Senior Year: A Father, A Son, and High School Baseball
Written by Alpha4Two
Jul 27th 2008 Hits: 389
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
The following review was written by David M, from Dan Shaughnessy Watch*, and posted with his permission:
I decided to pick up Shaughnessy's new book, Senior Year: A Father, A Son, and High School Baseball. I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Regardless, I ended up being pleasantly surprised--and I must admit I really enjoyed reading it. Shaughnessy definitely does not come off as the cantankerous curmudgeon that he does in many of his columns.
Shaughnessy chronicles his son Sam's senior year in high school. Sam is a pretty good baseball player at Newton North and Shaughnessy discusses the ups and downs of high school athletics, high school life in general, and the relationship between father and son. Shaughnessy juxtaposes Sam's high school experiences with his own school experience from the late 60's and early 70's.
The book strikes me as a very honest one on several levels. Sam is a talented player, receiving a baseball scholarship to Boston College. Yet Shaughnessy is realistic about Sam's talents and quite readily lays out both his strengths (a good batting eye) and weaknesses (a weak arm). Shaughnessy is also very honest about Sam's personality in general...he's not the perfect kid. He has temper tantrums on the field and comes across at times as a spoiled brat. Yet, Shaughnessy is not the hyper critical parent either - it is quite evident that he is a pretty devoted father to Sam and his two daughters.
The honesty extends to his recounting of his own high school days. Shaughnessy was an athlete, albeit an average one. He was constantly rejected by the girls so much so that he asked his own daughters never to turn down anyone who asked them to a dance. He has good memories of growing up in Groton but does not wax poetic about the "good ole days". The contrast that he paints between his past and Sam's present is effective because he draws out and details many of societal changes of the past 35+ years.
Shaughnessy also refuses to paint himself as the ideal father. While he clearly is a devoted father, he seems to struggle with today's permissiveness--constantly questioning himself about whether he is too lax with Sam, thus explaining why Sam can come across at times as a self-centered brat. Shaughnessy does seem to work very had at providing a good environment for his children and a warm environment for their friends--opening their home up to any and all of the kid's friends. The racism that some would suggest to manifest itself in Shaughnessy's columns is not present here. As one example, for 12 years, the Shaughnessy family has opened their home to a young black man from the inner city who travels from the tougher parts of Boston to suburbia in the hopes of getting a better education (the Metco program). Shaughnessy does not offer this to beat his own chest but rather it's just one of the storylines that he weaves in as a matter of course.
Shaughnessy does not go into much depth about his life as a sportswriter and he only tangentially discusses the Red Sox. Of course, he couldn't refrain from taking on his favorite targets--he briefly discusses the big blowhard, Schilling; he implies Manny Ramirez has very little work ethic; and he discusses his contempt of 40 year olds who wear jerseys with the names of pro athletes sewn on the back. It is very subtle but I did definitely get the impression that Shaughnessy takes his work for granted. He complains a bit about the travel and he mentions in passing that his management worked out a favorable schedule for him to write this book but he just doesn't seem to realize that he has life pretty good. And I think it adds some credence to the constant attack in this blog that he has the tendency to mail it in more often than not when it comes to his columns in the Globe.
A little arrogance does creep up here and there. He tells one story of a controversial play in one of Sam's high school games--the game was stopped and Shaughnessy actually called a retired major league umpire (Marty Springstead I believe) from a cell phone in the middle of the game to get a ruling. I thought that was a little over the top.
At any rate, Shaughnessy has a very effective writing style. The book was a fun read - an insightful look at middle class life of the 1970s compared to upper middle class life of today. As a father myself (albeit about 12 years younger than Shaughnessy), I found myself identifying with much he had to say about parenting and parenting philosophies. As I have mentioned to a couple of my co-bloggers on this site, I find myself somewhat conflicted now - I really expected to read this book expecting to cement my general contempt for CHB but that was definitely not the case - he comes across as a likable and honest guy--a stark contrast to much of the bitterness and sarcasm that we see in many of his columns.
Pick up the book (and if you dont want to lay out the bucks for it, check for it at your local library) and you might be pleasantly surprised.
*URL: http://danshaughnessy.blogspot.com/2007/06/senior-year-by-dan-shaughnessy-book.html
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful
I picked up this book a few weeks ago because I am alternately thrilled and terrified at the thought of my son's upcoming high school baseball career. I figured a book written a dad who had recently gone through this phase would be interesting and I was intrigued that the author is also a sports writer.
I was half-expecting a book of paeans to the glory of a high school super-star: the ultimate daddy-ball hand-book. I was pleasantly surprised to read that Shaughnessy has a realistically critical perspective on his son's talent.
The book starts off with a touching story of a family death that brought home the importance of a parents' commitment to their child's athletic achievements. Sometimes I feel "too involved", too "hands on" and that maybe it's a little bit of overkill. Yet the story of a youth whose life ended far too soon - at the threshold of his greatest potential - really brought home how important these years are in my son's life. I no longer feel guilty about never missing a minute of this time.
Shaughnessy's son was a good player - a great hitter, albeit swinging between moments of brilliance and soul-eating slumps (who doesn't relate?! ), but a weak fielder. Shaughnessy agonizes over his son's attitude and behavior on the field - and gimps through a few episodes that could've ruined his son's athletic career in high school. I identified with Shaughnessy's account of his wife's involvement in these crises, as she gets her son to open up more so than his dad.
I was particularly pleased with Shaughnessy's depiction of the pitcher's mom, Cheryl. That's me! She's so wrought up while her son is battling from the mound that she paces restlessly. We all have our ways of handling the stress and mine is keeping copious stats, but I have been known to walk the perimeter when the jitters get to be too much. I'm not alone in this! It helps to know others freak a little, too!
Shaughnessy intersperses the story of his son's senior year with detailed accounts of his own sports-loving but average youth. I admit I scanned through these trips down memory lane a little faster than I did the rest. It just didn't grab me as much, I guess.
Shaughnessy details the college recruitment process and I gleaned quite a few tips from these pages. For instance, did you know most college recruitment is done after the Junior year of HS? That effectively makes the 11th grade year the most important. Good thing to know! His son wavered between Notre Dame and Boston College and ended up making his decision based on the coaching staff, which promptly changed over after he'd already signed his letter of intent (which also pretty much removed him from draft consideration). All good things to bear in mind.
Shaughnessy is an engaging writer - after all, he does it for a living - and the book is a fast read. His son sounds like an All-American boy - sometimes spoiled and indulged and other times focused and disciplined. There's a lot to relate to.
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