Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "Change Up"

Buck Martinez was a broadcast partner of mine with the Orioles. He is a friend and a good baseball man. "Change Up" is a book he took great pains to get right.

This book has a sub title: "How to Make the Great Game of Baseball Even Better."

That is precisely what this book is about, with the wraparound stories and names that bring the ideas to life.

Martinez is a traditionalist when it comes to how the game should be played and the responsibilities the players have to the game.

As a fan, former player, manager and current broadcaster for the Blue Jays, he has seen the game from every angle, so he knows of what he speaks. He took the time in preparing this book to speak with many of those in the game, from the front office to center field.

I saw him do so at the ballpark. He tested his ideas with them and presents the conclusions here.

I particularly liked the chapter on getting the chemistry right on a team. Winning ball clubs rarely have 25 limos. Finding the mix that works is not an accident. Martinez says talent always matters, but alone it is not enough.

I always wonder, and did so reading the book, weather the big business baseball now is and the money that flows around it has irreversibly altered the game on the field.

I don't have the answer, but I agree with Martinez that we need to think about that for the better of the game.

"There's a great quote by Julius Irving that went, 'Being a professional is doing the things you love to do, on the days you don't feel like doing them.' " - David Halberstam, "Everything They Had: Sports Writing"

With the death of Muhammad Ali, many will be looking for books on his incredible life. This recommendation comes from the site, "the guy who reviews sports books." He found "Ali and Liston" by Bob Mee worthy of a read.

The review says, "The book is more about the lives and management of the two men than it is about the actual fights in Miami and Lewistown, Maine. ... This is a book well worth the time to read if one wants to learn more about these two fighters. If the reader has read other books on them, especially Ali, there won't be a lot of new information, but Mee does present a fresh view of the fighters and the two bouts that is both informative and entertaining."

Could not help but think of the loss of Ali and "Mr. Hockey" Gordy Howe, both within a week.

Gary Thorne is the play-by-play voice of the Orioles on MASN, and the 2016 season is his 10th with the club and 31st covering Major League Baseball. His blog will appear regularly throughout the season. The Orioles and Sarasota County have partnered on the Big League Reader Program, which rewarded kids who read three books in February with tickets to a Grapefruit League game at Ed Smith Stadium in March.

* Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne. © Copyright 2016 Gary F. Thorne. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Gary F. Thorne and MASNsports.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.