Said in Stone: Your Game, My Way

by Steve Stone

Few men in Chicago sports history have been beloved on both the North and South Sides of such a baseball-crazy town. Steve Stone is a fan favorite. Following his last game as Cubs announcer, long after all the players had left the field, nearly everyone left in the stadium looked up to the broadcast booth and chanted “Stoney! Stoney!” for several minutes. In Said in Stone , the Cy Young award-winning pitcher and perhaps future Hall of Fame broadcaster offers his unique slant on the game that has been his passion for nearly five decades. He starts by analyzing the game position by position, illustrating his points with personal experiences and players he's played with and covered. What he hasn't seen, his broadcast partner of 15 years, Harry Caray, probably had, and he shares plenty of funny stories about their years together in the booth as well. Finally he takes a serious look at how the game has changed and what the future holds for America's pastime.

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Gary Anderson]

Steve Stone has long been one of the smartest guys in baseball. As a player, broadcaster, and investor, Stone has always shown that he understands the game in all its levels and layers. His 2011 book Said in Stone isn’t exactly a light read because Stone goes into so much detail about the requirements of playing each position, but I learned more from reading it than I have any baseball book since George F. Will’s Men at Work back in 1990. Stone’s analysis of footwork, strategy, and business-related moves is lightened by stories and examples gleaned from his years of playing with and observing two generations of baseball players. Steve Stone’s sense of humor is keen but dry. For a funnier Steve Stone book, see Where’s Harry?, his 1999 memoir about working alongside the inimitable Harry Caray in the broadcast booth.

[Andrew Langert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Steve Stone is a former MLB pitcher who has been a TV analyst in Chicago for decades, currently in the TV booth for White Sox games. His real time analysis of a baseball game is high quality, as good as anyone I’ve listened to over the years.
This book starts out by going over the game of baseball, position by position. He explains the intricacies of playing each position, then follows it with war stories about players who played that position. This portion of the book is rather dry.
After that, Stone goes off the field into the front office, the scouting department, the commissioner’s office and the business of baseball. This is the best part of the book. Stone says that he has three times attempted to be part of an ownership group to buy a team, so he knows a lot about what goes on off the field.
To gain something from this book, tolerate the first half of it and savor the new things you learn in the back half.

[MICHAEL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though this book took me a long time to finish, it wasn't for lack of interest. This is a great resource for understanding the game, if a bit dated as it predates many of the modern adjustments (interleague play, universal dh, etc). Arranged in chapters initially by position, and then by category of non player (managers and coaches, etc) there is ample in depth discussion of the game and the strategy, but, also plenty of nice stories of the players that Stone encountered in his time in the big leagues. I read this a as a companion to my annual suffering with my White Sox, and listening to Steve Stone discuss the game on the broadcasts, and finished it while sitting on the hill at Williamsport watching the LLWS.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book if you want to understand the game on a fundamental level. Complete breakdown of every position on and off the field. Very inciteful. Stone is a premier baseball mind and one of the best color analysts in the game. This book gets you inside his head and subsequently makes you a much more intelligent fan.
Recommended.

[Cade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steve Stone is a true scholar of the game. This book is like Baseball 201. The reader needs to have a working knowledge of baseball, but as long as you understand the basics and love the game, I think you will really like this book. It is full of anecdotes, name dropping, personal stories, and reveals the inside workings of the game. He divided the book into sections based on the various positions of the team: Catchers, Pitchers, 1B, 2B, 3B, OF, and then goes to cover Managers, The Front Office, The Commissioner, and ends with his thoughts on the future of the game.

This is not a detailed step-by-step guide on how to play a position. It is more of an overview of each position with comments and insights on why things are done, what is happening that the average fan doesn't see, and his own commentary. The book reads more as a stream of consciousness discussion. He will start on a subject and then wander to another topic and then back again, but that makes the book wonderful and enjoyable. It is like listening to one of his game broadcasts, which I find to be one of the great things in baseball.

Fans of the game will enjoy this book, but especially Chicago baseball fans. His familiarity with the Cubs and White Sox lends to the use of both of those teams and their players in many of his examples. He seems to be a little harsh on Ron Santo and doesn't seem to be able to find any fault with Bud Selig, but he also doesn't pull any punches where he truly thinks they need to be thrown, and that has gained Stone a lot of respect in Baseball.

A truly enjoyable read, and I came away with a much better understanding of the workings of baseball, especially with how the recruiting, minor league system, and team management works.

--- I will note that there seemed to be an awful lot of basic spelling errors and typos in the book which was disappointing, since he has access to professional editors and a few that a word processor spell checker should have easily caught.

[Mr. Moyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big baseball fan, so I enjoyed learning more about the game that I love. Steve Stone is one of my favorite baseball broadcasters. He partnered with Harey Carey for almost 20 years in the booth. They had a great broadcasting relationship and made many memories for their listeners.
Anyway, the book goes into every detail you can imagine about the professional game of baseball. Stone breaks down every position on the field and give anecdotes from his playing days as a pitcher in the big leagues. Stone won the AL Cy Young around in 1980 with the Baltimore Orioles. Stone also dives into the "behind the scenes" action in the game of baseball. He covers the importance of scouting for professional talent in many different areas from high school to college. That is a fascinating part of the game. In other sports, the amateur draft is such a big, advertised event. In professional baseball, it is much different. There are many more players drafted, and the average sports fan really doesn't follow the draft in baseball as in other sports.
I would recommend this book to true baseball fans. It is a good non-fiction read that helps the reader get a better sense of the many facets of the game.

Enjoy, Mr. Moyer

[Colin Schiewe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Knowledgeable guy and the book does have enough in it to change how you look at certain aspects of the game. Chapters are setup by position and ends with management, front office and future of the game. Doesnt have the greatest flow and you will definitely hear steve stone in your head throughout the entire read.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my opinion Steve Stone is one of the smartest, most knowledgable people when it comes to talking baseball. In his book, Stone breaks down the game position by position and explains what he thinks is important. This book is a chance to understand the thought process of a man who can predict what pitch will be thrown next and where that pitch will be hit (if at all).

[Bill Littell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like Steve Stone as an announcer. He's knowledgeable and, let's face it, put up with Harry Carey for all those years in the broadcast booth. This said, he's not much of a writer and many of his stories a pretty anticlimactic.

[Robert Barone · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not what I expected. This was a baseball primer, with his opinions on how to play the game. Not an very good read

[Dad · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a broadcaster, Steve Stone is such a brilliant analyst and articulate commentator on baseball that his book left me feeling a little flat. A good read, but not a great read.