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 enlarge | Author: Jerry Crasnick
Publisher: Rodale Books
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $9.42
You Save: $15.53 (62%)
New (26) Used (19) from $7.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 212977
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 328
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 1594860246
Dewey Decimal Number: 921
EAN: 9781594860249
ASIN: 1594860246
Publication Date: May 25, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Crasnick Pitches a Gem October 14, 2005
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
As some one who is very familiar with the agent business which is at the heart of Mr. Crasnick's book, I appreciate how interstingly and thoughtfully he has explored the topic. By focusing on young agents trying to enter the business he has found a perfect vehicle to let his readers understand the emotions of the business from the elation in landing a new client to the depression of having another , more experienced agent steal his clients. One can sense the commitment made by these young agents to their players as well as their naivete in expecting that such a commitment woujld be sufficient to retain those players as clients. Crasnick also does a nice job in exploring the relationships, both positive and negative, that exist between agents and major league organizations. For one of the first times, an author has focused a non-condescending, literary light on the essence of the agent business, allowing the public to better understand an agent's role both as an influence on the financial aspects of his client's career as well as the development of that career. It's a must read for anyone thinking about entering the business and an enjoyable read for any baseball fan.
 great look at baseball's underside September 30, 2005
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Crasnick is a great tour guide through the complexities and insanities of sports agenting, it's clear he's been here before. What's most impressive is that he resists the tendency in most sports books to lionize the main character. While you sympathize with Matt Sosnick as he embarks on his David vs. Goliath quest, Crasnick doesn't gush over him and he doesn't skip over Sosnick's less attractive qualities. Crasnick's first loyalty is to the reader and not to the guy he spent months hanging out with, and that's what makes the story most compelling -- besides the fact it's also a fun, fast and wonderfully observed ride.
 Going inside the "business side" of the game September 29, 2005
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
It's hard to wonder what life would be like if your day job involved working with professional athletes on a daily basis. For Matt Sosnick and Paul Cobbe, their day job became more than a full time job (it was 24-7). Two upper class white males from the west coast follow their dream and enter into the big shark tank of sports business. What makes this book entertaining, as a 20 something white male myself, is that I found humor in the variety of anecdotal references of "small time guys" with a trust fund, living out their dream, and doing it the old fashion way (with honor, respect, and buddying up with the client). Who by the way, know very very little about the game of baseball.
The author attempts to paint this picture that you should feel bad for Matt and Paul as they go head to head against the likes of Scott Boras and other big time agents. Your typical David v. Goliath story ... while it is true that Matt and Paul are building their business from scratch, hence their brand, it is the American way to start a small business from nothing (as probably most of our ancestors did), begin by struggling big time, and over time establish a brand.
The book takes a few twists about how their relationship with certain ball players out weighs the services performed by other sports agents, and why the Sosnick / Cobbe franchise is "for a lifetime." Unfortuantely, the song gets old, and the author happily changes direction, but at the same time loses the general story line, providing a few history lessons of sports agents and scouts in the 50's / 60's.
If your purpose is to get inside the business side of the game, this book definitely does that. But the cost of having to read through the authors attempt of making the reader feel bad for two guys with millions in the bank outweighs how the business side of sports is run.
 hypocrisy July 19, 2005
1 out of 10 found this review helpful
Sosnick is a whole host of contradictions. While he rails against the ethics of sports agents, he himself embarassingly participates in questionable activities to add to his sports roster. The book is an irritating read, and after awhile this agent's "holier than thou" attitude begins to grate on you, particularly his boyish, always trying to please "Mother" attitude. The guy needs to seriously grow up.
Informative look into the lives of baseball agents. July 18, 2005
6 out of 9 found this review helpful
Review: License to Deal by Jerry Crasnick
License to Deal by Jerry Crasnick is sub-titled "A Season on the Run with a Maverick Baseball Agent". The agent is Matt Sosnick, whose most famous client is Dontrelle Willis of the Florida Marlins. Crasnick paints Sosnick and his partner Paul Cobbe as good people and friends to their clients. All this in a field of sharks and wolves. Sosnick and Cobbe routinely try to keep their own clients from abandoning and jumping to other agents while the players are still in the minors or just starting out their careers in the majors. Crasnick makes Sosnick look like the victim. But as Crasnick shows (although he never explicitly states it), Sosnick-Cobbe have their own moments where they are rude, arrogant, aggressive and steal other agents' clients as well. The bottom line is this is a cut throat business and either all agents are victims or none of them are, because they all get screwed and all try to screw others too. Crasnick also writes about other agents and baseball deals in the book. There is a whole chapter on Scott Boras, as well as many other anecdotes and quotes from other agents and baseball management interspersed throughout the book.
Overall, Crasnick does a good job describing the life of agents. The middle-tier ones like Sosnick and Cobbe and the stars like Boras and Moorad (now in management with the Diamondbacks). I recommend this book for those that are interested in the business side of baseball.
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