This book had a different feel to it. It didn’t feel like I was reading a sports autobiography. It felt as if I was reading a self-help book. It was a nice change of pace, though it sometimes affected the flow of the story. The book didn’t follow his life from childhood to World Series. It did a lot of jumping around as life lessons were learned and relearned over time. It was interesting to see how a challenge he faced once, often came up to face him again.
It’s also strange reading this book now. The book concludes with the off-season following the 2007 Championship. The copy I read included an update for the 2008 season. Reading the book now, with Lowell on the DL, wishing he were traded somewhere else, and the Sox practically begging other teams to make that happen made me wonder. What would a new update look like? Would the tone of the book be any different? I also notice that the front cover includes a quote from Manny Ramirez, complimenting Mike on how hard he plays the game. The back cover has another quote from many, saying what a great teammate Mike was. So, there are five quotes on the covers of the book. Two of them are from a guy Mike helped run out of town the following season. Things change.
This stands as a great read. After the mountains of books published covering the 2004 championship, it’s nice to read some talking about 2007. It’s definitely something to pick up. Even in 2010.
Rating: 3 bases
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