Working at the Ballpark: The Fascinating Lives of Baseball People from Peanut Vendors and Broadcasters to Players and Managers

by Tom Jones, Nolan Ryan (Foreword)

What if Studs Terkel wrote a book with Bill James? You'd have a book on what it's really like to make a living in the world of baseball. For everyone who ever dreamed of making their love of baseball into their vocation, Working at the Ballpark will provide a view at their lives that might have been, with interviews with more than 50 people who make a living in major league baseball. Each is asked the same What is your job? How did you get into this line of work? What does this job mean to you? From peanut vendors and equipment managers to general managers and star players, from John Guilfoy, who sells sausages at Fenway, to Chris Hanson, who plays "Bernie Brewer" in Milwaukee, to Omar Vizquel, who anchors the infield at AT&T Park, this is an insider's perspective on the enormous scope of the game.

Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team.

Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Genres: Sports, Baseball, Nonfiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2008

About the author

Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Beth]

I had hoped to like this more than I did. I understand that this was basically transcripts of the conversations with these people, but the writing was very choppy, which made reading difficult. I also found dozens of errors in basic writing conventions that an editor should have caught, so that turned me off.

[Frodo]

The little book of people who actually make a living by working at baseball parks was entertaining and enlightening for this baseball fan. Tom Jones has given a more behind the scenes look at the variety of people involved in making baseball happen. From vendors, news and sports analysts to players, coaches and managers to groundskeepers and clubhouse personnel Jones has narratives and stories that broaden the understanding of what is going on within baseball. The book was a delight to read.

[Katelyn Newton]

Started reading this book at the baseball field between batting practice and the game. Loved that this book is similar the “Chicken Soup books” in that they’re short stories and they don’t come together. I wish there was more books like this!!!

[Evan Steele]

This book was recommended to me because I am both someone who reads and someone who likes baseball, however this book fails on both accounts. Slow, poorly written, and rarely insightful.

[Drew Cook]

Very cool concept, good stories

[Nick]

This book is for anyone who has ever wondered what it is like to be the beer vendor or the bench coach, the mascot or the scoreboard operator at a ballpark. There are interviews with players and managers, but the most interesting interviews for me were the ones with people like the stadium announcer, the peanut vendor, the woman who lines up the entertainment. The player interviews are interesting, but are abbreviated forms of the ghost- or collaboratively written memoirs that so many players write. But when have we ever seen a book buy the mascot of an MLB team or the guy who pulls the tarp over the outfield when it raisn? Fascinating book.

[JulieK]

Oral histories with people involved in all aspects of baseball. Many of the players and coaches had pretty similar stories, so while they were interesting, I found myself wishing the book had a greater proportion of people like the groundskeeper, mascot, broadcaster, and sausage vendor, who added more variety to the overall narrative.

[Christine]

I'm loving this book! One little thing though, there's this team called the Chicago Cubs, and I'm wondering if Mr. Jones has heard of them. Not one of the interviews in the book was with ANYONE connected to the Cubs. What gives?

[Craig Cecil]

A really neat concept for a book--tell the behind the scenes activity of baseball through many varied perspectives (GMs, managers, grounds crew, vendors, etc.). Some of the chapters and perspectives as rather short (alas, typically the most interesting ones) while others just drone on.

[Katie]

Kevin loved this

[Debby]

Read this book a chapter here and there for info on life in baseball while you work in the ballpark.
Interesting stuff!

[Deb Roby]

So far, I'm enjoying the brief interviews with all the different people involved in this game.

[Debra]

(As much as I anticipate enjoying this one, postponing it for a short time because Free Fall just landed on my iPod. The world really does stop.turning for Ceepak, doesn't it?)