Publishers Weekly
04/08/2019
Rose, the former Cincinnati Reds player and manager who was banned from baseball life for gambling, offers a bitingly candid reflection on his life in baseball. Just as his fans (or detractors) might expect, he’s witty and brash, but he also displays unexpected earnestness, especially about the love for his father and his upbringing in a poor family in 1940s and ’50s Cleveland, Ohio. Noting that the “only book I ever read cover to cover” was a baseball rule book, Rose drives home the importance of baseball in his life. Throughout, he highlights the memorable events in his career, including his 1963 season (when he was named Rookie of the Year), and his three batting awards and World Series wins. He doesn’t shy from the low points, such as getting cut from an American Legion team at age 15; being told in his rookie year by Reds management to stop hanging out with black players (he ignored them); and his ban for illegally betting on his team as a player-manager. Readers expecting tawdry details will find instead a man who acknowledges his mistake in a chapter titled, “I Blew It, I Know That.” Rose closes by describing the pride in watching his son follow in his steps as a ball player. With this frank, no-holds-barred narrative, Rose just might win new fans. (June)
From the Publisher
An eloquent plea for reinstatement . . . [Rose] is expressive about the sport he loves and about the father who raised him to strive to win. . . There's an authentic Huck Finn-ish charm to these passages. Baseball was not the slick slugfest of today. Players bore colorful nicknames, played day games, and they played hurt. It was a game of knockdowns and spitballs . . . Play Hungry testifies to the dividends paid by desire, not just to Mr. Rose but to the teammates that he inspired with the will to win . . . the sport misses the authenticity of his voice, and the Hall of Famebarred to him on account of his banishmentcan hardly be complete absent such an immense talent. After 30 years, baseball should think about bringing him home." —Wall Street Journal
“The title says it all. This is how a hungry kid became one of the greatest ball players of all time. Essential reading for baseball fans, controversy and all.” —Booklist, starred review
“A bitingly candid reflection on his life in baseball . . . he’s witty and brash, but he also displays unexpected earnestness . . . With this frank, no-holds-barred narrative, Rose just might win new fans.” —Publishers Weekly
“[Rose’s] recollections about baseball—and life off the field—yield rewards for readers. In a baseball memoir filled with plenty of strikes and balls, Rose offers abundant evidence of why he has become a touchstone of controversy.” —Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
2019-03-03
One of the most talented—and controversial—players in the history of Major League Baseball shares his life story.
When Rose (b. 1941) set his on-field records during the 1970s and '80s, he became famous for his high-energy performances as well as his tough-guy brashness. He opens the book by noting, "my dad taught me that nothing mattered more than winning." Later, he earned a different sort of renown: for his gambling on the outcomes of games, which led to the sport's commissioner banning Rose from the game. So far, the ban has blocked his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Based solely on performance, Rose, the game's all-time hits leader, is one of the most deserving Hall of Fame candidates in history, and controversy about whether his apparently victimless gambling should prohibit his entry might never end. The author addresses his gambling and the ban it yielded in a few pages toward the end of the book, and the tone of those pages is difficult to characterize; it's a cryptic tumble of sentences that is half apology and half defiance. As for the remainder of the book, Rose builds the explanation of his successes and his quirks around the influence of his father, who held a day job in Cincinnati but became best known locally for his semiprofessional athletic prowess. Over and over the author describes how his father emphasized winning for the team no matter the physical and emotional costs. From his early childhood, Rose felt confident that he would reach professional baseball even though the odds are extremely slim for anyone. Unfortunately, the narrative is marred by an absurd amount of repetition regarding the author's macho nature and his immodesty about his hard-won skills. But when he tones down the attitude, his recollections about baseball—and life off the field—yield rewards for readers.
In a baseball memoir filled with plenty of strikes and balls, Rose offers abundant evidence of why he has become a touchstone of controversy.