sweaver
07-02-2002, 10:35 PM
Subtitled A Journey Through America and Baseball's Minor Leagues, this is the story of a man who takes a summer and spends it touring minor league cities and parks across the country.
David Lamb was a war correspondent for the L.A. Times, with stints in Vietnam and Beirut. In 1989, he came home, and decided to take a leave of absence, buy an RV, and drive across the country. With stops as far apart as Stockton, CA, Denver (then still in the minors), El Paso, Charleston, SC, Pulaski, VA, Elmira, NY, Peoria, and Butte, Lamb provides an American travellogue as well as a fascinating look at minor league baseball. The book is as much Americana as it is American game.
Lamb also visits some of his childhood heroes from the Boston/Milwaukee Braves, Warren Spahn, Eddie Mathews, and Johnny Logan, and looks into the story of (but doesn't meet) Steve Dalkowski. Lamb details his meetings with many players, managers, and executives, few of whom reach the majors, with exceptions such as Greg Vaughn and Mark Wohlers.
It's a fascinating book, and makes me a bit envious. This is a trip I have always wanted to make, one with no itinerary but the open road, and finding another ballgame to watch. If you've never read it, it's a fascinating story.
David Lamb was a war correspondent for the L.A. Times, with stints in Vietnam and Beirut. In 1989, he came home, and decided to take a leave of absence, buy an RV, and drive across the country. With stops as far apart as Stockton, CA, Denver (then still in the minors), El Paso, Charleston, SC, Pulaski, VA, Elmira, NY, Peoria, and Butte, Lamb provides an American travellogue as well as a fascinating look at minor league baseball. The book is as much Americana as it is American game.
Lamb also visits some of his childhood heroes from the Boston/Milwaukee Braves, Warren Spahn, Eddie Mathews, and Johnny Logan, and looks into the story of (but doesn't meet) Steve Dalkowski. Lamb details his meetings with many players, managers, and executives, few of whom reach the majors, with exceptions such as Greg Vaughn and Mark Wohlers.
It's a fascinating book, and makes me a bit envious. This is a trip I have always wanted to make, one with no itinerary but the open road, and finding another ballgame to watch. If you've never read it, it's a fascinating story.