The Tao of the Backup Catcher: Playing Baseball for the Love of the Game

I really enjoyed this book for the most part. The author took a subject and a group of people that largely fly under the radar (even for hardcore baseball fans) and brought their stories to life in a meaningful and engaging way. The details and insights from this unique group of players/coaches/managers was truly different from anything I've read previously. The one thing holding this back from being 5-stars is the writing style. At times it was run-on, repetitive and very frequently, overly dramatic. Same author collaborated with Rick Ankiel on his book and the same issue was evident there.

I was excited to read this book after seeing a good review but it is all fluff and little substance as if the writer was trying to stretch a magazine article into a book. I had to toss the book out after reading the first four chapters.

I loved every word of this book! Mr. brown has written an ode to the unsung hero ( and his wife/family). The backup catcher.If you really like baseball, you may have wondered what does the backup catcher do? Turns out he does an awful lot if he is a good one. He is the team guy. He is a leader. He is an all round helper guy. The guy in the shadows that sees all. And they make pretty darned good managers after their playing days are done.Mr. brown tells ( mainly ) the story of Erik Kratz, who spent two decades bouncing from team to team in order to try and get to the big leagues, A consummate professional team player, he went where he was sent, did what they asked and was never famous but was an integral part of the team..Wonderful baseball stories and terrific amount of information. I highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and Twelve Books for the ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book.As a lifelong baseball fan whose favorite player of all time was a catcher, I thought this book would be right up my alley. While it was very entertaining at times, it was so repetitive that I lost interest & found myself speed reading a lot. Oddly enough, my favorite part of the book was Mike Scioscia (ironically, not a backup in his career) talking about his managing career and how catchers (and there is a long list) seemingly make the best managers. That's pretty obvious when you think about it - they are constantly "on call" and observing and learning everything about the opposing team. I would have liked to read more about behind-the-scenes in the majors.

An excellent book explaining the difficulties of making it to the big leagues as a back up catcher.Erik Kratz lived through all the tough times from being called up and down from the minors several times to the big leagues.And eventually his wife and children have to get used to life when your dad is a professional baseball player.Erik made all the sacrifices to wear a major league uniform of several times.Most young boys dream of wearing a big league uniform given the talent.This book certainly tells the story of hardships and the obstacles of making it to the major leagues.

One of the beauties of sports is the endless supply of interesting and amusing stories found in unusual places. It takes a curious and talented writer to look for them, and author Tim Brown, who checks both boxes, looked for them on benches and in bullpens and clubhouses, all the obscure places one might find backup catchers. And what emerged is a wholly different baseball book than those written by or for the game’s stars, but no less entertaining and informative. So much fun.

Tim’s decades of wisdom as a baseball writer make him the perfect steward of this story. He captures what it means to be a catcher, a backup, a servant leader and so much more. I’ll be buying and gifting this to friends, colleagues and clients! Congrats, Time!

Such a great read and so inspirational!