|
Playing with the Enemy: A Baseball Prodigy, World War II, and the Long Journey Home | 
 enlarge | Author: Gary Moore
Publisher: Springwater
Category: Book
List Price: $25.99
Buy New: $17.62
You Save: $8.37 (32%)
New (5) from $17.62
Avg. Customer Rating:  82 reviews
Sales Rank: 748349
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 6.4 x 5.5 x 0.7
ISBN: 1598593722
EAN: 9781598593723
ASIN: 1598593722
Publication Date: April 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Foreword by baseball legend Jim Morris, former Major League pitcher with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
It was true in the 1940s, and it is still true today: if you have talent, someone will notice. In Gene Moore's case, that someone was the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Gene Moore was a farm boy living with his family in Sesser, Illinois, a town so small even map makers ignored it. As a teenager, when he wasn't in school or helping his Pop on the farm, slopping the hogs and doing other chores with his older brother Ward and five sisters, Gene was playing baseball with the guys on the town team. Some were twice his age. The older fellows didn't mind having the Moore kid on their team because he could hit the ball farther than anyone else, he was the best catcher anyone had ever seen, he could throw men out from his knees, and not a ball ever got past him. Gene was 15 years old.
Word quickly spread across the United States about the country boy who could hit the ball a country mile. The Dodgers wanted to take a look at this farm kid, barely old enough to shave and still awaiting his first kiss, but brash enough to call the pitches from behind the plate and motion to the infielders and outfielders as to how they should position themselves for certain hitters.
Headed for baseball stardom with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Gene's destiny was interrupted by Pearl Harbor. After playing ball for the Navy in the Azores and North Africa, Gene and his team were sent to the States for a special-and top secret-mission: guarding German sailors captured from U-505. Unable to field a team, Gene convinced his commander to allow him to teach the enemy how to play baseball while he and his teammates waited for the war to end so they could be called up into the Major Leagues. But Gene's future changed irrevocably in Louisiana. His life . . . and maybe our national pastime . . . was forever altered.
Inspired by true events, Playing with the Enemy is the riveting story of a depression-era youth and his brush with destiny. Author Gary Moore, Gene's son, did not learn of his father's remarkable odyssey through World War II and the hardships of minor league baseball until the day before Gene's death. Confronted with evidence of a possible career in baseball, Gene finally broke his decades of silence and spent the next several hours relieving himself of the heavy burden he had been carrying. The stunning news sent the author on his own odyssey as he researched his father's life and interviewed dozens of people.
The astonishing story of Gene Moore's life in and out of baseball is an exciting and often heart-wrenching saga that will capture the heart of every red- blooded American who can still smell the fresh-cut summer grass or remember how it felt to tie on the cleats while dreaming of making it to the big leagues. Jammed with memorable characters from an extraordinary time in our country's history, Playing with the Enemy is a story that will be read and reread for generations to come. And it is one you will never forget.
About the Author: Gary W. Moore is the president and managing partner of Covenant Air and Water, LLC, a motivational speaker, and an accomplished musician. Gene Moore was his father. Gary lives in Bourbonnais, Illinois.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 77 more reviews...
A Great American Story May 14, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I read Playing With the Enemy after meeting the author at a bookstore. I was intrigued by the subject matter of the story as my father, like the author's, had been scouted and signed by the Dodgers and was ultimately 'unsigned' due to an injury, at about the same time in history that Gene Moore was. While the surface similarities of our fathers' stories introduced me to the book, I found much more between the lines. The story of Gene Moore's experiences is indeed heartwarming and poignant. The mood of the story stayed with me and I found myself pondering two sub-themes. The first is the relative ease with which two seriously opposing teams could "level the playing field" (pardon the pun) and find, through compromise and acceptance a commonality agreeable to all. This wasn't just an Army/Navy rivalry, but Navy/Nazi. In spite of opposition from the powers that be, one young man's dream and drive accomplished on a small scale that which would heal the world if the idea caught on! Imagine looking at the enemy and instead of seeing only ideologies and hatred, seeing another human being with basic human characteristics, fears, families etc. and building on those similarities. What a concept! The other theme that I felt as a subcurrent running through the story is the sadness of the silence of the father. What Gene Moore perceived in his own history as reason for shame, pain, and self doubt, his son Gary saw as inspiration for telling a story too big for him to keep inside. What if Gary had never heard it? Their story has inspired me to be more open with my own children about who I am and the events that helped to form me. Turns out...they really want to know. Playing With the Enemy is a little gem of a book. If you read it solely for the baseball and WWII stories you'll love it. But I would also suggest that you read it for the bigger lessons within. There can be extraordinary power in the commission of ordinary acts.
A Homerun for sure! May 3, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I absolutely loved this book. I read it to my 8th grade classes because of the historical aspects, and they LOVED it. I had kids who would normally sit there and sleep coming in to class everyday asking me what was going to happen in the story. It is just an amazing story of sacrifice, courage, and love - for not only baseball, but also for mankind and friendship. I would recommend this book to anyone who teaches American History because the historical part of it is great. Kudos to Gary Moore for pestering his father enough for him to tell his story.
The Father and Son Dynamic Spun in Love and Respect April 30, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
How many of us wish we had our fathers back to ask a few more questions, to learn more of his life, and to let him know how much he meant to our lives? Gary Moore had a father who held secrets, like so many of the WW2 era fathers. The fathers of that era always thought they had to be strong, they could show no weaknesses, and also could show little emotion. When we lose a father, we lose forever all that they had kept inside. But Gary's dad gave Gary a gift during his last few hours....he shared some of those secrets with Gary. Gary then made it a mission to learn more of his father's life story and ended up with an inspirational book about his father, WW2 prisoners and the life that his dad had kept secret. We all have regrets, and we all hope our father's know that we loved them. This book is Gary Moore's "I love you" to his father and we get to go along for the ride. Very enjoyable read. I'm sending it to my baseball playing nephew.
 Get two pieces of bread for this baloney and make it a sandwich April 25, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
Ugh, I don't know where to start. Poorly written and researched, at best. Try to remember that it is 'based on a true story'. But the true story part doesn't resemble the climax of the book, at all. I've read plenty of books that are baseball related, this is the only one I've ever been viscerally disappointed in.
Elroy Face learned the forkball in the MAJOR LEAGUES from Joe Page, the Yankee reliever who ended up his career with the Pirates. Save your money on this one. In honor of a great Pirate, Elroy Face, don't waste any money on this book.
The Perfect Book for Baseball Fans & Military Buffs April 19, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Gary Moore has written a wonderful book. As a baseball fan and a military buff, Playing With the Enemy it has become, simply, one of my favorite non-fiction reads of all time. It has earned a place on my shelf of books to keep, and will be one of those books I give as gifts. But it won't be given only to fellow baseball and military historians, as this is a story that will peak the interest of anyone who likes to read of ordinary people doing the most extraordinary things while living out their private lives.
Moore's book tells the story of his father, Gene Moore, a baseball prodigy whose promising baseball career was interrupted by the Second World War. Drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers as a teenager, Gene Moore entered the Navy in a little-known program that allowed Major League talents a chance to serve their country, play the game they love, and entertain the troops. Unlike Steven Bullock's Playing for Their Nation (2004), an exhaustively researched book which explained the various baseball programs that existed in the U.S. military during The War, Moore's book comes to life. While Playing for Their Nation is a must-have reference for any military baseball historian, Playing With the Enemy is a page-turner that anyone with an interest in human drama that seems too unreal to be real will enjoy. The saga of Gene Moore is as unlikely as any of the far-fetched but fun-to-read baseball stories by W.P. Kinsella; but Moore's is even more compelling because it is true. Readers will find themselves rooting for Gene Moore to make it: through The War, through a tragic and impossibly unfair injury, and through his fall into the darkness of alcoholism and lost dreams.
Gary Moore's book actually has much in common with another book, Flags of Our Fathers (2001) by James Bradley, the son of Iwo Jima flag raiser John Bradley. James didn't know much about his father's experiences in World War II until his father passed away. Gary didn't know much about his father's War experiences either, but was able to have a magic moment with his father just before he passed away. The result of that magic moment is Playing With the Enemy.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
