The Baseball Whisperer: A Small-Town Coach Who Shaped Big League Dreams

There is something special about collegiate summer baseball. In it's simplest form, it's a bunch of kids grinding out 50 or 60 games in places like Lima, Ohio, Chatham, Massachusetts and Anchorage, Alaska as their fellow students relax, hit the beach and catch up on Netflix. But as Mike Tackett demonstrates so beautifully in "The Baseball Whisperer," it's so much more. With the right coach, the right support system, hell, the right town, it's a genuinely life-shaping -- or even changing -- experience. Make no mistake, it all comes back to the game -- a group of ballplayers, no rest from their 70-plus game spring season, strapping on the cleats for another few months, all in the hopes of getting noticed by that one scout who will give them a shot at the next level. And Tackett, who despite his misguided allegiance to the Chicago Cubs, can chronicle the heck out of this legendary summer program's successes on the field. But in the town of Clarinda, Iowa, under Coach Merl Eberly, it's bigger than baseball. It's about the nervous 19 year old, plucked out of South Central Los Angeles, popped into a host family's home in a 5,000 person town and learning to not only acclimate, but thrive (that kid's name? Ozzie Smith.) It's about a tough-as-nails coach who seemed to always know exactly what his players needed to get better, both on and off the field. It's about a town that went above and beyond -- even in the toughest of times -- to make sure there was always a place to play. What makes this book wonderful is that while it's a fantastic baseball book (think elements of "The Last Best Game"), it's one that goes beyond the game. It's about the people. Deeply reported, richly written, packed with life lessons, reasons to smile and no shortage of "holy cow, how is it possible that many Major League stars played for this team?!" it is an effort well worth your time.

Anyone who loves baseball, in it's purest form, will love this book. And for those who believe in good old American values, mentoring and development of young men, this will strike a chord. It is a true story about a man, his family and a community that pulled together every summer over a number of years to support a team of young men from all parts of the country with dreams to become major leaguers. Merl Eberly was dedicated to enhancing career opportunities in the great game of baseball and to help teach young men the values of dedication, hard work and doing what is right. I knew Merl Eberly and can assure readers that Michael Tackett has done a wonderful job of capturing the essence of this man, his family, his community and the many young men whose lives were touched in the great game of baseball.

Very good sports book, but it had some gaps. A few names were in there that were not explained, like Darly Strawberry. I found it very interesting since I am a former coah.

Written by Michael Tackett and published in 2016, The Baseball Whisperer evokes an earlier America, when hundreds of rural communities fielded baseball teams. Tackett’s warm and fuzzy masterpiece chronicles the remarkable life of Merl Eberly of Clarinda, Iowa, his wife, Pat Heil Eberly, their children and the many townspeople who helped create magical summers for college baseball players.Baseball survives in dozens of small towns across the country, in large part to the efforts of families like the Eberly’s. Their tasks are many and varied: recruiting host families, driving the team bus, lining the base paths before games and hitting an endless number of grounders and fly balls, soliciting funds from cash-strapped merchants and farm families in the off-season. The brand varies from generation to generation and from town to town – American Legion, town ball, collegiate wood bat summer league, Babe Ruth – but the game is the same, and it has the capacity to unify people in good times and bad.Eberly, a high school dropout at 15, would finish his secondary education under the forceful prodding of a local teacher and coach, John Tedore. He would have a modest one-season minor league playing career – 43 games, 121 at-bats, a .281 average – in 1957 for Holdrege in the Class D Nebraska State League. He would spend the rest of his life molding boys and young men into adults as their summertime coach and occasional substitute father/uncle/older brother.Tackett spends a lot of time on the relationship between Ozzie Smith and the Eberlys and the townspeople of Clarinda and that’s understandable. After Clarinda, Smith would have a Hall of Fame career as one of the elite shortstops of his generation and is a familiar name to even casual sports fans. But for every Ozzie Smith, there were hundreds of other young men who came to Clarinda from college campuses to play for and be mentored by Merl Eberly. Some would have modest professional careers post-Clarinda. A select few would join Ozzie Smith in The Show.The Baseball Whisperer is the perfect antidote for senses dulled by highlight shows featuring more bat flips and chest bumps than baseball plays executed well. Ray Kinsella, failed farmer, builder of dream fields, would like this book.

"The Baseball Whisperer" is a lovely read, mostly about a time and place of the past that echoes today. The "whisperer" is Merl Eberly, a baseball student from the time he picked up a bat, who takes baseball "boys" and turns them into baseball men. College kids, looking for wooden bat experience come to Clarinda, Iowa, population 5,000. They get baseball coaching, but life lessons as well, and it's the non-baseball stuff that stays with them forever. Ozzie Smith, the Hall-of-Fame shortstop is Eberly's star pupil, but the stories of the non-stars and the lessons they learned are just as compelling. Tackett gets to know these characters and his descriptions will let you get to know them too.

I loved the story. I didn't like the writing style but it was just a preference thing. Very well studied. I would recommend the book. Not too long. Kindle version said I was at 80% when the book finished. Just so you know if you are trying to get a quick read, it's pretty quick and easy.