A BOOK REVIEW

Jim Bouton & Eliot Asinof
Penquin Press, NY,NY, 1995
($21.95 US; $28.99 CAN)

The story concerns Sam Ward, a pitcher with the Chicago Cubs. He's a "10-year rookie", a minor league hanger-on who suffered with arm problems early in his career, then has been trying desperately to revive his career while struggling in the minors. The story also plays out Ward's family crises as his long-suffering wife and daughter bear the burdens of the minor leaguer's family.

The other side of the coin is Ernie Kolacka, a veteran umpire who has just been told by the league office that this will be his last season, forced to hang 'em up because he's turned 60 years of age and that's the rules. Kolacka has become a "legend" in the National League and is considered by many to be about the best ump in the business.

His story is played out as well as the book touches on his struggle through the minor league system for years, often times being passed over because of his very strict code of ethics and principles related to the game and his profession. He refused to "play the game" and suffered the consequences. Further, his decision not to "scab" during the 1979 umpire strike left his wife wondering whether he cared more about her or his profession.

The entire story takes place on one day in time. The Cubs are playing the Phillies at Wrigley Field on the last game of the season and the winner goes on to the playoffs. Sam Ward had been called up to flesh out the roster a few weeks earlier, but had seen no action. He had gotten that tag after his arm problems..."no heater", and his assortment of junk pitches, including a pretty good knuckler, left doubts in the mind of the Cubs manager as to his abilities. However, due to tired arms and an assortment of late season injuries, Ward is asked to start this last game.

Of course, as fate would have it (else we have no story) Kolacka and his crew are working the series and Kolacka has the plate. He is determined, despite his feelings about having to retire, to do his usual superb job, but the night before the game a monkey wrench is thrown into the machinery, and there is the rub.

Ernie's old army buddy from the Korean War, with whom he has kept contact over the years, and who saved his life during the conflict, appears with a problem. I won't give away the entire plot, but he asks Ernie to throw the game, making sure the Phillies win. His friend's gambling losses have put him in a huge bind and he's looking to get even, and asks for Ernie's help.

As the story unfolds the book is written in an interesting style. Each successive chapter is written from the viewpoint of the individual characters, one chapter on Ward and the next on Kolacka, so we see the two perspectives on the same series of events. Bouton (ex-major leaguer and author of "Ball Four") handled the chapters on the pitcher, as you might expect, while Asinof (best known for the outstanding book "Eight Men Out") does the chapters on the umpire.

The book contains some very interesting insights into both sides of this coin, and the references are amazingly familiar to anyone who has ever played or umpired a baseball game. Kolacka's attitudes, comments, and actions are amazingly true to life for an umpire, and some of his comments are spot on. For instance, when someone comments that he must really love what he does to put up with the down sides Kolacka comments that it's not that, but that he "does what he loves", an entirely different slant that may only make sense to another umpire.

I can recommend this book to anyone interested in baseball, and especially umpiring, though we are not talking about a literary masterpiece here! But if you are an umpire I promise some of Ernie Kolacka's lines will bring a smile to your face, and sometimes a pain in your gut as you find yourself reading your own thoughts on past games.

..... reviewed December 21, 1996 by Dave Harris.

Dave Harris umpires with the Anne Arundel Umpires Association of central Maryland. For more information on Dave click here. He is eager to hear from any umpires around the cyber-ballpark.