Doug Glanville

Writing: 4.0; Theme: 5.0; Content: 4.5; Langauge: 4.5; Overall: 4.5

I was familiar with Doug Glanville from the late nineties when I watched baseball religiously, however, I never was aware of his story. This was a very good sports biography that allows the reader to see and understand a little clearer what the professional athlete experiences. Glanville shares his ups and downs but is very grateful for his ability and opportunities he was blessed with to play sports professionally. Very interestng and fair take on many issues. Highly recommend, especially for the sports (baseball) enthusiast.

***August 15, 2023***… (mehr)

Doug Glanville, the Phillies centerfielder for several years with an engineering degree from Penn (the first African-American in the major leagues with an Ivy League degree), has written an interesting and introspective baseball memoir. There are many good stories and DG had and has a lot of insight into himself and his colleagues. He is a mild-mannered guy with considerable integrity, and this serves his memoir well; there are no outrageous outings of any kind. He includes a quotation from his father that I like, "How you do one thing, is how you do everything."… (mehr)

Doug Glanville spent nine years playing center field in the Major Leagues. This is his first book, and it is slightly disappointing. Glanville, an Ivy League engineer, writes an occasional column for The New York Times, in which he has shown both a clear, comfortable voice and a (publicly) rare insight into baseball’s workings. This work created unrealistic expectations.

The problem is simply that From Where I Stand tries to do too much. Glanville is both reflecting on his own career, including how losing his father affected it, and laying out descriptions of (or guidance for approaching) various off-field elements of the game such as preparation, relationships, and integrity. Both are interesting, but the final effect is a bit jumbled. Discussions of steroids also play too prominent a role. While the book is easy to read and provides a wee glimpse of lifestyle behind the scenes -- complete with Tyra Banks and Michael Jordan -- it does not really add anything to our understanding of the game.

Glanville has more than a personal story to share, though, and this conflicted structure, mixing his own narrative and reflections upon various subjects, comes from wanting to say everything at once. It didn’t quite work here -- in fact, From Where I Stand does the opposite. It demonstrates that Glanville deserves another book. Having gotten the memoir out of his system, perhaps now he will tell the story of the 2002 negotiations between Major League Baseball and the Players’ Association over their expiring Collective Bargaining Agreement. Or delve into social issues in the system, like inter-racial differences in treatment, or the impact extreme income distribution between Majors and minors has on minor league performers and their development. We can expect good things from Glanville, should he decide to continue writing.… (mehr)

Doug Glanville always stood out as one of baseball's friendliest and most intelligent players (even if he did play most of his career with the Phillies) and in his retirement has taken up a second career as an insightful sports writer. I was eager to read this book about his life in baseball which I received through the Library Thing Early Reviewers program.

Glanville breaks up several aspects of baseball - on and of the field -- into different sections to give the insider perspective on the mundane details of a ballplayer's life. While this has some interesting insights at times, unfortunately the mundane detail makes for a mundane book. I'm also disappointed that when it comes to performance enhancing drugs, Glavine condemns them but really holds back on saying anything the might be even slightly controversial. Still, I appreciate Glanville's effort to try to do something different and make a thoughtful effort at letting the fan in on the behind-the-scenes part of the game.

If your looking at a detailed look at the life of a baseball player this may be the book for you. On the other hand there are plenty of more entertaining books about baseball.… (mehr)