YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE BALLS TO MAKE IT IN THIS LEAGUE: MY LIFE AS AN UMPIRE - Hardcover

Postema, Pam

3.46

39 ratings by Goodreads

9780671747725: YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE BALLS TO MAKE IT IN THIS LEAGUE: MY LIFE AS AN UMPIRE

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 067174772X ISBN 13: 9780671747725

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1992

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One of the first-ever female umpires in professional baseball tells what it is like to be considered a dish rather than a judge at home plate as she struggles with her career in the minor leagues

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From the Inside Flap:

"Unceremoniously released in 1989 after 13 seasons (seven at the Triple A level), Postema, the most successful female umpire to date, understandably has some axes to grind. And grind them she does, hilariously and virtually unquotably, but with an evenhandedness, candor, and feeling that lift this book . . . far above the usual ‘inside’ sports level."—Kirkus.

"Her story of life in an aggressively male environment makes the Anita Hill–Clarence Thomas allegations seem genteel. It’s also a wonderful look at life in the minor leagues from an umpire’s perspective."—Booklist.

In You’ve Got to Have Balls to Make It in This League Pam Postema reveals with frank language and uncompromising candor what it was like being an umpire in professional baseball. For thirteen seasons, from 1977 until her unconditional release in 1989, Postema umpired more than two thousand baseball games, making national news as she worked in various minor leagues as high as level AAA—one step below the majors. She also called many major league spring training games as well as the Hall of Fame game in 1988 between the Yankees and the Braves.

Postema’s story is one of grit and determination to succeed in a profession dominated by men, but it is also an intimate look at umpiring. Postema discusses the mindset behind making a proper call, the weeks of intensive training, ejecting problem players and managers, and the chaos mixed with the monotony of being on the road most of the year. Throughout, Postema relates her encounters with major league stars when they were just up-and-comers in the minors.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Major-league memoir from former minor-league umpire Postema. Unceremoniously released in 1989 after 13 seasons (seven at the Triple A level), Postema, the most successful female umpire to date, understandably has some axes to grind. And grind them she does, hilariously and virtually unquotably, but with an evenhandedness, candor, and feeling that lift this book (coauthored with Wojciechowski, Pond Scum and Vultures, 1990) far above the usual ``inside''-sports level. Entering the field at her mother's suggestion, Postema persisted in the belief that ``as long as you could do the job, then it shouldn't matter what sex you were''--a remarkable stance considering such indignities as the manager who kissed her at home plate, the player who left notes in her underwear, and the time the San Diego Chicken pulled a bra out of her shirt. Although she gives due credit to such ``good guys'' as the late A. Bartlett Giamatti, Postema has far more fun skewering the likes of ``weasel'' former manager Larry Bowa (``Mr. Despicable'') and pitcher Bob Knepper, who publicly labeled her choice of profession an affront to God. Told frequently that she would ``have to be twice as good as a man to make it to the majors'' (and never claiming to be anything but as good), Postema, who gained enormous satisfaction from her work and still misses it, was forced to conclude that the present hierarchy of baseball (``the exact opposite of what America stands for'') will never deem a woman worthy of that standard. Hence the message, addressed primarily to young women, but well worth the attention of their parents and brothers, that ``you can't break down male-built barriers by pretending they don't exist.'' Then again, as this blinding fastball of a book proves, you can give them some good strong kicks. (Eight pages of b&w photographs--not seen.) -- Copyright �1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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