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HomeShop at BookSurgeFictionShort Stories (single author)Screw-ups, Screwballs and Not So Happy Endings |
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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 2 customer reviews )
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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Hot Stove Stuff Oct 07, 2008
By Al Mc Gill
"Book and Baseball fan"
Baseball fans - especiallly Mets' and Yankees' fans - it's time to stop whining and gnashing your teeth. Afraid that the year to come will hold more of the same? Aging stars with reputations far in excess of their performance? Players who perform like border guards - the hitters treating men on base like aliens without proper paper work and the relief pitchers like those compassionate do-gooders who seem to believe everyone deserves a share of home plate.
Well, get over it! Get Bob Alley's book, "Screw-ups, Screwballs and not so Happy Endings" and find some necessary therapy. It helps to know that all these recent team failures have a history as long as baseball. Author Alley, a Red Sox fan and therefore one with a lot of knowledge about suffering despite that team's recent successes, shows all of us "almost winners" that we are not alone in struggling with the pain of the failure of our "beloveds". More satisfyingly Alley gives us endless examples of the reasons - the all too human reasons - for the failures. In fact by book's end the reader must begin to wonder if there is an inverse relationship between the God-given gift of baseball talent and limited intelligence. If not, where did the author find this vast cast of characters? And Alley details for the reader that those failing the I.Q. tests of baseball life are not limited to the players on the field. He provides abundant tales to reveal that owners, commissioners, managers and umpires join the athletes in foolishness, corruption, selfishness and outright stupidity.
Alley's book gives us innumerable examples that can provide insight into our present day pain. Sometimes our reader's reaction may be a grimace at the jaw-dropping stupidity of a player or owner or ump, but most often the tale will bring a smile.
Team lost this year? Find some comfort and pleasure when you read the very enjoyable, "Screw-ups, Screwballs and not so Happy Endings" by Bob Alley.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Screw-ups Screwballs Sep 25, 2008
By Harold C. Anastasia
If you are a true baseball fan and know lots of stats, you may not be familiar with the personal failures of the boys of summer.
What happens to a young twenty year old, when he becomes rich and famous? Can he handle the attention? What happens to an older player when spring comes, and h e is no longer with a team? The fame, the attention, and the money are no longer there. Some of these players do just fine, but Mr. Alley describes these tragedies that some players have fallen into.
Drugs, alcohol and other problems that are part of our culture become more of a calamity when it happens to someone in the limelight of pro sports.
Some of these stories were familiar to me, but most others were new and captivating to me. This book is a great read for any true baseball fan.
Hal Anastasia
Shoreham, NY
Screw-ups, Screwballs and Not So Happy Endings
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