Editorial Review Product Description
Take a seat in the front row for a vaudeville revue like you've never seen before—a hilarious, insightful, one-of-a-kind baseball follies hosted by Hall of Fame pitcher Rollie Fingers. Acts include:
*stories—from the player traded for a handful of bats to the fateful hunting trip of former Yankees Mickey, Whitey, and Billy * stats—from the performance of Japanese players in their first year in the MLB to the game’s most prolific closers * lists—such as the twenty-five greatest left-handed players of all time and the greatest hitting pitchers ever * lore—from the history of baseball in Brooklyn to the Kenny Lofton Curse
And sometimes Rollie puts you right on the field, recalling, for example the time he faced Johnny Bench in the '72 World Series.
Pictures? Galore. From vintage classics to classic baseball cards to original drawings by renowned baseball illustrator Jerry Dowling.
Management guarantees you've never seen a show—or read a baseball book—quite like this one. Rollie's Follies is for baseball fan looking for a fun, fresh, vastly entertaining new way to enjoy the National Pastime.
... Read more Customer Reviews (6)
The Pefect Travel Book
This is the perfect travel book.I was stuck in a car for 8 hours with three generations of men: 70, 45 and 14. They all loved it. The lists are hilarious and informative.I am not much of a baseball fan, but even I found it interesting. Who doesn't want to know how the sausage races started!!!
This book is a great conversation started. I am surprised it is not in every bar and barber shop around.
Rollie's Follies
This book was great fun to read.There are many little known facts and fun stories in this gem of a book. Rollie is a great story teller and this is a must have for all baseball fans or any sports fan.There is no one better to hear these facts from than this wonderful Hall of Famer. He is a classy fellow and continues to be active and supportive in the world of sports. This book is especially convenient for taking on a trip in that it is not large and bulky.It is equally easy to read in bed.
Rollie's Follies
Rollie Finger's new book was as fun to read now as an adult as was "Funny But True Sport's Stories" that I read as a kid. Not all ex-player books have to about themselves. I enjoyed hearing about old baseball stories with no hidden agenda. Mickey Mantle and the cows was GREAT!!!
Rob Street
Las Vegas,NV/El Cajon,CA
Perfect Pool-side/Beach-side Summer Baseball Read
I chuckled many times while enjoying Rollie's Follies during my summer vacation last month. Anyone who goes through life being called Mr. Fingers has to have a great sense of humor and the mustached one does not disappoint. I happen to like major league baseball trivia and fun facts, so Rollie's experienced perspective on it all was what drew me in.Its an easy book to pick up for a bit, put down, come back to later, skip around in...perfect for those times when you just have a few minutes to yourself. Bring it to the beach, leave a copy lying out by your pool or on your back porch....or anywhere else you might be sitting for a few minutes. You'll be glad you did!
Way better than I expected!
This book is a treasure trove of diverse chapters, most of which are very
original. Rollie Fingers has some personal stuff in here, but I was surprised that the book is only maybe 10% about him and those famous Oakland teams.It has almost nothing on his years with San Diego and Milwaukee so it may not be the right book for people who just follow those teams.
At times, it read light, breezy and funny like a bathroom reader, whereas other sections were page turning and more in-depth. My supposed ADD was rarely challenged during this read and I actually tore through its 235 pages in one weekend.
The book has some incredible historical photographs (vintage baseball cards, etc.) and also some Mad magazine type caricatures that go with some of the wackier anecdotes that the book relates. But for my money, the chapter on Milton Bradley was laugh-out loud funny, but it's not for everyone's tastes.Very weird in a good way.
One more criticism, there is a 16 page section on 19th century baseball
that wasn't my cup of tea and then an additional six very detailed pages on that era in regards to how Brooklyn was once the hub of baseball.
But the modern stuff (especially on Reyes, Pujols and the 2008 Phillies)
and the stuff on the 1980's and 1990's when I grew up more than made up
for my lack of interest on those more olden subjects.
Another positive was that most chapters had trivia factoids inbetween that were unusually interesting and ones I had never heard before. I couldn't help but memorize a couple of them to challenge friends and co-workers.
I literally won a beer off one of them.
... Read more |