The Boys Who Would Be Cubs: A Year in the Heart of Baseball's Minor Leagues

This book, as the summaries imply, is principally a story for the baseball fanatic. The subject of the book is hardly compelling on its face: the 1988 season of the Peoria Chiefs, the Chicago Cubs single A affiliate at the time. In that year, the Chiefs finished a robust 70 and 70 and featured eventual major leaguers Rick Wilkins and Frank Castillo. On the basic factual foundation of the text there is, therefore, little to commend it. Nevertheless, the book is well worth a read. While nearly two decades have passed since the events took place, the skipper of the Chiefs in 1988 -- who is the central character of the story -- is now the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers and, as all those who frequent minor league ballparks in this country can attest, the dreams of minor league baseball players and the obstacles they confront in trying to achieve those dreams hasn't changed. Bosco's book has been generally characterized as controversial, as it provides an unflinching and non-judgmental report of the adolescent antics of minor celebrities whose libidos have been set loose on small towns throughout the real Midwest. Like most candid books about baseball which have followed the publication of Jim Bouton's "Ball Four," Bosco's book is rife with stories of the sexual escapades of ballplayers, except instead of focusing on what Bouton identified as "beaver shooting," Bosco catalogues the players use and misuse of "groupies" and the Chiefs' own "Spirit Girls." The controversy over the admissions of Bosco's reporting, however, focuses on the tale's margins. The central point of the book is to relay the story of young men who each believe that they could play in the major leagues. And when the story is told by Bosco, it is a compelling one. The book is remarkable in that it is not just a dry reporting of the events of the 1988 season. Bosco imbues the book with a down-home southern style of storytelling, with the narrative in the first-person and presented as if it were just one long yarn. In terms of the thousands of book on baseball, this approach is unique and effective. Bosco's storytelling requires the attention of the reader, his portrayal of the protagonists evokes the sympathy of the reader, and his refusal to follow a strict linear timeline for presenting the story should keep the reader's attention. Bosco's book is particularly impressive given that his focus has generally been on "true crime" (although there is clearly few limits on his interests). Reviews for his other books have been largely unfavorable and little can be found on baseball on the blog he currently maintains (http://josephbosco.com/weblog.html). One would therefore not expect that Bosco could craft good baseball reporting given his resume, but, regardless of expectations, this is one of the best baseball books I've read. One note of caution: this is not an appropriate book for the young. The language is caustic and the themes adult.