We see that javascript is disabled or not supported by your browser - javascript is needed for important actions on the site. Read more

What's New - Home - Login

Member $avings: $81,749,167.53 | Books Available: 731,145 | Members Online: 250

Swap Used Books - Buy New Books at Great Prices!

How To Swap Books Sign Up Search submenu

PBS Market (New Books)

Gift Buying Guide

Book Browser Advanced Search Books Posted Today Member Book Reviews Award Winning Books NYT Best Sellers Amazon Best Sellers Most Traveled Copies Club Wish List

Discussion Forums Book Lists

Club Lists My Book Lists My Watched Lists Create a List

Blog Donations

School Donation Program In Memory of... Military Donation Program Friends of PBS

Box-O-Books Maps The Eclectic Pen Fun Stuff

20 Questions Sudoku Bookmark Creator

Top 100

Requests Posts Swappers Referrers Reviewers

Pulse of PBS Spread The Word

Invite Friends Bookmarks Facebook Page Facebook App More Ways...

Photo Gallery Recipes Club Tag Cloud Member Testimonials

Help Center submenu

How To Swap Books Browse Help Docs Ask the Librarian PBS Member Icons Live Help

Kiosk

PBS Market (New Books) Go Shopping Buy Credits Buy PBS Money Upgrade Membership Gift Certificates Transfer Credits

Need Help?

Search - Away Games : The Life and Times of a Latin Ballplayer

Away Games The Life and Times of a Latin Ballplayer
Author: Marcos Breton, Jose Luis Villegas

It all starts with a bamboo stick, a tattered ball, a makeshift field -- and a dream. Amid the squalor and destitution of the Dominican Republic's poorest barrios, young men toil away their adolescence for the chance to become bona fide major league stars -- and, with that, the chance to make something of themselves and their families. Ba... more »seball on this island is not always a game of fun. It's often a game of survival. This is baseball Latin-style, and with it comes a fire, an intensity, an inner desire to play the best ball possible and leave behind the poverty of the island. It was this fire that drove Dominican-born Sammy Sosa during his 1998 MVP season, when he, along with slugger Mark McGwire, rattled the ghosts of Babe Ruth and Roger Maris. It was that same fire that drove Juan Gonzalez toward his second MVP trophy, marking the first season in history that baseball's top honors were swept by Latin players. In Away Games, award-winning journalists Marcos Bretón and José Luis Villegas examine the story of Latin baseball as seen through the eyes of Miguel Tejada, a young Dominican shortstop and one of many promising Latin prospects in the Oakland A's organization. By telling Tejada's story, Bretón and Villegas also tell the story of every Latin ballplayer who has come before him: Roberto Clemente, Minnie Minoso, Chico Carrasquel, Zoilo Versalles, Felipe Alou, and countless others. Just as African-American players electrified baseball in the 1950s, Latin ballplayers are transforming America's pastime today. Sammy Sosa, Pedro Martinez and his brother Ramon, Raul Mondesi, Manny Ramirez, and Vladimir Guerrero -- they are baseball's future, and they come from places most Americans have never even heard of and from lives most Americans could never even imagine. The story of Latin baseball is an incredible tale -- baseball's last, great untold story. Since the turn of the century, long-forgotten men who reached the major leagues before Jackie Robinson was credited with breaking baseball's color barrier have paved the way for the Latin stars we see today. And that legacy grows stronger each day, with young men like Tejada competing for a plane ticket off the island. In Away Games, Bretón and Villegas tell the riveting tale of Tejada's journey from the barrios to the starting lineup of the Oakland A's. They give voice to every kid's dream of playing baseball; it's just that for some kids that dream is more a necessity than for others. Told with unparalleled reporting and a sharp, critical eye, Away Games is not just the rags-to-riches story of Miguel Tejada's triumph, it's the story of Latin baseball and the American dream. For some, the American dream lies in glory on the basepaths in major league stadiums. For others, that dream is a harsh reality of New York ghettos and failed potential. Bretón and Villegas tell it all in this fascinating book that encapsulates Latin baseball as it heads into the twenty-first century.

ISBN-13: 9780684849911
ISBN-10: 0684849917
Publication Date: 4/6/1999
Pages: 272
Rating:

0 stars, based on 0 rating

Publisher: Simon Schuster
Book Type: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Read All 1 Book Reviews of "Away Games The Life and Times of a Latin Ballplayer"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

Evelyn N. (evelyn0309) - , reviewed Away Games : The Life and Times of a Latin Ballplayer on 6/30/2006 + 84 more book reviews

Great book with two story lines: the history of Latin American ball players and Miguel Tejada's journey to the major leagues. This book was written before he was an All Star!

Share/Like this Review?

Read All Book Reviews of "Away Games The Life and Times of a Latin Ballplayer"

Genres:

Biographies & Memoirs >> General
Sports & Outdoors >> Biographies >> General
Sports & Outdoors >> Baseball >> General
Sports & Outdoors >> General

Back to the Top ↑

Search - Away Games : The Life and Times of a Latin Ballplayer

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

Loading...