False Spring

Pat Jordan

Touted on its back cover as, “One of Sports Illustrated’s Top 100 Sports Books of All time” You will get no argument from me. This is a real gem, and one that every baseball aficionado must read.

Pat Jordan’s memoir covers about a 2 or 3 three years in his life, from the age of about 16 to 19 during which time he went from being a highly recruited stud of a pitcher, and a bonus baby signed by the Milwaukee Braves, to a washed up has-been who skulked away from lowest of the low of the minor leagues.

Jordan is a very skilled writer. He is wonderfully observant about himself, his environment, his teammates, and the culture of baseball from the late 1950’s through the early 1960’s.

The book is about baseball, self-discovery, Middle America, the minor leagues, and ultimately about failure. Never has greater success been born of failure. The only thing I can fault about this book is that it ended. I wanted more and more stories, more and more anecdotes but, alas, all good things must come to an end. I give this one absolutely my highest rating.

Review by Len Oppenheim