Con Chapman

Free ARC given for honest review:

Girl Samurai isn't a very in depth book but works as a wonderful glimpse in to Kimiko Chou's life. The author claims it's a true story found in a second hand manuscript. Part of me hopes that's not true because while the book was worth the time and is interesting it also leaves me wanting more. Very exciting and a wonderful look at ancient Japan, it still feels like a bit of an outline versus a fully fleshed out story.

I do hope that it turns out to be "real" as Memoirs of a Geisha was so we can see a second volume.… (más)

The passing of baseball lifer Don Zimmer brought a number of thoughts to the mind of this Red Sox fan. In 1978, as manager of the Red Sox, Don Zimmer brought the team to a 14 ½ game lead over the hated New York Yankees . . . and then the wheels came off, in historic fashion.

No need to recount the horror, the loss upon loss, Butch Hobson sailing throws past first base, Bobby Sprowl (“the kid has ice water in his veins”), the Boston Massacre, the one game playoff, Bucky (bleeping) Dent . . . like I said, no need to recount the horror.

Needless to say, there were very few books written about that season. In fact, the only one I've ever run across dedicated to that season alone was this one, “The Year of the Gerbil” by Con Chapman.

Longtime Sox fans know 'the gerbil' was Red Sox lefthander Bill Lee's unkind nickname for Zimmer, referring to his jowly visage. Of course, Lee had his own reasons for disliking Zimmer, not the least of which was Zimmer burying him on the bench, refusing to pitch him out of spite when the Red Sox might have used him, when winning just ONE GAME might have made all the difference.

What brought this book specifically to mind was reading the thoughts of former Red Sox shortstop Rick Burleson. As tough and gritty an on-field competitor as there ever was, Burleson played for Zimmer on that ill-fated 1978 team. In his tribute to Zimmer, Burleson said that Zimmer was “the best manager he ever played for,” and that's no surprise. As a former player himself, a teammate of Jackie Robinson, a member of Brooklyn's only world championship team, and an original Met, in his own day, Zimmer too was about as tough and gritty as they come. No surprise at all that Burleson and he would get along just fine.

But it's a quote about Rick Burleson that will forever stick in my mind from this book, that is that “Rick Burleson loved to win in the same way that Norman Bates loved his mother.” Anyone who ever saw "the Rooster" play knows exactly what he's talking about.

Anyway, for this Red Sox fan, it was worth reliving the horror, if only for lines like that.… (más)