Customer Reviews

The Bullpen Gospels

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
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I finished this book within 2 days (and one of those days I worked).....I loved the honesty and the story of an ordinary man's struggles in life with the backdrop of my favourite sport, baseball. One page I'd be laughing & the next I'd be reading through tears. I learned a lot about life in the minor leagues, even more about Dirk himself, but surprisingly I learned a lot about myself and how I look at things in life. A really great read. (And just to show the span of appeal, I'd like to mention that I'm a 50+ female.

Hayhurst's intimate view of minor league baseball is beautifully written and provides readers with edge of their seat in game excitement that makes you feel as though you were there for the games and are re-living the experience. He intertwined comedic "relief" with pertinent life advice so seamlessly that it makes this one of the best books I've ever had the pleasure to read. I'm really looking forward to reading his next books.

The meat of this story is how baseball figures into Hayhurst's life, something that seems like it would be obvious seeing as how he's a pro ball player and all, but turns out to be much more complex. Some of the biggest stand-out moments of the story don't really have much to do with baseball at all. The book manages to craft together the dark and depressing with the light and humorous without either ever overpowering the other. A lot of authors would get too caught up with the dark stuff and focus on the difficulties involved in the story and it's nice to see that Hayhurst can keep the story true to life simply by not losing perspective.

The book starts out by telling us that the book is not about scandal or drugs in baseball and that's entirely true. However, it does give perspective and from that it becomes more clear why some of the players might turn to drugs. Hayhurst gives an unflinching look at how much hinges on a day's success or failure how much pressure a professional athlete can put on themselves to succeed and how unforgiving they can be to themselves when they don't. After looking at things like this, you can start to see why players can buckle and do anything they can to try and give themselves a little bit extra on their swing or a few more mph on their fastball.

So, if you've ever wondered what it's like to play in the minor leagues, this book will show you everything, from the worst to the best. More than that though, it really does make you think about how we deal with disappointment and excitement and lets us see how sometimes we can lose sight of what's most important. It was a brave book to write.

I read this book over the august long weekend and had no problems finishing. I am not much of a reader but picked a book on sports since everyone else on the beach would be reading as well. This book is based more on human interactions than it is on baseball. Dirk even states this in the first chapter. The interactions of the players on the long bus trips were hilarious and it always seemed that somehow chasing a girl was involved. There were some serious aspects to the book with regards to finding one's self mentally and a dysfunctional family life. A lot of people can relate to having family issues (except a lucky few).

I highly recommend this book to the guy who doesn't read much but likes movies like the hangover, old school, american pie etc...Perfect for the beach, plane or train!

Hayhurst is a gifted writer first. His writing clearly demonstrates that he is observant, introspective, and sensitive; he also happens to be a baseball player.
He was hardly your typical baseball minor leaguer however, in a Bull Durham world with its frat house like environment at times, Hayhurst, the atypical non drinking virgin, has been able to document aspects of the turmoil of his personal life, and relate vignettes of hilarious experiences shared with team mates, from a fly on the wall perspective, without appearing supercilious, because he is one of this eclectic bunch all chasing the same dream.
His self effacing chronicle of a season in the minor leagues will touch the full range of your emotions, from roaring with laughter in one chapter to tearing up in the next. It's bound to become an American classic.

This book may appear to be about baseball, and (since at times baseball frames it so thoroughly) it can and will thrill the ball fan, it is more fundamentally about life, identity, and coming to terms with successes, failures, trials, tribulations, hardship, and the 'real world' in ways that can equally make you shed a tear or bellow out raucous laughter!

It's been years since I have read a book that has challenged me in so many ways, while simultaneously entertaining me so thoroughly!

A true pleasure to read, and one deserved of all the high praise it has received!

This book opens your eyes to things knew went about the game, but as a fan you don't hear about an individual story such as this one. It's not that Dirk's story is anything out of the ordinary - baseball players like humans deal with big problems on an everyday basis. But as a fan, you'd never hear about the raw stories, real emotions and real experiences on a micro scale. There's been a subconscious wall between the fans and the player that has always existed, most of the time we haven't known it. Reading this book -- I shared that raw emotion at least a little. As I read on, I didn't feel good about the game of baseball. I, myself, through Dirk's writing became upset with the make believe world I've been brought up in, the make believe world us fans live in while watching the games in front of us.

After reading that book, I feel empathy for the players in the minor leagues who haven't had everything in life handed to them on a silver platter. The players who honestly believe that all of their problems can be solved if they can put on a uniform, or make the major leagues. That deal with family issues, and poverty, and a grim reality they face everyday. And then to have everything not work out. These guys have become slaves to the game and to themselves. That makes me really sad because as a fan, I haven't been exposed to this rawness, so it's a lot to take. But I'm glad I, in some small way gained an understanding and respect for those individuals and shared their raw emotion through this book.

I highly recommend it.

After reading the first few chapters of this book, I put it down and really didn't have time to get back into it.

...or so I thought. A few days later, I realized that I was making excuses to not get back to it. The truth was, those first few painful chapters hit too close to home for me.

I'm glad I got back on the horse, though. From chapter four on, I could hardly put it down. Once I accepted the fact that Hayhurst could eloquently reconcile the horrible parts of his life and the parts that were hysterical; I can't remember ever laughing so hard at a book. At one point, I laughed so hard, I had to put it down and retreat to my kitchen for some kleenex with which to blow my nose and wipe away my tears of hysteria. I'm sure my neighbors and the occupants of the office building behind my yard were staring. I offer no apologies.

Hayhurst is truly a gifted writer and an amazing role model for young people. If there are parents who are on the fence about whether or not to let a teenager read this book, I'd vote for letting them read it. Hayhurst has a way of telling his teammates' raunchy stories without glorifying their behaviour. He neither harshly judges them nor puts himself on a pedestal for his own abstinence from such shenanigans; he simply tells the story and it's a tale from which young and old alike can be both entertained and inspired.

I thought I knew the ending, and I still found myself holding my breath for the last few chapters! What a ride.

I wish him the best. I'm truly sorry for his current injury status. I selfishly hope that he spends that frustrating time pounding out another book before his triumphant return to the mound. I further selfishly hope that when he's back, he's still a Jay.

I found this book the opposite of many I have read. I enjoyed his thoughts on life more than his interactions with other players. Some stories went on too long. Overall it's a good read. He apparently has some sort of faith but he never got into too much detail and it does not appear to have curtailed his use of curse words. Not recommended for younger baseball fans.

I recommend this book to everyone interested in baseball and not educated about life in the high minors. Dirk Hayhurst draws a clear pictures of the daily struggle, the hopes and failures of those baseball players dreaming about glory and money.

Hayhurst's background story and progression alone is worth reading. It'll make you root for the man when he'll return to action with the Blue Jays.