Play by Play: Baseball, Radio, and Life in the Last Chance League

By Neal Conan

Book Overview

Following nearly twenty-five years as a prominent voice at National Public Radio, after being shelled, rocketed, bombed and held captive in the desert as one of their top foreign correspondents, Neal Conan decided to pursue a lifelong dream-to become, of all things, a baseball announcer. And that's what he did, specifically with the Aberdeen Arsenal, a franchise of the independent Atlantic League. Not the majors, alas, but it afforded him a true opportunity to use the surge of conflicting emotions that we refer to as midlife crisis to rethink what he'd done and what he was doing. It also allowed Neal to marry his two lifelong passions-radio and baseball-and gave him the chance to return to the grassroots of each. He decided to put the fun and challenge back into things he had become bored with. Play by Play is Conan's diary of the 2000 season-Aberdeen's and his. From his position in the announcer's booth, on the team bus and in hotels and motels along the way, we meet the coaches, fans and, of course, the players. And in this league, most of the players are on the way out rather than up but are happy to still be getting paid to play ball. It is indeed a league of last chances, but for most everyone involved, it's better to be spending time playing ball than not. Some are resigned to the fact that they'll never make the majors-or, in a few cases, get back there-while others hang on to a dream that everybody but them sees as foolhardy. Either way, they play for the love of the game, and very little else. Through the lens of the minor leagues, Conan captures the soul of a great sport and reveals the ways men face age, come to terms with their limitations and ambitions and look for new challenges when they're no longer young phenoms. In the end, Conan's experiences, the things he's learned, help him refocus his own life and reappreciate the things he has, giving him direction of where he needs to go. (But that's not to say he wouldn't take a call from George Steinbrenner to be the voice of the Yankees.)

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0609608711
• ISBN13: 9780609608715
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.91 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

The Pursuit Of A Dream

Neal Conan is really telling two stories here...one is about his season as play-by-play announcer for the Albany Arsenal, the other is about his own mid-life crisis that led him to take a leave from his job at National Public Radio to spend a season as that team's play-by-play announcer. The author introduces us to the manager of the team (major league veteran Darrell Evans) and to the players, none of whom are familiar at the beginning of the tale. That's because independent leagues are dependent on those young men who got sidetracked on the way to The Show...whether there was a flaw in their game or in their personality, they had been tossed aside by the big league organizations, and were out to make the most of one final chance with this independent club.We follow Conan through his shaky start at the beginning of the season, which mirrors the difficult start the team experiences; while Conan steadily gains confidence and skill, it's much more of an up-and-down experience for the Arsenal. This is a thoughtful, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, very human story. I truly enjoyed reliving the year with Conan, and hope you will, too.

good stuff

Neal Conan, longtime National Public Radio host/correspondent/producer, has offered up a fine volume on the subject of his sabbatical year as play-by-play announcer for a minor league baseball team. With baseball - and its labor disputes, nascent drug scandals, and rapidly tarnishing image as the American Game - much in the news these days, the fit is a most appropriate one. And he delivers the goods. Minor League ball is currently all the rage, and this book gives you the background and personal stories which fill in a complete picture of a fascinating world most of us know only from the grandstands. His writing flows nicely, his story is compelling, and his team...well, you'll just have to read it and find out what happens to the Aberdeen Arsenal during the course of this singular season. Let's just say that it's good Conan had a job waiting for him back at NPR. Can't wait to hear what his next book is going to be about.

Could have been better.

The author chose a very interesting subject and wrote about his year where he left NPR and became a minor league baseball announcer. I thought that the prospects of a great book were in order however the author chose to digrese to events that had nothing to do with his year in baseball. If he wanted to write an auto biography then these events would have been approptiate. He also could have expanded on his work in the minor leagues and covered the entire season instead of leaving gaps.

An enjoyable account

I enjoyed Neal Conan's book because he succeeded at doing something I always wanted to do. I've been in radio since I was sixteen, and I've been in love with baseball from an even earlier age, but I have never been able to combine my two loves. Neal Conan followed through on his dream -- on my dream -- if only for one season, and I thank him for the vicarious pleasure.

I listened!

The truth is, I haven't read the book yet (though I am ordering it now). But I was a listener and loyal fan and the 5 star rating refers to his broadcasting ability. The community college radio station that broadcast his . . . uh, broadcasts, was so local that not everyone in Harford County, Maryland, could get it (and, in fact, I stopped going to games because I could hear him better at home than on my earbuds & portable!). The Baltimore baseball market has had some terrific broadcasters over the years, so the standards by which I judge are high indeed. What I loved best was how he handled the quirks that occured in a decidedly unprofessional ballpark, sitting in a portable trailer with barely a view of the entire field. And suffice it to say that no other broadcaster has ever sent me running for the dictionary to make sure I really understood his call. The Aberdeen Arsenal lasted just that one season, but the Ripkin Brothers (Cal and Billy) are opening a first-class minor league park and baseball academy in Aberdeen this summer. Neal, any chance you can come back to call a game or two??