Before the Glory: 20 Baseball Heroes Talk about Growing Up and Turning Hard Times Into Home Runs

Awesome book in which 20 past and present MLB players talk about their lives and their families up to the point of starting their professional careers - more interesting are the older players like Bill Mazeroski and his family's abject poverty, and Ron LeFlore and his personal troubles. Well worth any price you pay becoz you learn more about the players as people and children, and you're not subjected to statistic after statistic and game recaps. Also a very unique writing style by the authors - a well put phrase is referenced to a few paragraphs later - you'll catch yourself going back a lil to see how and where that phrase was first used. Also unique is that you learn about the players' lives after their careers, too. Get this book, at least check for it at your local library if you're poor or cheap like me.

Great book. Meet the author at a Nationals basebaal game. He has been great e-mailing my son to talk about the book and baseball.

this is delightful reading. There are stories told by the subjects -- and some of them are great story-tellers -- then narratives by the authors summing up each subject's life and career. This is certainly inspirational in the sense of overcoming obstacles, but it isn't icky. The obstacles include racial prejudice, poverty, health, etc and the subjects range from long-retired players (Mudcat Grant retired after the 1971 season) to current ones (Juan Pierre). The lessons are really aimed at the young adult audience, but as an adult I am enjoying it also. A fun read!

This book was great fun and appeals to baseball fans of all ages. It comprises 20 true life stories of baseball players (and one executive) from various eras, allowing the reader to jump around if he chooses selecting to read first the stories of players he remembers best. You really get a sense of each player's personality, making it a quick and fascinating read!

Amazing what the authors coaxed out of their interview subjects. Baseball greats like Whitey Ford share childhood memories likely never before committed to print. In the case of some, like Ron LeFlore, they're not just memories, but admissions. Since the players covered range from Hall of Fame greats to today's stars, there's something for fans of all ages. My son is consuming this book as fast as I am. In fact, "Before the Glory" walks in the Sasquatch-sized footsteps of one of baseball's first great classic books: "The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It" by Lawrence Ritter (published in 1966). It was an oral history of the likes of Rube Marquard and Smoky Joe Wood. I wouldn't be surprised if "Before the Glory" comes to occupy the same cherished place in readers' minds as "The Glory of Their Times" did in mine. A great gift for any young baseball player -- as well as yourself.