Squeeze Play Book

Jane Leavy has written several sports related books that I've really enjoyed, all best selling non-fiction, about stars such as Mickey Mantle and Sandy Koufax. "Squeeze Play" is the fictional account of a hapless major league team and the locker room antics they engage in.

It's a raunchy story full of sex talk and nasty tricks with little to recommend it as great fiction. But, as a career sportswriter with access to locker room antics, Leavy lets out all the secrets about a woman in an atmosphere of naked men with nothing but time on their hands and a woman to harass. Out of some 100,000 words in her book, probably 25,00 f-words and numerous other foul expressions dominate. I suspect she used some literary license in her account to create interest because, during 30 years in a male-dominated firehouse, I never witnessed such licentious behavior.

I did, however, enjoy the book because her descriptions, while outlandish, gave real insight into the pressure put upon professional baseball players. It's not an easy game although it appears peaceful and serene compared to football, hockey, and basketball. The striving for perfection that keeps players in the game creates great tension. Their performance is always open to discussion and criticism. The plot is about the demands and performance standards that keep their lives in turmoil and their careers unstable.

Not a book for the prudish, it's a revelation for those who know sports. They shouldn't be shocked to find that the boys of summer are not choirboys. I enjoyed its raucous atmosphere and waded through its raunchiness with many a laugh and even a little anguish. I thank the author for taking me inside the locker room.