BradTaylor

Book Review: The Last Boy

I recently finished up Jane Leavy’s Mickey Mantle biography, The Last Boy. When I was on page 11, I tweeted that it was already a must-read for any baseball fan. I guess I’d say I backed off that stance a little as the book wore on, but a big part of that may be that I listened to it on Audible.com, and the readers were not impressive. I mean, they were bad.

But, the book itself was terrific. Leavy examined Mantle’s career by singling out several days of note: the day his father died, the day he hit the supposed 600-foot blast in Washington, DC, the day he checked into the Betty Ford Clinic. And she was close to The Mick, providing a perspective that, while it may not have actually been unusual, she made seem unusual. (I’ve not read the numerous other biographies of Mantle, but I get the sense she was trying to go a different direction with this one than others had, and I would guess she succeeded.)

I love to read about baseball. When I do, I always learn something about my favorite sport, and this was no exception. I learned about other things in this book, like mining. But this was a book about a person who happened to be a great baseball talent, not just about a baseball player. And what I learned about Mickey Mantle, the person, was tragic and profound and entertaining and so many other things. Especially as the book neared it conclusion, I had tears in my eyes more than once. Mantle had a number of addictions and personal demons, and he sadly passed them on to most of his children. Leavy didn’t pull any punches in dealing with this reality.

I don’t usually read baseball books to be reminded about spiritual truth, but in this case it was a byproduct. It provided me a number of great reminders about being a dad to my two precious boys. I’d recommend it to any dad, but especially the dad who loves baseball.