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Working at the Ballpark: The Fascinating Lives of Baseball People from Peanut Vendors and Broadcasters to Players and Managers | 
 enlarge | Author: Tom Jones
Creator: Nolan Ryan
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $17.95
Buy New: $8.89
You Save: $9.06 (50%)
New (32) Used (9) from $8.89
Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 589253
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 1
ISBN: 1602392269
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.3570922
EAN: 9781602392267
ASIN: 1602392269
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
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Product Description
What if Studs Terkel wrote a book with Bill James? You'd have a book on what it's really like to make a living in the world of baseball.
For everyone who ever dreamed of making their love of baseball into their vocation, Working at the Ballpark will provide a view at their lives that might have been, with interviews with more than 50 people who make a living in major league baseball. Each is asked the same questions: What is your job? How did you get into this line of work? What does this job mean to you? From peanut vendors and equipment managers to general managers and star players, from John Guilfoy, who sells sausages at Fenway, to Chris Hanson, who plays "Bernie Brewer" in Milwaukee, to Omar Vizquel, who anchors the infield at AT&T Park, this is an insider's perspective on the enormous scope of the game.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Tom Jones hits a home run with his delightful new book. July 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Although he had never written a book before aspiring author Tom Jones had a marvelous idea. Why not ask people involved in all aspects of the baseball industry these three simple questions: "What is your job?", "How did you get into this line of work?" and finally "What does this job mean to you?" It seems like a simple enough premise but would enough people actually be willing to take the time to sit down and talk about their careers in our great national pastime? Thankfully, the answer turned out to be a resounding "yes"!
In the pages of "Working At The Ballpark" you will meet 50 individuals who ply their trade at major league ballparks all across America. The stories of what these people do and how they wound up working in baseball are varied and fascinating. You will meet a few stars, several journeyman ballplayers, coaches, a manager, an umpire, play-by-play announcers, beat writers, front office personnel and even some of the vendors who patrol the stands during the game. What makes "Working At The Ballpark" so compelling is that most of these people were very willing to open up to Tom Jones and reveal why working in and around baseball is a very special way to earn a living.
As Nolan Ryan observes in the Foreward what is really neat about "Working At The Ballpark" is that you can either choose to read the book cover to cover or just pick and choose the interviews that interest you the most. I would concur with that observation. While "Working At The Ballpark" might be a great bathroom book I chose to read it cover to cover. And while I found a few of the stories to be less than scintillating the overwhelming majority were really quite captivating. What comes through loud and clear to me is that it matters not whether you one of the highly paid athletes, involved in club administration, or are toiling as an attendant in the visitors clubhouse: just about everyone who was interviewed in this book has a love affair with the game of baseball.
After reading "Working At The Ballpark: The Fascinating Lives of Baseball People-From Peanut Vendors and Broadcasters to Players and Managers" you will come away with a new appreciation of what it takes to make that yearly trip to your favorite major ballpark so enjoyable and so memorable. There are so many people involved that you just never see or hear about. You will never look at the game of baseball quite the same way again. Highly recommended!
Real Baseball, Real People May 20, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Tom Jones is apparently this author's real name, and he has an ear for the real people who bring us the real game of big-league baseball. Done in a Studs Terkel style, "Working at the Ballpark" lets us know what it's really like behind the scenes on game day in the voices of the people who make the games possible. A must for any baseball fan.
Unique and Fascinating April 27, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is an entertaining book. I like how the author preserves the speaking styles of the 50 baseball people interviewed. This makes for very enjoyable reading. I especially enjoyed reading about batting, hitting, and coaching techniques from people like Leo Mazzone, Ron Jackson, and Mike Hargrove. I also enjoyed peeking into clubhouses to see what really goes on, to read about the tensions between ballplayers and the media, and to read how plain folks like ushers, beer vendors, and mascots make their living. I recommend this book strongly.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in readking about baseball from a different perspective. If Studs Terkel had written a baseball book, this is probably what it would have read like.
easy to read; would appeal to me or to a baseball fanatic April 5, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
50 interviews with people with ALL SORTS of careers at a ballpark--players, clubhouse workers, mascot, landscaping, announcer, ballpark vendors (food, beer, etc.).
My favorite interviews were the ballpark architect, the umpire, the shortstop who goes to art galleries when he travels around the US, and the "from Connecticut" ticket hustler.
I like that I can read one interview at a time or several in a row.
This would be a good gift for any man. I will keep it in mind for the impossible-to-shop-for 15-25 year old. It also strikes me as a good graduation gift because everyone in the book talks about how they came to have that job.
I am female 32 years with limited interest in pro sports...
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