You Never Forget Your First: Ballplayers Recall Their Big League Debuts

by Josh Lewin

Having already penned Getting in the Game , his inside scoop on the mayhem within baseball's winter meetings, Josh Lewin once again gives baseball fans a window into the big leagues. By interviewing big league ballplayers about their first day in the majors, Lewin creates fascinating mini-biographies of the players, highlighting the personalities hidden behind the on-field accomplishments. He lets the players recount their own memories of how they made it to the big leagues. In You Never Forget Your First , Lewin shares the stories of players great and less so. Tony Gwynn recalls singling in his first at bat and finding Pete Rose waiting for him at first base with a wink and a "Don't break my record all at once, kid." Bob Brenly heard of his call-up on the car radio while on a family trip to the Grand Canyon. He then stood helplessly in the middle of the Arizona desert after his transmission gave out, trying to convince passersby he was a ballplayer heading to the big leagues and needed a lift to the airport. Duane Kuiper witnessed a fight both on the field and in his own clubhouse his first day in Cleveland. Greg Maddux recalls being stuck at the Chicago River drawbridge, convinced he'd never make it to Wrigley Field in time for his debut. Lewin interviews modern star players such as A-Rod, Barry Bonds, and Manny Ramirez, as well as Hall of Famers such as Jim Palmer, Don Sutton, and George Brett. More than 100 popular baseball players are profiled, complete with the box scores of their big league debuts.

Genres: Baseball

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 6, 2005

Reviews

[Zach Koenig · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I checked this book out from my local library, I was expecting good things due to the interesting title and little-covered subject matter (a ballplayer's major league debut). Unfortunately, what I ended up with was an index of players, a whole bunch of box scores, some short biographies, and some usually uninteresting player commentary.

The book follows this basic formula: author Josh Lewin lists a bunch of ballplayers (250 pages worth, from past to present) in alphabetical order, gives a one-page biography of them, then a half-page of their comments about their major league debut. Each player synopsis ends with the box score of their respective debut.

While presented in an interesting and eye-catching format, the book fails on both levels of reader interest: "rookie" baseball fans will become bored with the repetitive formula, while hard-core fans (like myself) will find the content to be 98% biographical commentary from Lewin (featuring stats/stories we already known), and 2% of rather uninteresting commentary from players (they all recount basically the same story of getting told in the minors they were going up to the "Big Show").

I made it almost 100 pages into the book before getting antsy and starting to skip around, reading about the players from my hometown team or those I have a strong interest in. Otherwise, it would have been a struggle to get through.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

2 page accounts of baseball players first games in the major leagues.