Man Versus Ball
by Jon Hart
Potomac Books, 2013
184 pages
Bookstores are full of books written by athletes and about athletes. We have been told what it is like to play professional sports, the pressures athletes face, the challenges of living life in the public’s eye on the ballfield. However, I cannot remember ever reading a book written by a vendor before.
Jon Hart’s Man Versus Ball is a brief glimpse inside the life of those other guys working in major league stadiums. Hart accepted the undercover assignment as a journalist, but was so enthralled with the life of a vendor that he worked an entire season at Yankee Stadium, another at Shea, and still another at Citi Field. And that wasn’t enough; Hart spent time in Spring Training as well. Add to that a job as a U.S. Open ball person, an amateur caddie during a PGA tournament, a year in semi-pro football and a couple of seasons as an inline skating basketball player, and you have the highly entertaining Man Versus Ball.
This is not a book for kids, as Hart does not sugarcoat the language heard in the depths of the sports world, but there are several laugh-out-loud passages for the mature reader. As a former vendor myself (ten games at the old Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati), I particularly enjoyed the chapters that followed Hart’s adventures slinging sodas and hawking hot dogs, almost so much that I am thinking about applying for the job at Great American Ballpark this summer. It sounds foolish, but the thought has crossed my mind.
Hart’s book is a reminder to live life to the fullest, no matter what your station in life. Whether you are on the field chasing fly balls or in the stands pushing peanuts, do it with all your might and enjoy it. There is no sense of regret in Man Versus Ball, and there should be no regret in life either.
The Writer's Journey 