We Got To Play Baseball by Gregg Olson and Ocean Palmer (2011)

We Got To Play Baseball:
60 Stories from Men Who Played the Game
by Gregg Olson and Ocean Palmer
Strategic Book Publishing, 2011
233 pages

Get a group of baseball fanatics together, and you might hear about great statistical feats they witnessed. Get a group of baseball players together, on the other hand, and you will hear about the characters behind those statistical feats. Reliving the pranks and personalities that make the game what it is, former Rookie of the Year Gregg Olson brings those stories to life with co-author Ocean Palmer in We Got To Play Baseball.

If you ever wondered what players are like off the field, read about Steve Carlton and the Phillies trashing equipment Kent Tekulve had rented to watch the NCAA Championship. If you want some insight into what goes on when the pitching coach visits the mound, Mark Grace tells us of Billy Connors making a first inning visit to Rick Sutcliffe after back-to-back home runs, “to give the guy upstairs a chance to reload the fireworks.” There are stories of hot feet, rookies caught in the tarp roller, eating pizza in the bullpen and using toilet bowls as Jell-O molds.

There are sixty stories from some pretty big names: Hall of Famers Brooks Robinson, George Brett, and Gary Carter; All-Stars Rob Dibble, Mark Lemke, Robin Ventura, and Will Clark; other former big leaguers Jim Abbott, Chris Bosio, and Doug Flynn…and those are just a few of the contributors. Olson himself offers a few tales of his days in the majors.

Olson and Palmer do a great job of picking out some hilarious anecdotes (as well as a handful of more serious stories), and are already working on a sequel to this volume. Those who enjoy reading about what happens when the ball is not in play will get a real kick out of We Got To Play Baseball.

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