The shortstop [Hardcover]

Zane Grey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1937

In the eighty-year-old classic based on the author's career in the minor leagues, Chase Alloway quits his factory job to play professional baseball and becomes caught in the middle of a small-town baseball rivalry.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 310 pages
• Publisher: Black's Reader's Service (1937)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0008808HY
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,142,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best baseball books ever, October 17, 2004

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Shortstop (Paperback)

When Chase Alloway's father dies he leaves his widowed mother and crippled brother and goes off to make his fortune as a baseball player. This story tells of his adventures in doing so, and introduces to the world of minor - league baseball , and major- league character- building that is at the heart of Zane Grey's story. As a child I read this book hundreds of times. I would go to sleep with it every night. It helped me escape into the world of my dream the world of ' making it as a baseball big- leaguer'. The story is after all a story of how through many hardships and disappointments Chase Alloway nonetheless helps his team win the pennant, gets to meet and marry a beautiful girl, is able to come home and bring his mother and brother the happy news of their better fortune.
It is an American success story , but it is told with a really beautiful feeling for the small- town America of the time, a really deep knowledge and love of the game of baseball.
For many moments of happy pleasure and escape, for many hours of wonderful dreaming I thank this book so much.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Simpler Time in Memory, November 13, 2007

By 

Ben Bartlett "Polymath" (Louisville, KY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Shortstop (Paperback)

One night, a determined young man ties his belongings together in a bundle, heads out the door, and quite literally catches a train- a freight train, to be precise. He heads out into the wild, colorful, superstitious, and utterly wonderful world of minor-league baseball.

Zane Gray's story is about maturing and yet preserving character, about growing up and staying young, about aching backs and soft pillows, about the pain of life and the joy of baseball. You will fall in love with the colorful characters, the simple town of Findlay, and a time when men threw silver dollars to the player who could hit a home run out of the stadium.

I especially recommend this book for young boys, but also for older guys who grew up playing baseball. If you love movies like The Sandlot and Bull Durham, you'll love this book!

4.0 out of 5 stars Grey's first successful book, there are many dated references and politically incorrect points. Still worth reading, December 16, 2006

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Shortstop (Hardcover)

While I was well aware of Grey's literary output of western novels, until recently I had no idea that he had also written juvenile sports books. I discovered this by accident when I was tracking down a book that I had read in my youth. In fact, his first success was this book, a rags to riches story about a youth that escapes a life of dull semi-poverty through baseball.
The story begins with Chase Alloway walking home after quitting his job at a factory. It is a dead end job, so even though he has a handicapped brother and his mother to support, he chooses to follow his dream and play baseball. He packs a few belongings and sets out in the world by hopping a freight train. The premise is that most of the towns in Ohio have semi-pro teams and Chase hopes to play for one of them. After being chased out of another town without his pants, he arrives at Findlay, filthy and broke. He walks to the local baseball diamond and impresses the manager enough so that he is offered a job. Chase immediately shines and although it takes some time to hone his rough edges, he ends the season hitting over .400 and is sold to a pro team.
This is one of the early juvenile fiction books that will not be easy for modern children to understand. It also makes references to situations that are no longer tolerated in our politically correct age. Chase has an eye that wavers from the center, and he is ridiculed unmercifully. A hunchbacked little man lives in Findlay and he is often treated as a freak and he lives in an abandoned building, as he has no family or friends. There are also many references to the value of a town baseball team to a community. Before television and radio, entertainment was difficult to come by and people could only follow major league baseball in the papers. The local baseball team was all the baseball they had, so the populace took it very seriously. Probably not as seriously as Grey portrays it though.
I enjoyed reading this book as you can see the literary talent present in Grey, yet it is rough, lacking the polish of his later works. His background as a baseball player is also evident as Grey played baseball for many teams in his youth. One negative point that I found interesting was the image on the front cover. It shows an infielder making the pivot on a double play. His uniform and that of the sliding player are clearly modern. Since this story was originally written in 1909, this image is inconsistent with the context of the book. In my opinion, it would have been better if the players were wearing uniforms consistent with the time frame of the book.