Out of My League:
A Rookie's Survival in the Bigs
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4.3 • 31 Ratings
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- $2.99
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
The New York Times bestseller from the author of The Bullpen Gospels. “A humorous, candid and insightful memoir . . . Grade: Home Run.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer
After six years in the minors, pitcher Dirk Hayhurst hopes 2008 is the year he breaks into the big leagues. But every time Dirk looks up, the bases are loaded with challenges—a wedding balancing on a blind hope, a family in chaos, and paychecks that beg Dirk to ask, “How long can I afford to keep doing this?”
Then it finally happens—Dirk gets called up to the Majors, to play for the San Diego Padres. A dream comes true when he takes the mound against the San Francisco Giants, kicking off forty insane days and nights in the Bigs.
Like the classic games of baseball’s history, Out of My League entertains from the first pitch to the last out, capturing the gritty realities of playing on the big stage, the comedy and camaraderie in the dugouts and locker rooms, and the hard-fought, personal journeys that drive our love of America’s favorite pastime.
“A rare gem of a baseball book.”—Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated
“Observant, insightful, human, and hilarious.”—Bob Costas
“A fun read . . . This book shows why baseball is so often used as a metaphor for life.”—Keith Olbermann
“Entertaining and engaging . . . reminiscent of Jim Bouton’s Ball Four.”—Booklist
“The book is a terrific read. If you loved Bullpen Gospels (I’d have a hard time believing you are a baseball fan if you didn’t) you will love Out of My League too.”—Bluebird Banter
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journeyman pitcher Hayhurst (The Bullpen Gospels) reflects on the eventful year following the end of his Double A season in 2007 in which he meets his future wife, is assigned to a Triple A team, is called up to the big leagues, and marries his girlfriend. It was a "make-or-break year" for him after graduating from college and spending six years in the minor leagues. Hayhurst ponders his life's direction repeatedly in attempting to merge a family life that he "hadn't enjoyed . . . for the last several years" with his newfound love, and his passion for baseball. The juxtaposition of his baseball life with his dysfunctional family life offers an unflattering, but perhaps unintentional, comparison of the two. Although initially marred by gushy conversations with his girlfriend, and juvenile locker room antics, his soul-baring narrative reveals baseball as a "lottery ticket job with few winners and lots of losers" that "keeps you hooked through hope, and strung out on chances" in what may be as much catharsis as reflection.
Customer Reviews
Great book!
Dirk Hayhurst is an amazing writer, giving you an insight into life in the minor and major leagues. It's not nearly as glamorous on the inside as it appears from the bleachers. His trying, humbling journey from the minors to the majors is chronicled with humor and self-deprication.
Out of my league
I couldn't stop laughing.
A League of His Own
Dirk Hayhurst is a terrific writer who tells a compelling story of professional baseball from
the inside as a player climbing through the ranks to the ultimate goal, the major league. As an outsider to baseball, I was swept along by the book's fast paced but thorough depictions of job performance played out and measured in a public arena. Hayhurst wraps into his great gift of storytelling, his family life and finding balance to succeed in both areas. I loved this book!