sla book review: inside pitch

inside pitch

Reviewed by Christopher Keshock, Ph.D., University of South Alabama

DECEMBER 24, 2006 archive

Inside Pitch

Prior to the advent of reality-based television shows and widespread acceptance of cinema verite, Gmelch's book, describing life in professional baseball from the low minor leagues to the "show," served as an effective primer for those players contemplating a career in organized ball. Drawing upon his own reminiscences as a minor league player and years later as college anthropology professor interviewing many pro players scattered across the country, his insights concerning the day-to-day challenges inside baseball were right on target. With a new printing and additional chapter, the updated book continues to be a good road map for aspiring players and others captivated by the lives professional baseballers lead. Serious baseball fans have access to many chapter notes and an extensive reference section further to explore the inside story of life in professional baseball with all of its vicissitudes as well as its eventual monetary rewards for major league players.

Rather than wax philosophical and cite works of such writers as Stephen Crane, author of the Red Badge of Courage, and Walt Whitman, the famous post-Civil War poet, both confirmed baseball devotees, Gmelch stays firmly on his pragmatic course in describing the following: The intense competition among players, the strain of having to play every day, the new work tools (i.e., wood bats, radar guns), the loss of social support provided by family and friends, and the relative boredom of small-town life, exacerbated by the loss of transportation, are the tough conditions of baseball faced by all rookies. Having played minor league baseball, been a player-coach in the Europe and Australia national leagues, and served as a baseball coach at three collegiate institutions, I firmly support the author's candid description of "America's Game," especially since it has taken on international dimensions. The revised book is as close to the real thing in terms of the grind, the highs and lows of professional baseball, and off the field experiences in such areas as housing difficulties, domestic relations, relating to groupies, and hanging out with teammates.

There are a few idealized aspects of the game to compromise descriptions of the author or the assessments of numerous players who were systematically interviewed over an extended period of time. A problem area skirted by this author is that of reverse discrimination in professional baseball. Certain prejudices transcend color, race, or national origin to those that incorporated ballplayers' educational backgrounds. He alludes to this possibility in describing some minor league coaches, who had never been to college, being disdainful of players who had. In their frame of reference, "college boy" is a pejorative term. Since nearly 70 percent of North American players in the Major Leagues in 2005 were drafted out of colleges, negative perceptions of coaches leading to self-fulfilling prophecies for a player's failure seem to have abated. This was just one topic that I would have liked the author to expand upon a bit more. On the other hand, with one in every four Major Leaguer players today being a Spanish speaker and as Latino players take on more and more coaching positions in the minor leagues, the very real possibility exists that non-Spanish speaking players will be at risk when personnel decisions are to be made.

Gmelch describes in precise, statistical detail how difficult it is to gain Major League playing status, e.g., only one in twelve players signed ever makes the majors after spending four years, on average, in the minor leagues with pay scales sometimes as low as $990 a month. Starting out with a high level of aspiration (LA) and need to achieve (n ACH) as described in motivational psychology, the personal fable common to late adolescents and early young adults to the effect that "others will fail, I won't" is abruptly set aside when a player is cut. Being let go after being rated as not a real prospect is as the author succinctly describes "putting an end to my fantasies about life (in baseball) that I might have led." And yet, given the chance to have a professional baseball career, who would pass up this once in a lifetime experience?

to the top of this page