The Last Nine Innings: Inside the Real Game Fans Never See

A couple of years ago, when I started reading sports books again regularly, this book stunned me. I had thought I knew a lot of baseball, but this book gave me so much new inside information about how the game is played, I just couldn't believe. Right from the first paragraph, you learn why Steve Finley is one of the greatest fielding centerfielders in history, and how difficult it is to make "it look easy." It was fascinating - and very interesting - material. Baseball is a simple game understood by almost everyone, yet at the pro level, it is very complex. Author Charles Euchner explains just how complex, but it very readable form. His examples are the players participating in this seventh game of the 2001 World Series, featuring two of the best pitchers in the history of baseball: Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling. This almost a textbook on baseball....and a great read, certainly not dry. On the surface, you could easily skip this book because Yankee fans don't want to read about a loss, and there aren't enough Arizona fans to warrant this book being a best-selling. However, that's not the essence of the book: it's about what baseball is like at the dawn of the 21st century and you will learn more about the sport in this book than probably any other book you'll ever read about baseball.

Every so often, a book comes along that is really special -- it contributes to the way people think about a topic, and possibly encourages them to look at something in a completely different way. The Last Nine Innings is one of those books. Rewind to Game 7 of the 2001 World Series between the New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks. The Yankees were looking for a fourth straight ring, while the Diamondbacks, only in their fourth year of existence, were staking their claim on the game's greatest prize with a collection of top-notch veterans and role players. One team was going home with the hardware that night - while the other would be going home with a lot of what if's and a long wait until the next season. Charles Euchner takes this amazing setting and breaks down nine innings of baseball - mixing physics, storytelling, play-by-play, history, medicine and statistics to literally rip every thread out of the seams of a ballgame and examine the makings of a championship game. It analyzes the amazing amount of stress and almost torture that the human body endures playing the game. It takes you inside the impact that the Diamondbacks had on baseball in the greater Phoenix area, and how they have transformed the Valley of the Sun into one of the hotbeds of youth and amateur baseball. Euchner takes you on the field, into the clubhouse, the front office, and the heads of some of the games biggest stars, while never taking the game over your head. This is one book that will both engage and challenge the serious fan, while entertaining and enlightening the casual one. As a serious follower of baseball, I would love to be able to put this book into the hands of anyone who has ever or will ever watch a baseball game so that they might better understand the inner workings of what happens on and off the field -- and not frivolous details such as a player's favorite food. From the moment I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. Especially during this final week of the postseason, it is a timely read that will help you appreciate just what is going on between the final two teams left. Enjoyable? Absolutely. Worth adding to your bookshelf? Definitely. In fact, I'd suggest adding it to a friend's bookshelf as well - it is that good, and you'll benefit from it as much as your friend will. --Pat Lagreid [...]

Some of my favorite books are narrative nonfiction, such as Tracy Kidder's "Soul of a New Machine" and "House", or Michael Ruhlman's great books about cooking and building wooden boats. When done well, these sorts of books are interesting whether or not you know about or care about the underlying topic. The reader is entertained, and learns a topic in great depth. Charles Euchner's book is in the same league (no pun intended) as these gold standards of narrative nonfiction. The dust jacket reviews are true... I will never watch a baseball game... even my son's Little League game...in the same way again. The book covers topics such as the physics of the game, the international supply chain of talent, and the physical punishment that the game brings to players. Definitely a cool read whether you know alot about baseball or just want to learn something new in an entertaining way.

I love all kinds of sports, but am only "technically knowledgeable" in football. While I had some notion of the science behind athletes training, I had no idea that baseball involved so many intricacies, with every pitch, hit, and fielding play. That's the great surprise I had with Last Nine Innings. I thought I'd like it because I really enjoyed the 2001 World Series between the Yankees and Diamondbacks, but I found discovering the "inside world" of baseball even more enjoyable; the author wrote about it in an easy to understand way. What I'm trying to say is: As an Average Joe fan, this book helped me appreciate intricacies of the game which I would have never known about, and never would have bothered to study about in an almanac or reference book. A very good read!

Whether you like either team, all the nuances of the last inning make this book a great read. From the art of throwing a perfect pitch to a perfect swing, from the training that went in to get to this inning, to the backgrounds of all the players, all combined for that perfect fit. You can't read this book without looking at the game different and seeing things from a players/manager perspective.