Bottom of the 33rd

Hope and Redemption in Baseball's Longest Game

De: Dan Barry

Narrado por: Dan Barry

“Bottom of the 33rd is chaw-chewing, sunflower-spitting, pine tar proof that too much baseball is never enough.” —Jane Leavy, author of The Last Boy and Sandy Koufax

From Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Dan Barry comes the beautifully recounted story of the longest game in baseball history—a tale celebrating not only the robust intensity of baseball, but the aspirational ideal epitomized by the hard-fighting players of the minor leagues.

On April 18, 1981, a ball game sprang eternal. For eight hours, the night seemed to suspend a town and two teams between their collective pasts and futures, between their collective sorrows and joys—the shivering fans; their wives at home; the umpires; the batboys approaching manhood; the ejected manager, peering through a hole in the backstop; the sportswriters and broadcasters; and the players themselves—two destined for the Hall of Fame (Cal Ripken and Wade Boggs), the few to play only briefly or forgettably in the big leagues, and the many stuck in minor-league purgatory, duty bound and loyal forever to the game.

With Bottom of the 33rd, Barry delivers a lyrical meditation on small-town lives, minor-league dreams, and the elements of time and community that conspired one fateful night to produce a baseball game seemingly without end. An unforgettable portrait of ambition and endurance, Bottom of the 33rd is the rare sports book that changes the way we perceive America’s pastime—and America’s past.

I love baseball

Oh, what a game! It was fun to listen to the details of this game, played by 3A teams from Rhode Island and New York in 1981. It was very interesting to learn a little bit about the lives of some of the players, some who made it to major league, and more who did not. I grew up with a father and brothers who were crazy about baseball, so I learned a lot about it at an early age. Some people stake their whole life's dreams on making it in professional sports, but when it comes right down to it, it is a game. There are lots of really great things to spend your life doing other than pro sports. Yeh, the money one could make from playing pro sports would allow you to help a whole lot of people, but really, you are not a failure if the highest rung you ever achieve in baseball is 3A. How many people even get that far?

Anyway, I liked it a lot and learned a lot too. Me, I'm a Cubbies fan. As soon as they are in the pennant race, I am going to Chicago to watch the games. It sure won't be this year, though. Why am I a Cubbies fan? Because I figure they need at least one fan who doesn't HAVE to be a fan. They'll come out on top someday. Hope I'm still alive. (Update: The Cubbies won the World Series in 2016 against the Cleveland Indians, 108 years after the last time they won it. I did not get to go to Chicago, but I watched every game on TV. Ohhhh that game 7! It was perhaps the best game in baseball ever.)

This book was read by the author, not usually the best choice for narrator. Dan did ok, but it is pretty obvious he is not a professional narrator. He was not annoying like many authors who read their own works are, but hint to authors who think they can read: let the pros do it.

Lots of Baseball . . .

I purchased this book on a whim--don't remember exactly why. But I truly enjoyed it for many reasons.

The basic story line follows a minor-league baseball game in the Spring of 1981 that just would not end! But the story tells so much more--every person involved with this historic game was a part of this narration. It could be daunting for those who do not enjoy tons of detail, but I found so much of it very interesting. Some of the players involved in the game went on to become big names in the majors (Cal Ripkin Jr. and Wade Boggs to name just two), and it was interesting to get an insight of them at the beginning of their careers.

The book is read by the author, and he did a wonderful job. I am very glad I chose this book to listen to.

Pawtucket

This is a very interesting book not only for baseball fans, but also for those who enjoy hearing how people and lives evolve over time. The author, who is also the narrator, skillfully sets the scene for us in 1981, and then switches seamlessly to events prior and subsequent to the longest baseball game ever played.

Dan Barry does Dan Barry

and, what could be better? The author narrates this story with all the irony, wit, and compassion of the person who created the tale, as he did.But,from history, and boy, does Barry do his homework. Barry's tone is somewhat deadpan, but he knows how to render the longest game in history, with the right amount of inflection. Sometimes I literally laughed out loud. If you like baseball, which i do, you just might get caught up in the flow of the story of unlikely characters; ball players, managers, bat boys, announcers, writers, their families.. At times even suspenseful, the narration moves you along with human interest stories that catch you by surprise. You ache for these (mostly) young men as the rawness outside, the wee hours of the morning in this interminable game, all make you feel for their plights. Some have a happy ending. Most do not. I ended up buying book versions of "The Bottom of the 33rd" for at least 3 people this holiday season. Only because they don't do audible.

The Mysticism of Baseball

This was the single best baseball book I've ever read. The level of detail for each participant in the longest game ever - from players, to owners, to listeners, to the press, to the stadium staff, and the fans who stuck it out on a cold April day - is unrivaled in any other account. I appreciate the audio effect to make the lines from the radio broadcast sound like they are from the radio itself. An amazing tour of prose and magic surrounding an otherwise meaningless minor league game if not for time standing still one Easter Sunday.