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The Grind: Inside Baseball's Endless Season
Built on material that appeared in The Washington Post , this is a raw, inside look at the wear and tear and the glory and impermanence of baseball—shortlisted for the 2016 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing.
At 162 games, it is the sports world’s longest season. Grueling. Thrilling. Routine. Lonely. Exhilarating. Major league ballplayers even have a name for this relentless, unmatchable The Grind.
In The Grind , Barry Svrluga, The Washington Post ’s national baseball correspondent, zooms in on the 2014 Washington Nationals, reporting not just on the roster’s star players, but also on the typically invisible supporting cast who each have their own sacrifices to make and schedules to keep. There’s The Wife, who acts as a full-time mom, part-time real estate agent, occasional father, and all-hours dog walker; The 26th Man, a minor leaguer on the cusp of job security who gets called up to the majors only to be sent back down the very next week; The Reliever, one of the most mentally taxing, precarious, and terribly exposed positions on any pro squad. These and many more players, scouts, equipment managers, and even travel schedulers create the fabric of Svrluga’s intimate and unusual book; they could be from any team or any big-league city. As he “There is no other sport with an everydayness, a drum-drum-drum beat like baseball.”
At 162 games, it is the sports world’s longest season. Grueling. Thrilling. Routine. Lonely. Exhilarating. Major league ballplayers even have a name for this relentless, unmatchable The Grind.
In The Grind , Barry Svrluga, The Washington Post ’s national baseball correspondent, zooms in on the 2014 Washington Nationals, reporting not just on the roster’s star players, but also on the typically invisible supporting cast who each have their own sacrifices to make and schedules to keep. There’s The Wife, who acts as a full-time mom, part-time real estate agent, occasional father, and all-hours dog walker; The 26th Man, a minor leaguer on the cusp of job security who gets called up to the majors only to be sent back down the very next week; The Reliever, one of the most mentally taxing, precarious, and terribly exposed positions on any pro squad. These and many more players, scouts, equipment managers, and even travel schedulers create the fabric of Svrluga’s intimate and unusual book; they could be from any team or any big-league city. As he “There is no other sport with an everydayness, a drum-drum-drum beat like baseball.”
- GenresBaseballSportsNonfiction
208 pages, Paperback
First published July 7, 2015
38 people are currently reading
662 people want to read
About the author
Barry Svrluga
2 books1 followerEducation: Duke University, BA in history
Barry Svrluga came to The Washington Post in 2003 after working at newspapers in Corning, N.Y.; Portland, Maine; and Raleigh, N.C. At those stops, he covered topics including NASCAR, high school lacrosse and the Final Four. At The Post, he has covered college basketball and football, the Washington Nationals, and the Redskins. He is a regular member of The Post's Olympics team, dating to the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, and he became a columnist for the Sports section in 2016.
Barry Svrluga came to The Washington Post in 2003 after working at newspapers in Corning, N.Y.; Portland, Maine; and Raleigh, N.C. At those stops, he covered topics including NASCAR, high school lacrosse and the Final Four. At The Post, he has covered college basketball and football, the Washington Nationals, and the Redskins. He is a regular member of The Post's Olympics team, dating to the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, and he became a columnist for the Sports section in 2016.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 133 reviews
July 10, 2015
At the end of my first season covering the Detroit Tigers, I was exhausted. Completely exhausted. I'd gone from city to city, from game to game, from story to story, and I loved it. But wow, I was tired. And I didn't even have to play.
A baseball season really is a grind, and Barry Svrluga's fine new book does a nice job explaining what that grind means to the different people who exist within it. As Barry writes, no one who lives outside it can truly understand, but his book will give you a taste of what it's like to work in or around a sport that almost never takes a day off.
I remember Travis Fryman once telling a story about talking to his friends in Pensacola, Fla. "How's Detroit?" they asked. "What do you do on weekends?"
"Uh, we play on weekends," he said.
As Svrluga writes, most of the world takes back-to-back days off every Saturday and Sunday. The baseball world takes back-to-back days off one time from the start of spring training to the end of the season. And if you go to the All-Star Game, you don't even do that.
It can be hard to talk about the grind without it sounding like whining. Barry does a nice job with that, understanding the challenges his subjects face without suggesting we should feel sorry for them. This is the life they choose, and many of them are very well compensated.
They love the game, but they also know the game ends up running their lives. No one can fully understand without living through it, but Barry's book gives you a good taste of it.
A baseball season really is a grind, and Barry Svrluga's fine new book does a nice job explaining what that grind means to the different people who exist within it. As Barry writes, no one who lives outside it can truly understand, but his book will give you a taste of what it's like to work in or around a sport that almost never takes a day off.
I remember Travis Fryman once telling a story about talking to his friends in Pensacola, Fla. "How's Detroit?" they asked. "What do you do on weekends?"
"Uh, we play on weekends," he said.
As Svrluga writes, most of the world takes back-to-back days off every Saturday and Sunday. The baseball world takes back-to-back days off one time from the start of spring training to the end of the season. And if you go to the All-Star Game, you don't even do that.
It can be hard to talk about the grind without it sounding like whining. Barry does a nice job with that, understanding the challenges his subjects face without suggesting we should feel sorry for them. This is the life they choose, and many of them are very well compensated.
They love the game, but they also know the game ends up running their lives. No one can fully understand without living through it, but Barry's book gives you a good taste of it.
May 28, 2015
Review:
Many kids dream of becoming a big league ballplayer. It must be the luxurious life – after all, a player makes a minimum of about half a million dollars while flying all over the country to play a game. Their wives must live in the lap of luxury with all that money, correct? Or how about the general manager who signs these players? He’s got it made too, right?
If someone’s answer to any of the questions is yes, that person is a prime candidate to read this entertaining and well-written book by Barry Svrluga. He writes about the day-to-day lives of not only the players, but also the perspective of a wife (Chelsey Desmond, wife of Washington Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond), a scout, the clubhouse manager of the Nationals, the traveling secretary, and of course players.
The stories are terrific reading as the reader will soon find out that even though the players are paid handsomely, they will have the same routines and same concerns about fatigue and loneliness that anyone else who travels will have. The wives, much like military spouses, have to keep everything on the home front organized and when a move happens due to a trade, promotion or demotion, the wives are the ones who usually do all the work for moving. Their perspective is covered in great detail in that section.
The less glamorous jobs such as scout or clubhouse attendant makes for the best reading and the most insight for a baseball fan. Svrulga captures the life of the scout on the road, down to the minutest detail of what that scout has to pack in his car. The stories of the clubhouse manager and his staff members are the most entertaining, and the reader will be amazed at how well they know the players’ likes and dislikes as the season wears on.
Capturing the true day-to-day routines and aspects of a 162 game season like only a seasoned writer can, Svrulga will make the reader feel like he or she is part of the Nationals’ family in many different ways. This is an excellent read for any baseball fan.
I wish to thank NetGalley and Blue Rider Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Pace of the book:
It is a fast read as each story contains a lot of personal anecdotes by the person interviewed with interesting aspects toward his or her views on the daily routines of the season.
Do I recommend?
Anyone who wants to learn what life is like in the baseball world, especially for those involved other than the players, should pick up this book
Many kids dream of becoming a big league ballplayer. It must be the luxurious life – after all, a player makes a minimum of about half a million dollars while flying all over the country to play a game. Their wives must live in the lap of luxury with all that money, correct? Or how about the general manager who signs these players? He’s got it made too, right?
If someone’s answer to any of the questions is yes, that person is a prime candidate to read this entertaining and well-written book by Barry Svrluga. He writes about the day-to-day lives of not only the players, but also the perspective of a wife (Chelsey Desmond, wife of Washington Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond), a scout, the clubhouse manager of the Nationals, the traveling secretary, and of course players.
The stories are terrific reading as the reader will soon find out that even though the players are paid handsomely, they will have the same routines and same concerns about fatigue and loneliness that anyone else who travels will have. The wives, much like military spouses, have to keep everything on the home front organized and when a move happens due to a trade, promotion or demotion, the wives are the ones who usually do all the work for moving. Their perspective is covered in great detail in that section.
The less glamorous jobs such as scout or clubhouse attendant makes for the best reading and the most insight for a baseball fan. Svrulga captures the life of the scout on the road, down to the minutest detail of what that scout has to pack in his car. The stories of the clubhouse manager and his staff members are the most entertaining, and the reader will be amazed at how well they know the players’ likes and dislikes as the season wears on.
Capturing the true day-to-day routines and aspects of a 162 game season like only a seasoned writer can, Svrulga will make the reader feel like he or she is part of the Nationals’ family in many different ways. This is an excellent read for any baseball fan.
I wish to thank NetGalley and Blue Rider Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Pace of the book:
It is a fast read as each story contains a lot of personal anecdotes by the person interviewed with interesting aspects toward his or her views on the daily routines of the season.
Do I recommend?
Anyone who wants to learn what life is like in the baseball world, especially for those involved other than the players, should pick up this book
July 31, 2020
Although it's ironic that I should pick up a book about baseball's monstrous, demanding, fabled 162-game season at the start of the shortest season since 1878, I found the window into normalcy that "The Grind" provided extremely comforting in the midst of an extremely uncomfortable time. That said, I wish Barry Svrluga's inside account of the Nationals' 2014 season dug a little deeper than it did.
What I applaud the book for is how many different vantage points from which it presents the standard baseball season: the team star, the closer, the spouse, the scout, the GM...all are very useful in giving the casual baseball fan a clearer glimpse into just how tough it is to work in professional baseball, no matter what your job title might be. But for the die-hard fan the book sort of feels like a flyover. Each chapter is roughly 10-15 short pages long and doesn't really provide any new angles for those who know the game well. While the stories provided are personal and interesting, they're only small snapshots of the year and the sport. The highs and lows of each role as they make their way through the baseball marathon would have made for a very compelling biography of a team. But perhaps that request is a little much to ask of a beat reporter who, by his own admission, didn't originally set out to make a book out of this story.
In the end, Svrluga's love and devotion to the sport and the team he works for shine bright in "The Grind," and it's a quick read for all types of baseball fans. But if you're a diehard fan of baseball, just don't think you're cracking the spine on an enlightening exposé.
What I applaud the book for is how many different vantage points from which it presents the standard baseball season: the team star, the closer, the spouse, the scout, the GM...all are very useful in giving the casual baseball fan a clearer glimpse into just how tough it is to work in professional baseball, no matter what your job title might be. But for the die-hard fan the book sort of feels like a flyover. Each chapter is roughly 10-15 short pages long and doesn't really provide any new angles for those who know the game well. While the stories provided are personal and interesting, they're only small snapshots of the year and the sport. The highs and lows of each role as they make their way through the baseball marathon would have made for a very compelling biography of a team. But perhaps that request is a little much to ask of a beat reporter who, by his own admission, didn't originally set out to make a book out of this story.
In the end, Svrluga's love and devotion to the sport and the team he works for shine bright in "The Grind," and it's a quick read for all types of baseball fans. But if you're a diehard fan of baseball, just don't think you're cracking the spine on an enlightening exposé.
October 2, 2015
Weak--the scribbling of a fan rather than any deep analysis. Anyone in a Roto league knows this stuff. If this is the talent Bezos hired for the WaPo, no wonder it's losing subscribers.
May 31, 2016
While being a fan of baseball is certainly no requirement, it certainly would come as an assist in this made-for-baseball enthusiast's companion piece. The author succinctly acknowledges baseball as a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts, but what exactly are those parts over the course of the long haul of the season? The baseball season is one of the more grueling in all of professional sports, rarely more than two consecutive days off from April to October. There is a mental aspect to the game as well as a physical one to it. Additionally, the details provided an interesting take on the many perspectives that keep an organization a well-oiled machine. From the General Manager to the struggling reliever to the injured star to the 4A player, for each the Grind means something slightly different, yet the same goal emerges--win. Nice, quick read for sports fans, Washington Nationals fans in particular.
April 4, 2020
Baseball: America's romance.
I don't know a lot about the Nationals; I live on the West Coast, I'm a Giants fan. Like anyone else with a heart, I was charmed by the Nats in 2019, winning the World Series through the power of friendship and Baby Shark. (Also, fuck the Astros.) But my knowledge of the Nats begins and ends pretty much with what my friends say on twitter and the occasional article that catches my eye on the Washington Post. So I really don't know anything, and don't really care that much -- I don't say that with any animosity, but as someone whose shitshow hometown team holds more daily attention and is in my time zone.
But all this to say; that doesn't matter. This is a story about the Nationals, but also not; one assumes that this story could be told the same way, through every team, with only a few differences: names, places, maybe organizational quirks. But the frame would be the same. This is intentional, of course, but it gives the book a surreal feel. Sure, I am reading about Tyler Moore, a man I have never heard of and whose name I will probably forget in two weeks, but I could be reading about the stress of any man in my own minor league organization. Ryan Zimmerman is a big name, but I'll be thinking about his story in relation to my own pitchers should the 2020 season ever arrive. That is the beauty of this book; it's applicable, it's relatable, it's accessible. I can take what I learned about the mechanics of baseball as an organization and apply it to my own team. This will make for an incredibly fun game when the season comes back.
However, that's not why I stayed up until 3am reading this book and rolled out of bed the next day and went straight back to the book. My friends and I have long held that baseball is the most romantic sport. If you know, you know: the long hot day games, the warm evening nights; the nebulous sense of time during a game, when an inning seems to last both 10 minutes and 2 hours; the world's slowest, gentlest, occasionally most boring drama fought on green grass under a blue sky or a full moon; the players and management, in love with the game, with themselves, with each other; the tension and heartbreak of trades, of losing friends and family, of new beginnings and a chance to prove themselves again. Everything I have ever suspected about the romance of this sport was confirmed to be true in this book. You expect me to, what, not start getting teary-eyed reading about Moore journaling his hot streaks in the minors so that he can refer back to them when he's running cold in the majors? You expect me to take a small story about a September call up struggling with a hand-held steamer to fix his shirt only to saved by a member of staff who has been directed to treat the players "as if it's your kid or your cousin or your brother" like this isn't the greatest lovestory of all time? I mean, holy shit, when General Manager Mike Rizzo says "I can't fall in love with [the players]. I don't love 'em. I can't." -- I nearly threw my ereader across the room. The Nats may not be my team but they are a team and in this book they are a stand in for every team and every team is a romance of epic proportions, sweet and bittersweet. This is why I stayed up until 3am reading this book and why I read for two hours straight this afternoon and why I have now spent at least a half hour on this review, trying to put into words why I am so affected by this book in an baseball-less April.
The Grind is an insider's look at the Nats. The Grind is also an insider's look at baseball day to day. The Grind is also a love story, from player, manager, author, reader.
I'm afraid none of this makes sense and certainly none of it is what I meant to express when I started this review. This is a short book, a quick read, and I see that many of the Goodread reviews condemn it's lack of "grit" or say that "everyone knows this stuff." But "grit" is not a synonym for "grind" and is not the point of this book -- and this book is designed to be instructional. Whatever. Alexa, this book is near-perfect; play "Calma".
I don't know a lot about the Nationals; I live on the West Coast, I'm a Giants fan. Like anyone else with a heart, I was charmed by the Nats in 2019, winning the World Series through the power of friendship and Baby Shark. (Also, fuck the Astros.) But my knowledge of the Nats begins and ends pretty much with what my friends say on twitter and the occasional article that catches my eye on the Washington Post. So I really don't know anything, and don't really care that much -- I don't say that with any animosity, but as someone whose shitshow hometown team holds more daily attention and is in my time zone.
But all this to say; that doesn't matter. This is a story about the Nationals, but also not; one assumes that this story could be told the same way, through every team, with only a few differences: names, places, maybe organizational quirks. But the frame would be the same. This is intentional, of course, but it gives the book a surreal feel. Sure, I am reading about Tyler Moore, a man I have never heard of and whose name I will probably forget in two weeks, but I could be reading about the stress of any man in my own minor league organization. Ryan Zimmerman is a big name, but I'll be thinking about his story in relation to my own pitchers should the 2020 season ever arrive. That is the beauty of this book; it's applicable, it's relatable, it's accessible. I can take what I learned about the mechanics of baseball as an organization and apply it to my own team. This will make for an incredibly fun game when the season comes back.
However, that's not why I stayed up until 3am reading this book and rolled out of bed the next day and went straight back to the book. My friends and I have long held that baseball is the most romantic sport. If you know, you know: the long hot day games, the warm evening nights; the nebulous sense of time during a game, when an inning seems to last both 10 minutes and 2 hours; the world's slowest, gentlest, occasionally most boring drama fought on green grass under a blue sky or a full moon; the players and management, in love with the game, with themselves, with each other; the tension and heartbreak of trades, of losing friends and family, of new beginnings and a chance to prove themselves again. Everything I have ever suspected about the romance of this sport was confirmed to be true in this book. You expect me to, what, not start getting teary-eyed reading about Moore journaling his hot streaks in the minors so that he can refer back to them when he's running cold in the majors? You expect me to take a small story about a September call up struggling with a hand-held steamer to fix his shirt only to saved by a member of staff who has been directed to treat the players "as if it's your kid or your cousin or your brother" like this isn't the greatest lovestory of all time? I mean, holy shit, when General Manager Mike Rizzo says "I can't fall in love with [the players]. I don't love 'em. I can't." -- I nearly threw my ereader across the room. The Nats may not be my team but they are a team and in this book they are a stand in for every team and every team is a romance of epic proportions, sweet and bittersweet. This is why I stayed up until 3am reading this book and why I read for two hours straight this afternoon and why I have now spent at least a half hour on this review, trying to put into words why I am so affected by this book in an baseball-less April.
The Grind is an insider's look at the Nats. The Grind is also an insider's look at baseball day to day. The Grind is also a love story, from player, manager, author, reader.
I'm afraid none of this makes sense and certainly none of it is what I meant to express when I started this review. This is a short book, a quick read, and I see that many of the Goodread reviews condemn it's lack of "grit" or say that "everyone knows this stuff." But "grit" is not a synonym for "grind" and is not the point of this book -- and this book is designed to be instructional. Whatever. Alexa, this book is near-perfect; play "Calma".
June 12, 2022
Barry Svrluga's "The Grind" is an interesting look at major league baseball. It isn't interested in what happens on the field but wants to show us what it takes to get on the field. We see the behind the scenes-story of a star player, the wife of a regular player, a starting pitcher, a relief pitcher, the clubhouse manager, the traveling secretary, the general manager and a player trying to make the major league team. It is a very interesting look, especially the work behind the scenes done by the support staff. The look at the family life of a player was effective too, though it is a little hard to feel too bad for the family shown when the husband signed an eleven million dollar contract. I was in the Air Force for many years and my family faced many of the same challenges for a lot less money, to say the least. I found the book a little disjointed at times, confused at times about what season we were talking about. Part of that can be explained because the book was at first a series of newspaper articles that were later put together into a book. I am glad they did, as the book is well worth reading. I learned a lot from the book. I recommend it for anyone interested in the off field life of a baseball team.
April 23, 2024
Maybe 3.5. The book began as a series of newspaper feature stories (in the Washington Post) about various personnel associated with the 2014 Washington Nationals. The stories were fleshed out a bit to create a book, but they remain features. It's perfectly fine, well-written and generally entertaining (and a quick read), but the chapter on GM Mike Rizzo is not all that informative and there are no chapters on stars Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, or Anthony Rendon.
Indeed, only a handful of players are featured and one is the 26th man on the roster, identified as Tyler Moore. He's interviewed in the minor leagues because his season involved his bouncing back-and-forth between AAA and the major leagues. Veteran Ryan Zimmerman gets a chapter but he had only 240 plate appearances for the 2014 Nats. There are also chapters on reliever Drew Storen and #4/5 starting pitcher Doug Fister. Svrluga also wrote chapters about a spouse (and a bit on her husband, infielder Ian Desmond), a scout, and the traveling Secretary, people important in the organization -- but not baseball players, save for Desmond, of course.
Indeed, only a handful of players are featured and one is the 26th man on the roster, identified as Tyler Moore. He's interviewed in the minor leagues because his season involved his bouncing back-and-forth between AAA and the major leagues. Veteran Ryan Zimmerman gets a chapter but he had only 240 plate appearances for the 2014 Nats. There are also chapters on reliever Drew Storen and #4/5 starting pitcher Doug Fister. Svrluga also wrote chapters about a spouse (and a bit on her husband, infielder Ian Desmond), a scout, and the traveling Secretary, people important in the organization -- but not baseball players, save for Desmond, of course.
June 9, 2024
Fun and interesting look at baseball through many different eyes, all experiencing a full season.
The grind, the work these individuals put in and the sacrifices they make, is impressive. The author, however, understands his audience, and kindly does not write this book in a way that forces his audience to experience the reading of the book as the subjects of the books might experience the playing of the season. It’s not too heavy. It’s not too long. It’s fun. And it’s informative and has a personal feel, as the author connects with the various people playing out their roles.
This book could have been dull, dry, grueling, and long. The author clearly realized it didn’t have to be that to be a worthwhile book. I applaud the choice.
The grind, the work these individuals put in and the sacrifices they make, is impressive. The author, however, understands his audience, and kindly does not write this book in a way that forces his audience to experience the reading of the book as the subjects of the books might experience the playing of the season. It’s not too heavy. It’s not too long. It’s fun. And it’s informative and has a personal feel, as the author connects with the various people playing out their roles.
This book could have been dull, dry, grueling, and long. The author clearly realized it didn’t have to be that to be a worthwhile book. I applaud the choice.
June 9, 2020
A quick read that takes you behind the scenes into the "workings" of major league baseball -- getting to enjoy the stress (or at least appreciate the stress?) of the complex months-long ballet of logistics related to equipment, families, housing, travel, downtime, preparation, and more.
Fun, light, zippy -- to fill these long months where many of us desperately miss that daily Grind of baseball...
Fun, light, zippy -- to fill these long months where many of us desperately miss that daily Grind of baseball...
January 12, 2024
This easy, fun read goes behind the scenes of a baseball season. The best chapters were about those we don’t normally read about, the wives, the equipment guys and the scouts.
July 10, 2015
Those involved in major league baseball call it “The Grind,” the day-to-day existence in the longest season in professional sports. “A baseball season, stretching from the tail of one winter to the cusp of the next, erodes the bodies and minds of the men who play. How they handle those demands can determine their performance, there for the world to see nearly every single day,” writes Barry Svrluga in The Grind: Inside Baseball’s Endless Season. Svrluga provides insights into The Grind from the perspective of numerous individuals associated with the Washington Nationals, including star players, a relief pitcher, wives, executives, scouts, and other personnel. Although The Grind may sound like it would be a litany of complaints, it is really more objective than that as the various people tell how they go about their lives in the flow of a long baseball season, a lifestyle different from any other. The most interesting part for me was how details of life on the road are painstakingly handled by clubhouse manager Rob MacDonald who does everything he can to keep things running smoothly so that players can concentrate on baseball. Although the book strays from its theme in places, The Grind is well worth any baseball fan’s time.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advance reading copy of this book.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advance reading copy of this book.
July 2, 2019
What could be better than a book covering the grind of a baseball season?
Except, that's not what this book is about. This book is about a sports journalists who writes short stories on people involved in baseball. The starter, the GM, the baseball wife, etc etc etc...... If you are a baseball fan and don't know anything about baseball, or are a fan of the Nationals, then maybe you might enjoy this quick read.
If you are a baseball fan who was expecting a detailed journey following a team through the grind of a MLB season, then you will be highly disappointed.
Yes, we know already Scouts drive a lot in their cars to get to see lots of kids in high school playing baseball. Yes, we know that baseball wives have to have a certain "look." Yes, we know that it's tough to bulk up for the season. Yes we know it's tough to be a GM.
Man, I am waiting for a real book following a team in the nitty gritty details of a long MLB season. That would be so cool. This isn't that book.
Except, that's not what this book is about. This book is about a sports journalists who writes short stories on people involved in baseball. The starter, the GM, the baseball wife, etc etc etc...... If you are a baseball fan and don't know anything about baseball, or are a fan of the Nationals, then maybe you might enjoy this quick read.
If you are a baseball fan who was expecting a detailed journey following a team through the grind of a MLB season, then you will be highly disappointed.
Yes, we know already Scouts drive a lot in their cars to get to see lots of kids in high school playing baseball. Yes, we know that baseball wives have to have a certain "look." Yes, we know that it's tough to bulk up for the season. Yes we know it's tough to be a GM.
Man, I am waiting for a real book following a team in the nitty gritty details of a long MLB season. That would be so cool. This isn't that book.
February 11, 2017
Great read for all sports aficionados. Book was compiled from stories written regarding various parts of the Washington Nationals baseball organization. This made the book seem a little disjointed to me. I finished the book wanting more insight into the long season and all of its facets.
July 16, 2017
If you're a student of the game like me, this isn't really anything you don't already know, but it's a fun, short read, and it does a great job of illustrating how the baseball season grinds on those who are part of the game differently than being in-season does for those who are involved in other professional sports.
I particularly appreciated the nods to those who are traditionally forgotten with regard to the efforts baseball requires (wives, clubbies, scouts.) Kudos to the author for demonstrating that the grind affects ALL with ties to baseball, rather than just the players, coaches, and front office folk who are its poster children.
I particularly appreciated the nods to those who are traditionally forgotten with regard to the efforts baseball requires (wives, clubbies, scouts.) Kudos to the author for demonstrating that the grind affects ALL with ties to baseball, rather than just the players, coaches, and front office folk who are its poster children.
August 29, 2016
I really liked this book. I thought it was well-structured. It is linear, introducing the reader to different parts of an MLB organization as the season progresses. As a Nats fan, I really enjoyed it because the players were familiar to me; their stories and struggles were already known. It's nice to read what goes on behind the scenes for a guy like Drew Storen versus a Ryan Zimmerman.
Also, it was a super quick read. I read it primarily in my uber rides over a week's time.
Also, it was a super quick read. I read it primarily in my uber rides over a week's time.
September 27, 2023
2nd time reading this book. Thumbs-up. Like John Feinstein and Mike Lupica, a sports book written by a sports professional tells the story perfectly to a fan.
2017 review: Excellent book. It was very in depth among the different aspects of a baseball season and a team (Washington Nationals). My only complaint is that I wish it had several hundred pages more to read about. What a great background on what takes place every day during such a long season.
2017 review: Excellent book. It was very in depth among the different aspects of a baseball season and a team (Washington Nationals). My only complaint is that I wish it had several hundred pages more to read about. What a great background on what takes place every day during such a long season.
June 6, 2015
This is a small gem of a book, a snapshot of what it's like to be in the middle of Major League Baseball in 2014. So it might seem even more interesting in 20 years than it does now. But well worth reading now, too.
March 21, 2018
This book focuses on the human side of baseball. However, all of the people profiled seem one-dimensional, being good people who are working hard and doing their best. The Grind had no grit.
April 28, 2025
A nice weekend book to get into baseball a bit. I’m very torn on the review and the rating. It’s clear the first few sections were articles and then it became a book towards the final 33%.
Honestly where my struggle lies is I chose this type of book (a book on baseball) because I love the game and wanted the love to grow. However, this book honestly made me question if professional sports are truly worth it. As a former logistics specialist in another lifetime, I had nightmares reading the responsibilities the clubhouse attendants and folks of those nature had and the time it demanded.
The saddest line of the book was in regards to the life of the scout who admitted he missed a lot of his kids life and then the author simply glazed over his marriage by saying “he’d long been divorced.” Yet he was glad he found something he loved. Again, the question we all should ask if at what cost.
When I was in high school I found a love of coaching. It began with a 7/8th grade boys basketball team my dad said I should coach. I did and I loved it. From there I did more basketball coaching and some middle school baseball too along the way. Later on I chased this dream at a more professional level (by that I mean I got paid, sometimes barely, to coach).
I bring all this up in a review way too long for a book of this length only to acknowledge that my sweet spot and highest enjoyment may be at the youth level. I wonder if some coaches and players and others in this book may recognize this too.
I will say as someone who has a knack for sales I found most enjoyment in the role of the GM. Again his hours are at an unhealthy level but aspects of the job seemed most fun of all the roles. Second to the player of course.
Anyways, it’s a 3.5 for me but this book caused more reflection (as you can tell if you read this far) than I was anticipating.
Last note, perhaps my struggle early on in the book is because any one of these chapters could be expanded on in an entire book. It’s leaves you wanting more. See “The Last of His Kind” on Clayton K from the Dodgers as an example.
Honestly where my struggle lies is I chose this type of book (a book on baseball) because I love the game and wanted the love to grow. However, this book honestly made me question if professional sports are truly worth it. As a former logistics specialist in another lifetime, I had nightmares reading the responsibilities the clubhouse attendants and folks of those nature had and the time it demanded.
The saddest line of the book was in regards to the life of the scout who admitted he missed a lot of his kids life and then the author simply glazed over his marriage by saying “he’d long been divorced.” Yet he was glad he found something he loved. Again, the question we all should ask if at what cost.
When I was in high school I found a love of coaching. It began with a 7/8th grade boys basketball team my dad said I should coach. I did and I loved it. From there I did more basketball coaching and some middle school baseball too along the way. Later on I chased this dream at a more professional level (by that I mean I got paid, sometimes barely, to coach).
I bring all this up in a review way too long for a book of this length only to acknowledge that my sweet spot and highest enjoyment may be at the youth level. I wonder if some coaches and players and others in this book may recognize this too.
I will say as someone who has a knack for sales I found most enjoyment in the role of the GM. Again his hours are at an unhealthy level but aspects of the job seemed most fun of all the roles. Second to the player of course.
Anyways, it’s a 3.5 for me but this book caused more reflection (as you can tell if you read this far) than I was anticipating.
Last note, perhaps my struggle early on in the book is because any one of these chapters could be expanded on in an entire book. It’s leaves you wanting more. See “The Last of His Kind” on Clayton K from the Dodgers as an example.
July 4, 2017
based on a WaPo series published intermittently throughout the 2014 season. Organized by person (Ryan Zimmerman, Drew Storen, Tyler Moore, clubhouse guys who make the logistics and travel work, wife of Ian Desmond for the family perspective, a scout, general manager, etc. etc.) rather than a chrono recap of season.
If you want to know why the Nats had a good year but ultimately flamed out in the playoffs, this is not the book to read. It's more, as the title suggests, about how the relentless near-daily schedule of games eats people up physically and mentally.
As the author [and the interviewees as well] acknowledges, there are offsetting financial perks, and these guys are living their childhood dreams at the pinnacle of their professions, having aced out many many athletes who would love to be in their shoes. And travel is not as grueling when you charter planes and someone else books it for you and so on. But still, an empathic look at what toll the schedule takes.
I think I felt the most for the people on the edges -- a scout driving all over hell and back to watch high school players you may not even get a chance to draft; or a spouse trying to raise two little kids with some sort of routine when her husband's job is all-consuming, runs roughly noon to midnight most days for 6-7 months, requires you to live elsewhere for 6 weeks or so in spring training, evokes public criticism if his performance is not up to snuff day-by-day; and leaves him subject to being traded to another city's team on a moment's notice.
If you want to know why the Nats had a good year but ultimately flamed out in the playoffs, this is not the book to read. It's more, as the title suggests, about how the relentless near-daily schedule of games eats people up physically and mentally.
As the author [and the interviewees as well] acknowledges, there are offsetting financial perks, and these guys are living their childhood dreams at the pinnacle of their professions, having aced out many many athletes who would love to be in their shoes. And travel is not as grueling when you charter planes and someone else books it for you and so on. But still, an empathic look at what toll the schedule takes.
I think I felt the most for the people on the edges -- a scout driving all over hell and back to watch high school players you may not even get a chance to draft; or a spouse trying to raise two little kids with some sort of routine when her husband's job is all-consuming, runs roughly noon to midnight most days for 6-7 months, requires you to live elsewhere for 6 weeks or so in spring training, evokes public criticism if his performance is not up to snuff day-by-day; and leaves him subject to being traded to another city's team on a moment's notice.
May 26, 2019
From the outside looking in, the baseball life often looks tremendously glamorous. You play three hours a day, have thousands cheering you on, and get to travel the country. What's not to like, right? What author Barry Svrulga does in this book, however, is shed some much-needed light on the tougher side of a baseball player's existence. "The grind", if you will.
Focusing on players from the 2014-2015 Washington Nationals, Svrulga examines a number of aspects of major league baseball life that you may not think about as a fan. From wives to home life, endless travel to uncertain futures, Svrluga really puts you in the headspace of what it is like to live such a crazy existence.
Also, and this is quite important for a book like "The Grind", he doesn't try to drum up sympathy for the players or their families. He knows that many of them are compensated nicely, and they are essentially playing a game for a living in which they can showcase their unique athletic talents. The approach taken here, instead, is simple to show that it isn't "sunshine and rainbows" all the time. There are many real-life issues that need to be dealt with besides what the fans see in their three or so hours at the stadium.
While perhaps not a "masterpiece" work of literature or anything like that, I enjoyed the unique perspective that Svrluga brought to the table here.
Focusing on players from the 2014-2015 Washington Nationals, Svrulga examines a number of aspects of major league baseball life that you may not think about as a fan. From wives to home life, endless travel to uncertain futures, Svrluga really puts you in the headspace of what it is like to live such a crazy existence.
Also, and this is quite important for a book like "The Grind", he doesn't try to drum up sympathy for the players or their families. He knows that many of them are compensated nicely, and they are essentially playing a game for a living in which they can showcase their unique athletic talents. The approach taken here, instead, is simple to show that it isn't "sunshine and rainbows" all the time. There are many real-life issues that need to be dealt with besides what the fans see in their three or so hours at the stadium.
While perhaps not a "masterpiece" work of literature or anything like that, I enjoyed the unique perspective that Svrluga brought to the table here.
July 29, 2020
This is a baseball book, but you won't learn much information you didn't already know if you're a fan. Because this isn't a book about information; it's a book about a feeling.
In the form of several essays, the author examines several figures that made the Washington Nationals 2014-2015 seasons possible. But his focus is not on the specifics of their accomplishments but on the generalizability of their circumstances. So a chapter on the experience of being married to a baseball player is less about the specifics of one family arrangement and more about the burdens borne generally by baseball families. By examining the particular, we get a sense for how the seemingly-endless baseball season affects the many figures in its orbit and what mental coping strategies they use to persist through it.
Some specifics will change; I doubt, for example, that the scout section would be written in precisely the same way. But the grind itself persists. If you are interested in a short, readable text that helps you empathize with the many contributors to professional baseball, this is a good place to start.
In the form of several essays, the author examines several figures that made the Washington Nationals 2014-2015 seasons possible. But his focus is not on the specifics of their accomplishments but on the generalizability of their circumstances. So a chapter on the experience of being married to a baseball player is less about the specifics of one family arrangement and more about the burdens borne generally by baseball families. By examining the particular, we get a sense for how the seemingly-endless baseball season affects the many figures in its orbit and what mental coping strategies they use to persist through it.
Some specifics will change; I doubt, for example, that the scout section would be written in precisely the same way. But the grind itself persists. If you are interested in a short, readable text that helps you empathize with the many contributors to professional baseball, this is a good place to start.
April 2, 2018
I've been lucky enough to see the Washington Nationals win a few division titles recently - a few fellow fans have asked, at this point why celebrate? I think the answer is that the accomplishment of clinching a playoff spot over a 162 game season is a tremendous endurance test and represents many hours, days, weeks, months of consistent effort.
Barry Svrluga does a nice job of looking at the grind of a baseball season through a couple of different lenses - a regular, a starting pitcher, a player's wife, the GM, the traveling secretaries, the 26th man (i.e. last guy to get cut, but on the yo-yo between AAA and the majors), and a reliever.
He offers a nice slice of life to give some perspective on what all these different people go through.
As a Nats fan, it wasn't easy to read the Drew Storen chapter knowing how it ends up playing out.
Barry Svrluga does a nice job of looking at the grind of a baseball season through a couple of different lenses - a regular, a starting pitcher, a player's wife, the GM, the traveling secretaries, the 26th man (i.e. last guy to get cut, but on the yo-yo between AAA and the majors), and a reliever.
He offers a nice slice of life to give some perspective on what all these different people go through.
As a Nats fan, it wasn't easy to read the Drew Storen chapter knowing how it ends up playing out.
May 29, 2017
This book grew on me towards the middle of the "story". I didn't like that there wasn't a complete season overview for each of the characters. It seemed to only touch on a small part of the season for each character.
I didn't realize these were simply newspaper articles combined into a book until the end. I might not have read it if I did, but it was worth the time I guess.
The stories could have been extended and made this book comparable to "Where Nobody Knows Your Name" by John Feinstein. This book could have easily been 2-3 times longer in material if not for being a newspaper series.
I didn't realize these were simply newspaper articles combined into a book until the end. I might not have read it if I did, but it was worth the time I guess.
The stories could have been extended and made this book comparable to "Where Nobody Knows Your Name" by John Feinstein. This book could have easily been 2-3 times longer in material if not for being a newspaper series.
March 1, 2019
The Grind is a quick read and provides some really interesting insights about the lives of those who work and live around professional baseball. Naturally, Svrluga focuses mainly on players but also provides some glimpses into the lives of spouses and team support staff. The book is a little limited by the access that he got, though. For one, all of the players he follows are American. I imagine he would have found some interesting stories with different nuances had he been able to follow some of the many Latinx or Asian players in professional baseball. That said, for what it offers, I found the book to be fun.
May 28, 2019
Interesting inside look at the operations of a major league team and the rhythms and routines of a baseball season across its entire grueling length. A little overwrought at times, including some classically purple-ish sportswriter prose, and it seems odd to have an entire book on baseball from 2014-15 that doesn't mention social media (especially Twitter), but the details are otherwise really well observed and the underappreciated bits of the game - travel, off-season training, scouting, the back-and-forth yo-yo-ing to the minor leagues - really shine.
April 13, 2019
Anyone who enjoys baseball should read this book. Barry Svrluga looks at baseball through the lens of various people involved in the success of a team. Chapters are devoted to the star player, the baseball wife, the general manager, the scout, the pitcher, and others. Each one focuses on one person and how the season plays out for this individual. It was a terrific look at the personal side of baseball.
June 20, 2020
This is a wonderful little book. There's a little irony in the fact that the author's goal is to highlight the challenges associated of working in professional baseball, that the season, 162 games in 187 days, is a grind the attacks the physical and mental well being alike, but the book itself is only 170 pages. Don't let that fool you, though. The stories captured inside are beautiful, emotional, and human.
September 14, 2020
I am debating between a two and three stars on this book. Overall, it was just okay but there are some insights to baseball that a fan does not normally think about occurs behind the scenes. We find out a little bit about the family life, training in the off-season, scouting, logistics, and managerial decisions. It would have been nice to less focus on more than just one team, but the Nationals are the team the author has connections.
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