Dan Barry (1) (1958–)

An absolute gem of a book ! What's so wonderful about this little book about a very very long game is just how much the Author Dan Barry, is able to seamlessly include in the telling of a baseball game. In small little snippets that briefly take the reader away from "The Game" we learn about the past and future lives not only of the players, but of everyone involved in the game. And I mean everyone ; the owners, managers, coaches, wives, kids, concession workers, p.a. announcers, radio men, the fans, cops, the batboys, even the batboy's mother, calling the stadium and demanding her son be allowed to go home. In fact one of my favorite little snippets dealt with the bat boy who was once actually thrown out of a game for arguing with the home plate umpire. A classic piece of Americana !… (more)

An excellent book about the longest game in baseball history, a minor-league (International League--Triple-A) between the Rochester Red Wings, the Baltimore Orioles' affiliate featuring future Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr.; and the Pawtucket (RI) Red Sox, featuring future Hall of Famer Wade Boggs. The author uses the game's 33 innings--32 played over 8 hours and seven minutes on April 18-19, 1981 and the final inning played in 18 minutes on June 23, 1981 during the major-league baseball strike--to sketch a history of Pawtucket, the ballpark, the players, and the staff. For a baseball fan, a wonderful history of a bygone era.… (more)