The Soul of Baseball (24 page)

Authors: Joe Posnanski

—Yahoo! Sports

“A loving portrait of a gentle man in the last year of an extraordinary life, a book of humor and poignancy, written in an easy rhythm and sprinkled with the lilting language that characterized O’Neil…. More than simply a baseball book…. The stories within
The Soul of Baseball
—good old-fashioned baseball stories—are what makes this book so compelling…. Insightful, touching, and ultimately uplifting. It’s a beautifully done work worthy of its subject.”

—John Donovan, SI.com

“Pair one great storyteller with another great storyteller and you have a pretty good idea of what you are going to get: a bunch of great stories…. The closeness and respect the two men had for each other comes through in the book as Posnanski uses a series of vignettes, many poignant, to let [the] reader get a clearer understanding of O’Neil…. Heartwarming….
The Soul of Baseball
isn’t just a great book; it’s also a strong reminder of the greatness of the game.”

—John Perrotto,
Baseball America

“In
The Soul of Baseball
, Joe Posnanski does something nobody on this earth has been able to do—capture Buck O’Neil’s heart, his intentions, and his voice on the pages of a book…. I’m glad I took the journey with Posnanski. I’d recommend you do, too.”

—
Baseball Think Factory

“A beautiful tribute to an extraordinary fellow…. [Buck O’Neil] remembered a lot of great stories…. and many of the best of those stories are included in the book. But they are framed by Mr. O’Neil’s telling. They live as they never would have without the gentle humor of his voice and his determination to draw from them wisdom untarnished by regret.”

—Bill Littlefield,
Only a Game

“This 273-page gem delivers on that hollow promise associated with movie-advertisement blubs, about how you want to laugh and cry at the same time.”

—
Tacoma News Tribune

“Wonderful…. A lyrical reminder of all the good that sports and good people can bring us.”

—
New York Post

“This is a lovely book about a truly wonderful man.”

—
Ottawa Citizen

“The best book I’ve ever read about the game and the men who played it in that parallel universe known as the Negro Leagues…. It took me to a time and place and told me stories. Great stories…. You’ll be glad you met Buck O’Neil.”

—
Charleston Post and Courier

“
The Soul of Baseball
should be on everyone’s summer reading list.”

—
Bradenton Herald

“The disappointment of being passed over by the [National] Baseball Hall of Fame as seventeen of his contemporaries were elected is almost palpable…but through it all O’Neil puts on a brave face. And when the end came—O’Neil passed away last October—we feel we’ve lost someone close to us.”

—Bookreporter.com

Credits

Cover design by Ervin Serrano

Cover photographs: Buck O’Neil courtesy of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Kansas City, Missouri; baseball field © by Zoran Milich/Masterfile

Copyright

THE SOUL OF BASEBALL
. Copyright © 2007 by Joe Posnanski. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Mobipocket Reader January 2008 ISBN 978-0-06-162765-1

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