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108 stitches : loose threads, ripping yarns, and the darndest characters from my time in the game / Ron Darling with Daniel Paisner.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : St. Martins Press, 2019Edition: First editionDescription: 258 pages ; 25 cmISBN:
  • 9781250184382
  • 125018438X
Other title:
  • One hundred eight stitches
  • Hundred eight stitches
Subject(s): Genre/Form: Summary: This is New York Times bestselling author and Emmy-nominated broadcaster Ron Darling's 108 baseball anecdotes that connect Americas game to the men who played it. In 108 Stitches , Ron Darling offers his own take on the "six degrees of separation" game and knits together a collection of wild, wise, and wistful stories reflecting the full arc of a life in and around our national pastime. Darling has played with or reported on just about everybody who has put on a uniform since 1983, and they in turn have played with or reported on just about everybody who put on a uniform in a previous generation. Through relationships with baseball legends on and off the field, like Yale coach Smoky Joe Wood, Willie Mays, Bart Giamatti, Tom Seaver and Mickey Mantle, Darling's reminiscences reach all the way back to Babe Ruth and other turn-of-the-century greats. Like the 108 stitches on a baseball, Darling's experiences are interwoven with every athlete who has ever played, every coach or manager who ever sat in a dugout, and with every fan who ever played hooky from work or school to sit in the bleachers for a day game. Darling's anecdotes come together to tell the story of his time in the game, and the story of the game itself.
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Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Shelving location Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Phillipsburg Free Public Library Adult Non-Fiction Adult Non-Fiction 796.357092 DAR Available 36748002440552
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This is New York Times bestselling author and Emmy-nominated broadcaster Ron Darling's 108 baseball anecdotes that connect America's game to the men who played it.

In 108 Stitches , New York Times bestselling author and Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Ron Darling offers his own take on the "six degrees of separation" game and knits together wild, wise, and wistful stories reflecting the full arc of a life in and around our national pastime.

Darling has played with or reported on just about everybody who has put on a uniform since 1983, and they in turn have played with or reported on just about everybody who put on a uniform in a previous generation. Through relationships with baseball legends on and off the field, like Yale coach Smoky Joe Wood, Willie Mays, Bart Giamatti, Tom Seaver and Mickey Mantle, Darling's reminiscences reach all the way back to Babe Ruth and other early twentieth-century greats.

Like the 108 stitches on a baseball, Darling's experiences are interwoven with every athlete who has ever played, every coach or manager who ever sat in a dugout, and every fan who ever played hooky from work or school to sit in the bleachers for a day game.

Darling's anecdotes come together to tell the story of his time in the game, and the story of the game itself.

Includes index.

This is New York Times bestselling author and Emmy-nominated broadcaster Ron Darling's 108 baseball anecdotes that connect Americas game to the men who played it. In 108 Stitches , Ron Darling offers his own take on the "six degrees of separation" game and knits together a collection of wild, wise, and wistful stories reflecting the full arc of a life in and around our national pastime. Darling has played with or reported on just about everybody who has put on a uniform since 1983, and they in turn have played with or reported on just about everybody who put on a uniform in a previous generation. Through relationships with baseball legends on and off the field, like Yale coach Smoky Joe Wood, Willie Mays, Bart Giamatti, Tom Seaver and Mickey Mantle, Darling's reminiscences reach all the way back to Babe Ruth and other turn-of-the-century greats. Like the 108 stitches on a baseball, Darling's experiences are interwoven with every athlete who has ever played, every coach or manager who ever sat in a dugout, and with every fan who ever played hooky from work or school to sit in the bleachers for a day game. Darling's anecdotes come together to tell the story of his time in the game, and the story of the game itself.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

  • Acknowledgments (p. ix)
  • Warm-Up: The Ties That Bind (p. 1)
  • 1 Drop and Drive (p. 11)
  • 2 "A" Is for "Aase" (p. 27)
  • 3 Coming Up (p. 53)
  • 4 "H" Is for "Hodges" (p. 71)
  • 5 Some Crying in Baseball (p. 105)
  • 6 "Q" Is for "Quirk" (p. 121)
  • 7 Head Games (p. 145)
  • 8 "Z" Is for "Zimmer" (p. 169)
  • 9 In the Booth (p. 189)
  • 10 The Only Living Boy in New York (p. 215)
  • Cool-Down: The State of the Game (p. 231)
  • Index (p. 247)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Based on his time playing for the New York Mets, Montreal Expos, and the Oakland Athletics in the 1980s and 1990s, along with his recent roles as a commentator and sports journalist, former major league pitcher Darling (Game 7; 1986: Failure and Triumph in the Biggest Game of My Life) offers a captivating, detailed look at the game he's dedicated his life to. Having played with and reported on hundreds of players, he details lives both on and off the field. Alongside his own experiences, he shares thoughts on Cal Ripken Jr., Harold Baines, Frank Viola, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and many more. Insightful writing makes this a pleasure to read, giving us a colorful look into the world of baseball and its many personalities. VERDICT Entertaining from start to finish; all baseball fans will enjoy this thoroughly engaging book.-Gus Palas, Ela Area P.L., Lake Zurich, IL © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

Baseball journalist, broadcaster, and former Mets pitcher Darling (The Complete Game) shows his deep love of the sport and the personalities that drive it in this collection of colorful anecdotes. The book is filled with short vignettes about players including such stars as Wade Boggs (who, after losing the 1986 World Series, had "tears running down his face like there'd been a death in his family"), as well as forgotten minor leaguers, loosely connected by such themes as "Some Crying in Baseball" and "Head Games." Darling takes a critical but understanding tone on topics like Darryl Strawberry's drug addiction, as well as the widespread use of steroids by Oakland Athletics players (Jose Canseco, an admitted user of steroids, called out teammates Mark McGwire and Jason Giambi, among others), showing how the stresses of the game can lead to regrettable decisions. He also includes his own stories, such as when he was hazed as a Mets rookie by an unsmiling Ron Hodges, who spit a stream of chewing tobacco onto his new uniform. Darling's at his best when he pivots from career trivia to philosophical yarns, showing that "the thing about baseball is that it catches the light of how we live and reflects it back to us in meaningful ways." This entertaining insider volume is sure to please baseball enthusiasts. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Book Review

A former Major League Baseball pitcher offers anecdotes and surprisingly candid gossip.Unlike most MLB players, Darling (Game 7, 1986: Failure and Triumph in the Biggest Game of My Life, 2016, etc.) not only graduated from college; he attended an Ivy League university. At Yale, he began as a position player before becoming a pitcher, and then he worked his way through the minor leagues to star for the New York Mets from 1983 to 1991 (he later played for the Expos and the Athletics, retiring in 1995). He is now a broadcaster for the Mets along with former teammate and author Keith Hernandez. The loose organizing principle of his latest book is reminiscences of the players, managers, coaches, and team owners with whom Darling interacted during his years as a player. The majority of the anecdotes are positive. However, unlike many baseball memoirists, Darling portrays some of his colleagues in negative ways based on their observed behaviors both on and off the field. Lenny Dykstra receives especially harsh treatment. Dwight Gooden, the brilliant pitcher, receives both praise and searing criticism for squandering his talent in a haze of substance abuse (ditto Darryl Strawberry). Some lower-profile players receive multiple pages of adoration, such as veteran pitcher Al Jackson, who unselfishly served as Darling's on-field mentor. "We weren't friendsours was very much a mentor-mentee type of relationship. I don't think we ever went out for a beer after a game. But I enjoyed Al's company immensely. He was all business, all the time, but there was a soft, sweet side to his personality." The anecdotes come and go so quickly that the book is probably best read a few pages at a time. In later chapters, Darling reflects on becoming a broadcaster, which offers a different perspective on the game, and gives opinions about the current game.A sometimes-scattershot but lively account for MLB fans. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
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