Bat Boy: My True Life Adventures Coming of Age with the New York Yankees

i read this terrific memoir during the first warm afternoon of the spring, and would encourage anyone to spend a similar afternoon this summer. mcgough shares some great stories from his time as a bat boy and the first-hand accounts of mingling with legends of the yankee's near and distant past have a wonderful immediacy and economy - the author deftly avoids dipping into the grab-bag of sports clichés. mcgough depicts some admirable yankees - mattingly, abbott, williams and o'neill - without lapsing into hero worship, and he has the good taste and discretion to avoid dishing whatever dirt he may have witnessed along the way. above all though, this is not a book about baseball, or - thank god - a book about how baseball is the ultimate metaphor for american life. this is a story of one young man's experiences growing up among a group of men who are paid millions to play a child's game. mcgough seems to have acquired more maturity and wisdom through his adventures than many of the more famous inhabitants of the bronx clubhouse apparently did. mcgough doesn't labor to make his experiences seem universal, and perhaps because of this they actually do resonate as familiar boyhood adventures - disastrous early encounters with girls, struggling to acclimatize as the youngest person at your first job, fretting over college admissions, being taken-in by get-rich-quick schemes - mcgough's anecdotes are both amusing and heartfelt. there were various points when i laughed out loud, and almost as many where i had to pause and wonder what it must have been like to have so many terrific experiences at such a formative age. what mcgough has achieved here is a sincere and entertaining coming-of-age story that avoids sentimentality, well worth a read. one additional note: judging from the cover and jacket photos of the author, it is clear that mcgough never succumbed to the siren song of steroids, and the fact that they are not mentioned in the book represents another differentiating factor from the saccharine-dipped or cliché-ridden or self-serving sports memoirs likely to be jostling for shelf space along side mcgough's first rate book.

For a transplanted New Yorker who did not grow up a Yankee fan, Bat Boy tells a story that is relatable to everyone. It is a quintessential summer read, full of funny anecdotes while delivering a message that hard work and perseverance pay off.

Bat Boy is a compelling and entertaining book, even for someone who isn't necessarily a baseball fan. It is a story about the dreams of youth, when everything is still new and possible because we haven't yet been made timid by caution and restraint. Bat Boy is about deciding what you want, going for it, and miraculously getting it. And what is perhaps even more rare, finding that achieving and living a dream can be as good or better than the fantasy.

It's a tribute to the author that I, an ardent Mets fan and Yankee-hater, really enjoyed the book. Maybe that's because, for all the funny baseball anecdotes and fascinating insider scoops, this isn't just a baseball book--it's a memoir, and the coming-of-age thrust of the narrative is quite effective. McGough manages to convey both the arrogance and insecurity that a 17-year-old boy in an infinitely enviable position--hanging out with his heroes, traveling with them, getting paid (among other perks)--must have felt. The story is touching without being overly sentimental, and it rings true. Best of all, this isn't one of those corny "Baseball=life" stories; McGough skillfully interweaves the two main elements of his story with humor and a light touch. I actually laughed out loud in some parts, and was genuinely moved in others. While baseball fans will surely enjoy this book on another level than their non-baseball-loving peers, any reader with an appreciation for clever writing and hilarious tales of hubris and naivete should read this book.

This guy got to live my childhood dream... to be a bat boy for the New York Yankees! He met players like Mattingly and Mantle and got to play baseball with his buddies at 3AM... in Yankee Stadium! And the best part is, he did it all on his own... no connections. Just perserverance and a dream. It's an unbelievable story that flies off the page. A great summer diversion.