Baseball Prospectus 2008: The Essential Guide to the 2008 Baseball Season (Baseball Prospectus) by Steven Goldman  (16)  $14.93

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Little League baseball parents are the stage mothers of our era. Hardly a summer goes by without another story about them brawling, threatening the umpire, or berating their own kids or others to the point of tears. Former Crawdaddy editor Greg Mitchell's father wasn't like that: he played catch with young Greg exactly once. Determined to do better, Mitchell volunteered to manage his son Andy's Little League team in Nyack, New York. Joy in Mudville is the delightful result, restoring sanity, perspective, and fun to what is, after all, a kids' summer game.

The book chronicles Mitchell's first two seasons as manager of the Red Sox and the A's, nicknamed the Aliens for the rubber alien head mascot that the kids rub for luck before (almost) every game or at-bat. The Aliens' inspiring 1998 season provides the drama, from draft-day rumor-mongering to the brilliant late-inning playoff stratagem Mitchell employed to protect a thin lead (and his son the pitcher's psyche). With solid knowledge of baseball traditions--superstitions, nicknames, even a pilgrimage to Cooperstown--coupled with a good father's sense of what's best for his son, Mitchell spins a masterful yarn sure to keep parents and fans of all ages on the edges of their seats--when they're not laughing out loud.

Best known for political books (Tricky Dick and the Pink Lady, The Campaign of the Century), Mitchell shows his versatility with this warm, lighthearted, and deftly told memoir of one of the great pleasures of summer. Joy in Mudville will have readers in stitches, and it might even keep a few Little League parents out of the headlines. --Bill Penrose

From Publishers Weekly
It happens every spring--fathers coaching their Little League children as if they were top-roster players for the Yankees and Braves instead of a group of 10-year-olds. As Mitchell (The Campaign of the Century) describes in this book about his coaching stint in Nyack, N.Y., the season actually begins with the winter draft. From this point through the playoffs, he treats readers to an exciting glimpse of the psychological, emotional and strategic considerations inherent in running a team. Mitchell writes with wit and humanity of the balance between the good of his son versus that of the group, between playing to win and making players feel good. Many of the predictable dramas--such as the games between Mitchell's squad and a hyper-prepared team helmed by an uptight coach--are here, as well as coaches' shrewder tricks, like enlisting assistants whose sons are good ballplayers. If Mitchell comes off as a little obsessed, there is more than enough self-aware humor and erudition (he is as likely to quote John Cheever as Yogi Berra) to make up for it. He also includes a number of worthy digressions from his own baseball past, as well as social topics like the dearth of African-Americans playing youth baseball. Mitchell spends more time describing the game than characterizing the kids, but what goes on in his head is as interesting as anything that happens on the field. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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First Sentence:
It's opening night at Memorial Park in Nyack, New York, hard by the Hudson River, and already the Little League season is looking bleak My Red Sox are trailing, my ace pitcher is getting bombed, and my son has already booted one ball and struck out in his only at bat Even worse, our uniforms haven't arrived yet, so we are not Red Sox, but Braves, wearing faded, mismatched shirts from a distant decade Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
intentional walk Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Valley Cottage, World Series, Little John, John Marley, Memorial Park, Eddie Badger, Willie Mays, Danny Stroud, Jon Albert, Red Sox, Big Joe, Del Campo, John Miller, Big Enrique, Mark Downey, Matt the Bat, Niagara Falls, Ted Williams, Hall of Fame, Matt Scimeca, Bob Giacobbe, Carl Stotz, Dan Wolff, Dennis O'Neill New!
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