sweaver
07-19-2003, 10:48 PM
Subtitled, "My Life as an Umpire," and ghost-written by Gene Wojciechowski from interviews with Postema. Postema was the third pro woman ump, following Bernice Gera (one game) and Christine Wren, and Postema got the farthest, working in AAA as a crew chief and also working the AAA all-star game before being released after 13 years in the minors.
The book is tinged with bitterness at her treatment, but is also a revealing portrait. Postema is very frank about the heavy drinking of minor league umps, including herself, and also pulls no punches about players and managers who gave her trouble. She certainly has no love for Tony Muser or Larry Bowa.
Postema is complimentary to Bart Giamatti, who she believes would have given her a chance in the major leagues if not for his untimely death. She is also highly complimentary of Jose Canseco. And Postema has nice words for Bobby Bonilla, Tony Gwynn, and Brett Butler, singling them out as gentlemen among players she shared the baseball field with.
Postema figures if she had it to do all over again, she probably wouldn't. But, if madness struck, she would play the "gender card" to get the game to take her seriously rather than try to ride out the prejudice.
It was a book full of diatribes, and not a pleasant read. But it was an interesting book, and I would recommend it to you.
The book is tinged with bitterness at her treatment, but is also a revealing portrait. Postema is very frank about the heavy drinking of minor league umps, including herself, and also pulls no punches about players and managers who gave her trouble. She certainly has no love for Tony Muser or Larry Bowa.
Postema is complimentary to Bart Giamatti, who she believes would have given her a chance in the major leagues if not for his untimely death. She is also highly complimentary of Jose Canseco. And Postema has nice words for Bobby Bonilla, Tony Gwynn, and Brett Butler, singling them out as gentlemen among players she shared the baseball field with.
Postema figures if she had it to do all over again, she probably wouldn't. But, if madness struck, she would play the "gender card" to get the game to take her seriously rather than try to ride out the prejudice.
It was a book full of diatribes, and not a pleasant read. But it was an interesting book, and I would recommend it to you.