09-09-2014, 03:38 AM
![[Image: 51tB04WhgyL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51tB04WhgyL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
In the pageantry of baseball, one select group is virtually unknown in
the outside world, derided by fans, faced with split-second choices that
spell victory or defeat. These men are up-close observers of the
action, privy to inside jokes, blood feuds, benches-clearing brawls, and
managers’ expletive-filled tirades. In this wonderful memoir, Hall of
Fame umpire Doug Harvey takes us within baseball as you’ve never seen
it, with unforgettable inside stories of baseball greats such as Willie
Mays, Sandy Koufax, and Whitey Herzog.
Doug Harvey was a California farm boy, a high school athlete who
nevertheless knew that what he really wanted was to become an unsung
hero—a major league umpire. Working his way through the minor leagues,
earning three hundred dollars a month, he survived just about
everything, even riots in stadiums in Puerto Rico. And while players and
other umps hit the bars at night, Harvey memorized the rule book. In
1962, he broke into the bigs and was soon listening to rookie Pete Rose
worrying that he would be cut by the Reds and laying down the law with
managers such as Tommy Lasorda and Joe Torre.
Magic Button :