One Shot at Forever (2012) by Chris Ballard
Good Reads meta-data is 255 pages, rated 4.28 by 2,867 litizens.
Genre: Non-fiction; Species: Condescension.
DNA: [Jaded.]
Verdict: Clichéd.
Tagline: Meh.
A small rural high school baseball team in Illinois succeeded. This is so astonishing that Author investigates. In 1971 this was a team that could sometimes field only nine players, with a coach who knew nothing about coaching, from a school with an enrolment of 250, and yet it defeated teams with professional coaches from schools enrolling 9000. Out of 370 high school teams in the state this one emerged. What was the secret sauce to their success?
What follows is an account of two high school baseball seasons. It seemed to be written as an aspirant film script with villains, and climaxes. Even so the odour of disdain arises from page one, and lingers. The characters are too often painted as black or white to create tension. The descriptions of the games are perfunctory as though watching animals in a zoo across a moat, through a steel fence, or behind unbreakable glass.
Yes, it is true that I did not warm to the book. While the story is great, the telling does not match that.
In addition to the undertone of snobbery from the big city boy author about small town life, it ignores much of the full story. Most, if not all, of these boys played American Legion baseball in the summer after the high school season ended, where they had much more practice and coaching, and this is mentioned, well, I can only remember one time but let’s say twice. Would this experience have not affected their skills and attitudes? One way or another, the answer is yes.
While the context of the Vietnam War is underlined how it applied to these boys on graduation is omitted.
It is no surprise that it gets a higher Good Reads score than a far better book, i.e., Bottom of the 33rd. That fact simply confirms my prejudice about those who contribute to that source.
To judge from the blurb, the book had noble ambitions but… [See above.] These include the impact of high school sports on the players and on their families and communities. The roles of teachers as catalysts to stimulate the formative years. The glue of teamwork. That the purpose of the strong is not to bully the weak but to help them, making both of them stronger. It is a good list but it does not grow from the text.