Speaking of AudioBooks

"3 Nights In August" by Buzz Bissinger

I love working at the Deerfield Public Library.  But I live in Chicago and the commutes can sometimes be pretty rough.  For years my wife has told me that she enjoys listening to audio books during her commutes.  She said that it helps make the time fly when you get into listening to a book.  I finally took her advice and checked out an audio book a few months ago.  She was right!  Listening to a good audio book while driving home really does seem to make the time fly by. 

I’m a huge baseball fan and I’m already in deep baseball withdraw.  I recently checked out an audio book from the library that I really enjoyed.  “3 Nights In August” is written by Buzz Bissinger who is best known as the author of “Friday Night Lights”.  “3 Nights In August” is a book about Tony La Russa, the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals.  The framework of the book is a three game series that the Cardinals are playing against their hated rivals, the Chicago Cubs, in 2003. 

Even though the book is about Tony La Russa and the St. Louis Cardinals, there was plenty in there for a Chicago baseball fan to enjoy as well.  First of all, the book is about a three game series against the Cubs.  Each game is discussed in detail and many of the Cubs players are talked about in detail as well.  I found the discussion about Mark Prior to be almost sadly prophetic.  Tony La Russa talks about what a fantastic pitcher he is and how he can tell the young man is completely brimming with confidence about his abilities and future.  But Tony La Russa then reflects on how fleeting a career as a baseball pitcher can be.  One bad injury and a once promising career can be cut painfully short.  If you’re a Cubs fan you know how true those words turned out to be.

While the book focuses on the three game series against the Cubs it also tells the story of Tony La Russa’s life and his start in baseball.  So once again we get a good dose of Chicago baseball history as Tony La Russa’s start with the Chicago White Sox is discussed.  I’m a huge White Sox fan so I really enjoyed hearing the stories about Bill Veeck, Carlton Fisk, and Harold Baines.  I also really enjoyed finding out that Tom Seaver was the only pitcher that Tony La Russa ever managed who wouldn’t lie to him when he would go out to the mound and ask him how he was feeling.

What ultimately made the book fascinating to me though was how it really got into what a manager really does in baseball.  The day to day, and hour by hour breakdown of a typical day for Tony La Russa is a lot of what this book is about.  As much as possible Buzz Bissinger tries to get inside the head of Tony La Russa to figure out how he makes the decisions he makes during a baseball game.  I was amazed to learn, for instance, that deciding to have your pitcher try to hit an opposing batter can depend on if that batter gave money to his wife’s charity the year before!  This book was also published shortly after the hugely influential “Moneyball” was released.  Tony La Russa talks a lot about his own personal strategies for running a baseball offense and how it differs from the “Moneyball” philosophy.  If you’ve read “Moneyball” you will probably find that discussion to be very interesting.

So if you’re a baseball fan, and you’re looking for a great way to kill some time during your commute, I highly recommend “3 Nights In August”.