Born to Play

The baseball star offers an account of his life and explains how strong faith, a loving family, and powerful optimism have led him to overcome poverty, injuries, the violent death of his brother, and cancer

Readers who can get beyond Davis's self-congratulatory tone and some writing that's even worse than the run-of-the-mill sports autobiography might enjoy the behind-the-scenes look at baseball life and the inspirational narrative of how Davis overcame colon cancer. Having grown up with Darryl Strawberry on the mean streets of L.A., Davis came to the big leagues with a dazzling combination of speed and power. He was a part of the 1990 World Series Champion Cincinnati Reds and the 1997 pennant-contending Baltimore Orioles. In 1999, he will play with Mark McGwire for the St. Louis Cardinals. Davis's accounts of how he fought back repeatedly from injuries (the aggressive Gold Glove outfielder claims he's "the one that caused them to put padding on the walls all around National League ballparks"), coped with the death of his gangster brother and battled colon cancer all make for compelling reading. So does the dish on Cincinnati Reds former owner Marge Schott, Pete Rose and other big-league personalities. But Davis's professed humility doesn't ring true. Statements such as "Of all the things I learned, the most important is to live your life understanding that God is in charge, and be humble about it" lose their credibility next to "Can I put this club on my back and carry it for a month? Will I get the chance?" And Davis's scribe, Wiley, seems missing in action: the book lacks even any sort of proper structure.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A gritty and witty look under the batting helmet of star player Davis, whose heart is a big red machine. Although Wiley, who served with Sports Illustrated and ESPN, and also coauthored Spike Lees Best Seat in the House (1997), is listed as coauthor, another coauthor here is clearly Jesus, evident in phrases like Gods will is in baseball too. The Lord saves Davis from many perils, including a World Series injury in 1990, when this fiercely proud and competitive slugging outfielder ruptured his kidney almost making an impossible diving catch. Typically, Davis didnt display any pain until he collapsed on the way to the batters box. He urinated enough blood to fill a beer cup and was rushed to the hospital. Every split second of this drama, from what he was thinking as he attempted the catch to the traffic lights on the ambulance drive, is given in great detailfine reading. Its great fun to hear Davis talk about only hitting a buck seventy-eight (.178) and hitting a granny (grand-slam home run). While his favorite years may have been as a Cincinnati Red, the real plot revolves around his rare ability to play hurt. One key injury happened after he was traded from the Dodgers to the Tigers and crashed into Fenway Parks notoriously short center-field wall. His hardest and highest wall, of course, was the colon cancer he courageously fought off to return to a troubled Baltimore club last season. To the books credit, it remains about balls and strikes, dugouts and stadiums, rather than hospitals and chemotherapy treatments. Yankee Darryl Strawberry, Daviss old high school friend and rival, who also got much publicity fighting colon cancer last year, writes in the Afterword, Knowing what he went through probably saved my life. Davis comes off as a picture of consistency, morality, and heroism. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Davis, who currently plays for the St. Louis Cardinals, has been a star major league baseball player for the past 15 years. He rose from the streets of South Central Los Angeles and has endured more than his share of adversity since then. During the 1990 World Series he lacerated a kidney while making a diving catch and almost died. In 1997, he was diagnosed with colon cancer during the season, underwent surgery and chemotherapy, and returned to play in September of the same year. During the cancer ordeal, his only brother died of mysterious causes. Through it all, Davis has maintained his spirit and faith and strives to explain how in this book. His is a fascinating tale, at times grippingly told. At other times, the writing becomes too stylized, with an overreliance on vernacular terms. The structure of the book is more thematic than chronological, and some transitions from chapter to chapter are smoother than others. Recommended for most baseball collections.AJohn M. Maxymuk, Robeson Lib., Rutgers Univ., Camden, NJ
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.