As promised, another baseball book:
Full name: “Three Nights in August: Strategy, Heartbreak, and Joy Inside the Mind of a Manager” by Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights (that’s a book too, not just a movie and tv show), and Tony La Russa.
Also 10 years old, but like many great finds turned up in an obscure reference and when checked out, is enjoyment beyond expectations.
This centers on Tony La Russa and the St. Louis Cardinals of 2003, focused on a late-season series against the rival Chicago Cubs in the heat of the pennant race, but spreads out to the whole season, often going into background and back stories of the players involved. It shows us the strategy and planning of match-ups – weeks ahead, innings ahead, or pitch by pitch.
In one case, half an inning lasts a whole chapter describing what backgrounds and attitudes the players brought with them (free agent year, established star status, etc.) and the strategic shifts with each change in the count.
It is a great look at well-known La Russa – a Twins foe in the late ‘80s – and is a fantastic read for anyone who enjoys major league baseball.
From the book: You need to know who to leave alone, who to pat on the butt, and who to kick in the butt. The manager is a tactician, psychologist, and riverboat gambler.
From me: Baseball is the greatest sequential game. When down to the last pitch, an out can make it a loss, a home run a victory, or somewhere in between it’s tied up and goes on for three more hours.
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