The Heart of The Game: The Education of a Minor League Ballplayer

by Paul Hemphill

In a book that lilts with the sultry rhythms of a baseball summer, Paul Hemphill follows one year in the life of Marty Malloy, a minor league player for the Durham Bulls, whose grit and fiery desire are the true heart of a game that is played not for fame and money but for love.

Genres: Baseball, Sports

Hardcover

First published April 1, 1996

About the author

Paul James Hemphill was an American journalist and author who wrote extensively about often-overlooked topics in the Southern United States such as country music, evangelism, football, stock car racing and the blue collar people he met on his journeys around the South.

Reviews

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a baseball fan, specifically one old enough to remember the strike season, this book was nostalgic. Following along like I did with players from my youth it was a good tale of the minor league ballplayer. Seeing familiar eventual stars, Jermaine Dye, etc., it was a good and quick read.

Some of the book is slow with the overwhelming stats and what not of the average minor leaguer but for this baseball fan I enjoyed most of the book.

[Austin Gisriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any baseball fan, especially a fan of the minor leagues, will enjoy this book, as it follows second baseman Marty Malloy through the 1994 season with the Durham Bulls. How close can you get to the dream, and if you reach it, how long can you make it last?

[Dick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was about minor league ball with many insights, experiences and caused me to remember a "lost summer" of what my wife calls professional ball. Yes we got paid . . . if we won. There was a contract. Guess that makes it professional. But nothing like what I envisioned. It was a summer of finding out that there were others who were more talented and more than willing to work as hard as I was. I new that summer - this was my apex in baseball. Wonderful book.

[M.G. Potter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid read for Durham Bulls, minor-league baseball and baseball fans in general. It's the true story of journeyman minor leaguer and eventual cup-of-coffee big leaguer Marty Malloy, who played for the Bulls in their final Carolina League season in the old park. It's the most realistic portrayal of the Durham Bulls I have ever seen in popular culture.