The Road to the Big's

By Gerald A. Barnes

After reading 'The Road to the Big's, ' some conclusions are undeniable. The first and most obvious one is that baseball is an important part of the American culture. Another is that the pursuit of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1419659383
• ISBN13: 9781419659386
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Booksurge Publishing
• Length: 358 Pages
• Weight: 1.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent

I love basball. I purchased this as an easy read, something to do on a rainy day. After a few pages, I read a few more, and then a few more. I finished on a sunny afternoon. All in all, much better than I expected, and hope to read more from the author.

The Georgia Connection to the history of baseball.

Not only is the State of Georgia's connection to formation of baseball told, but, how baseball formed us as Americans. Moreover, this book pinpoints how baseball exemplifies and validates our core beliefs as Americans, much more so than football; soccer being so distant from these beliefs centered on individual effort and achievement. It's recollections of a proud father and his son, a focused pitcher. It's a fun trip through the history of the game, its ebbs and flows. For Georgians, it is the story of the city of Norcross and its baseball renaissance. This book is a refreshing critique on the silly PC morays that have taken over our society and how baseball serves as check against these encroachments. Having played 7 years of baseball myself, divided equally between catcher, and third base; I identify and love the book. The author's history channel documentary-like approach to telling baseball's story, and significance, will capture readers who's fingers have not laid across the seems of a Rawlings baseball. I am a life long New York Yankees fan. One word of caution (meant in gest), this author hates the Yankees! The author's favorite team is the Washington Senators. The who? The Twins? Overall, this book is an excellent snap shot of baseball, from our prospective.....Americans.

Life the Way it Oughta' be!

This odyssey is as if Mark Twain, Pat Conroy, Thomas Paine, George Will, Helen Hooven Santmyer, PJ O'Rourke and Mike Royko combined forces to write the ultimate history, geography, baseball, child care, coming of age, political and philisophical commentary.It is beautifully descriptive and the conservative and commonsensical punditry dispersed throughout is humorous and thought provoking. The occasional anti-PC rants are not for the feint-hearted, but rather for those whose approach to life is based on love of God, country, family and baseball--but not necessarily in that order.

About more than just baseball

I thought The Road to the Big's would be an instruction book on how an individual can become part of the baseball life, but it's more of a book about how baseball is a part of everyone's life. Whether we like baseball or not, it's a game we all grew up with and one that is a part of everyone's history. On one level, the author makes hard hitting connections between the popularity of baseball and the philosophical, spiritiual and sociological roots of our country, while on another level soft pitches a delightful story of his own experiences with the game. There's some thing there to hit home with any reader.

The Road to the Big's

Many happy memories were evoked by this book for me. Everybody growing up in the 50's and 60's enjoyed baseball and you feel like you are right back there while you read some of the beginning chapters of this story. There are so many layers to this book that you can read it again and again, finding new things to consider each time. Father-son relationships, family values,life in Northern Virginia, the origins of the game...and lots more, all centered around America's original past time. The only drawback for me was the copious baseball stats peppered throughout the book. I suppose if you are a numbers person though it adds much to the story. Either way this book will get you thinking. Its unexpected ending will leave you smiling too.