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The Baseball Whisperer

Audiobook
Nonfiction: Biography/ Sports/ History
Unabridged   8.25 hour(s)
Publication date: 07/05/2016

The Baseball Whisperer

A Small-Town Coach Who Shaped Big League Dreams

Available from major retailers or BUY FROM AMAZON
Audio CD ISBN:9781681681481
Digital Download ISBN:9781681681498

Summary

From an award winning journalist, a real Field of Dreams story about a legendary coach and the professional caliber baseball program he built in America's heartland, where boys come summer after summer to be molded into ballplayers—and men.

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Product Description

Clarinda, Iowa, population 5,000, sits two hours from anything. There, between the corn fields and hog yards, is a ball field with a bronze bust of a man named Merl Eberly, a baseball whisperer who specialized in second chances and lost causes. The statue was a gift from one of Merl’s original long shot projects, a skinny kid from the ghetto in Los Angeles who would one day become a beloved Hall of Fame shortstop: Ozzie Smith.

The Baseball Whisperer traces the remarkable story of Merl Eberly and his Clarinda A's baseball team, which he tended over the course of five decades, transforming them from a town team to a collegiate summer league powerhouse. Along with Ozzie Smith, future manager Bud Black, and star player Von Hayes, Merl developed scores of major league players (six of which are currently playing). In the process, Merl taught them to be men, insisting on hard work, integrity, and responsibility.

More than a book about ballplayers who landed in the nation's agricultural heartland, The Baseball Whisperer is the story of a coach who puts character and dedication first, and reminds us of the best, purest form of baseball excellence.

Reviews/Praise

"Chamberlain is enthusiastic and engaging evoking the glories of summer baseball, but he also relentlessly demands the listener's attention, effectively mirroring the exacting standards of a coach who wanted baseball to be played right." —AudioFile

"[Mike Chamberlain] reads with heartwarming sincerity, and his voice reflects the genuineness of Eberly and the denizens of Clarinda as well as the clear affection and respect former players felt for Eberly. . . . Chamberlin’s smooth performance matches the story’s low-key style, and both affirm baseball’s place in American culture." —Booklist Audio Review

Author Bio

Michael Tackett is an editor at the Washington Bureau for the New York Times. Previously, he was the managing editor for Bloomberg, the Washington Bureau Chief for the Chicago Tribune, and a national editor for U.S. News & World Report. The Baseball Whisperer is his first book. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.