couple of times. I felt myself bristle a little when he talked about how insightful John Kruk was on the show. Perhaps Kruk can be that way at times, but as a viewer I find him to be a senseless blowhard far too often. And while Gammons and Kruk are singled out for praise, little is said for the rest of the current crew. I'd like to know his true feelings on each of them, but I understand why he might not want to share those with everyone at this time. I also would have appreciated his thoughts on Harold Reynolds' firing - he praises Reynolds, but doesn't touch the topic of his dismissal. The other area where I would have liked a stronger view was the section on Selig.

Overall, this is an extremely enjoyable read. There are plenty of great stories to make you laugh, and most of us will come away having learned something. I'd recommend it for any baseball fan.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good stories written sloppily March 26, 2010

By Andrew Heiz

Format:Hardcover

Baseball is a great game with a history to match. Some of the stories are legend and some only known to true fans. What Kurkjian does well is tell the stories. What is done poorly is the editing. I found myself re-reading passages that made no sense. For example in the chapter about Baseball Tonight there is a description about a heated argument about knockdown pitches. "Brian Kenny told Dibble, 'Now make sure you say on TV what you said today in the meeting.' 'Don't worry' Dibble said. 'I will.' 'No, you won't,' Kenny said." (pg. 205). What is it? Say it or don't. This is typical of a fair amount of the book. Including the editing problems there are many factual errors. For instance he writes if Bill Buckner had not made the error and thrown out Mookie Wilson in game six of the 1986 World Series the game would have gone into extra innings (pg. 221 No. 8). The game was already in the 10th inning. Makes me wonder what other errors there are. If Kurkjian had been a baseball player writing his memoirs I'd be more forgiving. However he is a credentialed journalist, his job is to make write accurate , well written accounts of events.
For pure enjoyment of telling baseball stories, where accuracy may not be needed or wanted, you'll enjoy this book. Worth going to the library to check out.