The Soul of Baseball

It is a rare book that gets a second read in today's day-and-age. After all, there are so many books, magazines, on-line articles, blogs, and other pieces that have not yet been read. Yet, Joe Posnanski's Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America received that high praise - and right away. Shortly after finishing the book for the first time, I started over, and enjoyed it just as much.

What makes this book great is not the 'discovery' of Buck O'Neil - Ken Burns (and others) had already done so:


Posnanski has the fortune of traveling with O'Neil during the final year of his life. Despite his age (93), O'Neil continues to be a indefatigable speaker and supporter of the Negro League and its players. His travels take him to Houston, Minneapolis, and Nicodemus, KS. He remains upbeat and positive despite the bad breaks that baseball -- and its owners -- gave him. Despite never having the chance to play or manage in the Major Leagues, O'Neil's attitude is perhaps most reminiscent of Lou Gehrig.

But the book reaches a dramatic height in the last section, as Posnanski waits with O'Neil for the Baseball Hall of Fame's special committee -- chaired by former Commissioner Fay Vincent -- to select from a list of 39 former Negro Leaguers who were considered for admission. Sometimes a great piece of writing needs tragedy in the life of his subject.

In the end, O'Neil gives the speech on behalf of those who had died before admission. And he leads the audience in the same song he had sung in countless other venues: "The greatest thing in all my life is loving you."

As a sidenote: Posnanski has a website for the book (including a 'soundtrack' on iTunes), a blog (which includes a memory-invoking list of the sweetest swings that he has ever seen), and he writes regularly for the Kansas City Star. All are recommended.

Performance-Enhancers

The story of the day in sports: Performance-enhancing drugs.

In Scotland, Gary Player claimed that at least one player has told him that he uses performance-enhancers, and that Player estimates 10% of the PGA Tour uses them. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson both said, in response to Player's comments, that they doubted that any players were using.

Meanwhile, across the Channel at the Tour de France, a cyclist (Team T-Mobile support rider Patrik Sinkewitz) tested positive for testosterone in his "A" sample (the "B" sample will now be tested as well, to confirm the earlier finding). In response, German TV stations ARD and ZDF ceased their coverage of the Tour; the Tour then leased the remaining coverage to German stations Sat 1 and Pro Sieben.

Baseball, of course, is facing a continuing steroid story as Barry Bonds grinds towards home run #756, which would pass Henry Aaron on the all-time list. Sports Illustrated this week has a cover portrait of Aaron, and a lengthy story by Tom Verducci, including the following quote from Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer Terence Moore:

[Moore] then cited a quote from a conversation he had on that subject with Harry Edwards, the noted sports psychologist and sociologist. "You'll have the standard and the standard bearer. Then you'll have the record and the record holder. For the first time ever, they broadly will be acknowledged to be totally different people."

The story also has the definitive quote from Bonds:

Said Bonds, in a self-styled epitaph worthy of his tombstone, "I take care of me."

Of course, as Buck O'Neil says near the end of The Soul of Baseball (more about which later):

The only reason players in my time didn't use steroids, is because we didn't have them.