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Rating: 
Summary: Well written saga of a baseball talent and hero
Review: I bought this for 2 bucks at an A&P checkout counter. It was worth 10 times that. Mr. Baker writes beautifully about the game. Our hero John Barr is more a Freddie Couples on spikes than Robert Redford, yet there are enough subplots to keep the reader curious....Contains one of the greatest descriptions of a perfect throw that you will ever read.
Rating: 
Summary: Readable but not great
Review: I found this an interesting and often humourous book. Although many of the characters were caricatures, I was able to suspend my disbelief to the point that I became enthralled in the mystery and enigma of John Barr. As a result, I found myself rooting for his professional and emotional recovery from a near season-ending slump.
The novel is told largely in the first person through Barr's teammate, "Old Swizzlehead". The story lost some of its credibility as this character's narrative swung (sometimes in mid-paragraph) from inner city black street slang to grammar and vocabulary more befitting a college educated WASP English major.
The author shows a real inderstanding for baseball and athletes and as such I would recommend it to baseball fans. Others may find it a bit tedious.
Rating: 
Summary: The story of a baseball legend.
Review: It's a shame that this book is out of print. If you are into sports stories and want to try a new one, I'd recommend seeing if you can pick up a used copy. I liked it more than, say, the book of The Natural. I saw Field of Dreams, which is perhaps my favorite Baseball Movie, and I think this book is sort of in that league.A small bit of plot: A tremendously good player, of Ted Williams Calibre, arises almost out of nowhere. His past is very mysterious, and the book presents several points of view in observing him. There are several characters who are clearly composites of famous personalities, such as a bit of a Billy Martin character, a Mays-ish character and several others. So, it's a fun read for those who enjoyed following those personalities. The hero is, so far as I can see, a composite of a few as well, but I'll stop there. jl
Rating:
Summary: If you really know baseball, stay away.
Review: Three stars because Baker is such an extraordinary writer that he deserves no less, but this baseball novel is a mostly hollow, unrealistic, and frankly, boring, walk through the (fictional, of course) career of the game's greatest player, who is also the game's least-known player. What? Within the covers you'll find the fast-talking leadoff man, the hard-boiled plaid-jacket wearing old sports reporter, and the Kathryn Hepburn-like aging woman sportswriter (who is so sketchily presented it makes you wonder if Baker's ever met a woman!). Allen Barra, formerly of Salon, recently named this the best baseball novel of all time. Yikes! Read "The Southpaw" by Mark Harris instead. It's cliched, it's hokey, but it is really about baseball. Baker's book, on the other hand, sounds like what a novelist thinks baseball should be. If you love the game, the incredulities of the last sections of this book will have you reaching for your scorecard and marking clearly in black pencil, "E-1."
Rating:
Summary: Didn't know a Baseball book could be this GOOD
Review: Wonderful book with great characters, great plot, great humor, and this perfect flow that wants to take you to the end and give you just what you want from a book. Unpretentious good writing full of life and fun yet with suspence and satire mixed in. This book is a winner, the best baseball novel I have ever read and maybe the best book I have read all year. Mr. Baker has writen a masterpiece. You do not have to even like baseball to love this novel.
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