I Don't Care If We Never Get Back

March 3, 2014
When sports analyst and baseball fanatic Blatt first came up with an algorithm that figured out how one could see every pitch of 30 baseball games in 30 different ballparks in 30 days, it seemed like a pipe dream. That is, until his best friend Brewster, who “didn’t like baseball,” agreed to come along for the 22,000-mile ride. As expected on such as trip, the games themselves take a backseat, so those looking for exciting sports writing or an in-depth baseball history best look elsewhere. It also takes a little time getting used to the writing combination of two different third-person narratives plus the first-person plural as well as the way the friends talk in witty rejoinders (Eric: “I thought you didn’t want children.”/Ben: ”But everyone wants grandchildren”). The story doesn’t start to get interesting till something bad happens, and here it occurs about a third of the way through the trip when Ben messes up the start time for the Rockies game, putting the 30-in-30 streak in serious jeopardy. As the two friends put their heads together to figure out how to salvage the trip, the journey picks up steam, and from there it’s the fun road trip/ballpark adventure with pranks, missed exits, a misadventure with a scalper, and a sellout on the worst possible day that has you rooting for them to accomplish their goal. The result, like any good road trip tale, is less about the destination and more about the bonds formed and experiences had trying to get there, and in that respect Blatt and Brewster have definitely scored.

April 15, 2014
First, this bookabout the authors' successful attempt to attend an entire game in each of the 30 Major League parks in 30 days during the 2013 seasonis moronically contrived, and at a cost of some 22,000 miles' worth of fossil fuels. And if the banter between these two knuckleheads, one a Harvard senior and the other a recent Harvard grad, is meant to be funny, it kind of isn't: for instance, their Yankee Stadium MVP seats were so close to the action you had a legitimate chance of being named the player of the game. Still, stacking together these 30 stadiums, one after the other, is a great way to contrast and compare the unique experience each of them offers fans. And, almost despite themselves, Blatt and Brewster make some wonderfully salient points: It made far more sense to root for the success of your favorite doctor than it did for your favorite player. A quirky book that just might draw a crowd.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)