WHERE NOBODY KNOWS YOUR NAME

The minor leagues are tough in many ways and we know too little about them. This book details that life through the stories of a group of minor leaguers (including an umpire). It's not an easy life. Feinstein is a super sportswriter and a marvelous story teller. A really good read!

I devour most everything about baseball. This book gave me great insights into a side of baseball I really didn’t know well or appreciate.By closely following the lives and baseball journeys of a core group of players and an umpire I cheered for and suffered with them. Their love for the game was paramount as they dealt with failures that come eventually to all in baseball. Aging, money needs, and family responsibilities weigh heavily on each of them.I gained a new appreciation of the emotional toll the game presents to players. Many were appreciative of the small taste of success they experienced with even brief visits to the major leagues.Oh, and John Feinstein is an excellent writer. Much of the book captures the actual dialogue of the player experience. His writing traverses throughtheir baseball season experience and has you page turning.The sporting life is challenging. Striving for success with aging bodies always getting in the way is a story line. At the end I was left saddened for many because Feinstein’s intimate portrait had you caring for each of themJohn, this would not be quite like the Boys of Summer story of some Brooklyn Dodgers many years later but similarly I would like to know how these guys are all doing now. Wishful thinking it seems but also a tribute to the quality of this book.

A collection of stories about life in the minors from different perspective (prospects, former stars, career minor leagues, injured players coming back)

This isn’t just a book about baseball, it’s a book about the ‘so-near-and-yet-so-far’ nature of professional sport in all its heartbreaking and heartwarming magnificence.Although Feinstein nominally focuses on a cast of nine principal characters – six players, two managers and an umpire – there are dozens of stories of players who have dutifully (often in the face of all logic) pursued the dream of the major leagues for years without quite getting the call. When they finally get their ‘cup of coffee’, it’s impossible not to be moved by stories like that of Rich Thompson who waited seven years from his first major league at bat until his second. Or JC Boscan who finally made it (for one game) after 16 years in the Minors.Beautifully written, it captures the essence of MiLB. My only gripe is that there are so many hundreds of different characters he mentioned that I lost track on more than one occasion. The index was helpful but the roll call left my head spinning at times.A great read that made me respect those poor souls who seem to spend whole careers being called up and sent down again before the inevitable trade and retirement. Thoroughly recommended

Awesome book. If you're a fan of baseball in every way. This is one great look at the inner working of the MLB and the real emotion that players, coaches and even umpires face every day. I bought this for a friend then ended up reading it before I gave it to him lol. Worth it