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Entitled: A Tale of Modern Baseball
“In men like Traveler and Alcazar we find the beating heart and struggling soul of baseball…”—Jeff MacGregor, Sports Illustrated; author of Sunday MoneyHowie Traveler never made it as a player—his one major league hit and .091 batting average attest to that. He wascursed with that worst of professional maladies, the ill fortune of almost. Now after years of struggling up the coaching ladder, Howie’s finally been given his as manager of the Cleveland Indians. But America’s pastime has changed. Whether Howie can spot a small flaw in a batter’s swing won’t matter if he can’t manage his superstar outfielder Jay Alcazar, a slugger with enormous talent (and an ego to match).No crisis on the field fazes Jay and no woman off the field ever rejects him. But one night at the hotel Howie sees something at Jay’s door he wishes he hadn’t…and it leaves Howie with an impossible choice.From six-time National Sportswriter of the Year and NPR commentator Frank Deford comes a richly detailed, page-turning tale that takes you deep into America’s game. From the dugouts to the tabloid scandals, from the lights of the field to the glare of the media, The Entitled is the great novel of baseball’s modern era.“The Entitled is a baseball masterpiece, like The Natural and Field of Dreams; the difference is the plot and the characters depict the true inside world of baseball. Frank Deford writes like he played in the majors for ten years. If you have a passion for baseball, this is a must read.”—Mike Schmidt, Baseball Hall of Fame“Frank Deford is not just an immensely talented sportswriter, he’s an immensely talented American writer. The Entitled is his wise and pleasurable portrait of a Willy Loman-like baseball manager finally getting his chance in the Bigs late in his career.”—David Halberstam“Engrossing…Readers are exposed to a richly textured understanding of baseball and, no less, of estrangement, ambition, mendacity and the search for one’s destiny—notwithstanding the cost in human or financial terms.”—Library Journal“I loved The Entitled and could not put it down. It was a great read from start to finish with characters that reminded me of the many people I’ve known and played with—pure baseball.”––Lou Piniella, Manager, Chicago Cubs“ The Entitled contains all of the keen insider knowledge one expects of America’s premier sports journalist. It also displays Frank Deford’s gifts for dialogue and intricate plotting and his poignant grasp of character. It proves once again that Deford can play at the highest level in any league.”—Michael Mewshaw, author of Year of the Gun“Deford scores another hit with this novel of athletes behaving badly…tackles timely and provocative issues without flinching.”—Publishers Weekly
294 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2007
22 people are currently reading
456 people want to read
About the author
Frank Deford
39 books58 followersFrank Deford (born December 16, 1938, in Baltimore, Maryland) is a senior contributing writer for Sports Illustrated, author, and commentator.
DeFord has been writing for Sports Illustrated since the early 1960s. In addition to his Sports Illustrated duties, he is also a correspondent for HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel and a regular, Wednesday commentator for National Public Radio's Morning Edition.
His 1981 novel, "Everybody's All-American," was named one of Sports Illustrated's Top 25 Sports Books of All Time and was later made into a movie directed by Taylor Hackford and starring Dennis Quaid.
In the early 1990s Deford took a brief break from NPR and other professional activities to serve as editor-in-chief of The National (newspaper), a short-lived, daily U.S. sports newspaper. It debuted January 31, 1990 and folded after eighteen months. The newspaper was published Sundays through Fridays and had a tabloid format.
Deford is also the chairman emeritus of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He became involved in cystic fibrosis education and advocacy after his daughter, Alexandra ("Alex") was diagnosed with the illness in the early 1970s. After Alex died on January 19, 1980, at the age of eight, Deford chronicled her life in the memoir Alex: The Life of a Child. The book was made into a movie starring Craig T. Nelson and Bonnie Bedelia in 1986. In 1997, it was reissued in an expanded edition, with updated information on the Defords and Alex's friends.
Deford grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and attended the Gilman School in Baltimore. He is a graduate of Princeton University and now resides in Westport, Connecticut, with his wife, Carol. They have two surviving children: Christian (b. 1969) and Scarlet (b. 1980). Their youngest daughter Scarlet was adopted a few months after the loss of Alex.
DeFord has been writing for Sports Illustrated since the early 1960s. In addition to his Sports Illustrated duties, he is also a correspondent for HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel and a regular, Wednesday commentator for National Public Radio's Morning Edition.
His 1981 novel, "Everybody's All-American," was named one of Sports Illustrated's Top 25 Sports Books of All Time and was later made into a movie directed by Taylor Hackford and starring Dennis Quaid.
In the early 1990s Deford took a brief break from NPR and other professional activities to serve as editor-in-chief of The National (newspaper), a short-lived, daily U.S. sports newspaper. It debuted January 31, 1990 and folded after eighteen months. The newspaper was published Sundays through Fridays and had a tabloid format.
Deford is also the chairman emeritus of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He became involved in cystic fibrosis education and advocacy after his daughter, Alexandra ("Alex") was diagnosed with the illness in the early 1970s. After Alex died on January 19, 1980, at the age of eight, Deford chronicled her life in the memoir Alex: The Life of a Child. The book was made into a movie starring Craig T. Nelson and Bonnie Bedelia in 1986. In 1997, it was reissued in an expanded edition, with updated information on the Defords and Alex's friends.
Deford grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and attended the Gilman School in Baltimore. He is a graduate of Princeton University and now resides in Westport, Connecticut, with his wife, Carol. They have two surviving children: Christian (b. 1969) and Scarlet (b. 1980). Their youngest daughter Scarlet was adopted a few months after the loss of Alex.
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September 12, 2007
I couldn't bear to be away from baseball, so I picked up this novel by the great sportswriter Deford. The dust jacket proclaimed it to be "a novel of modern baseball," and that's about right. There's a megastar and his manager and each of them has a life which we get to peek into. The writing is solid and good, the prose isn't too purple (the baseball writing is great), and the characters really do come to life in their nuanced struggles. I especially loved the baseball-insider perspective, and I loved the insights into the game (which much be Deford's own pawned off on his characters). I really and truly enjoyed this; a great summer read!
August 28, 2017
The subtitle to this book is “A Tale of Modern Baseball,” and that’s exactly what it is. The on-field accounts are true to the game, and one of the dust-cover endorsements is from Hall-of-Famer Mike Schmidt, which lends credibility. Reading this book in the deepest part of the off-season may be the best-possible time to read it—when you’re a baseball fan who is itching for something to fill in that part of winter in which the hot stove has lost its fervor and the freshness and promise of spring training is still a few weeks away. I’m not sure I would’ve stuck with it beyond the first few chapters if I had picked it up in the spring, summer, or fall, when baseball season is in full tilt and I could catch a ballpark experience on TV or at the stadium.
This “tale of modern baseball” also comes along with all the off-field scenarios that you would expect from the contemporary baseball star, crass vulgarity included. While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book (aside from the crudeness, the story constantly and confusingly jumps backwards and forwards in time, making it difficult to follow at some points), you do get a believable portrayal and a glimpse at the complete picture of what it may be like to be a major league baseball player in the 21st century.
I found this book at McKay’s in Chattanooga (and I do highly recommend their store—it’s a used media superstore), where my personal favorites are the sports fiction section, the historical fiction, the biographies, the “scratched” CDs, and the NES and Atari video game sections.
Author Frank Deford is a recognized sports journalist and also wrote the book “Everybody’s All-American,” that became a major motion picture back in the late 80s. I could see this book becoming a movie as well, as the plot toward the end of the book really seemed to come together to fill in the missing pieces that I felt like I wasn’t getting when the storyline kept jumping back and forth throughout the meat of the book. Overall, I gave the book 2 out of 5 stars. Unless you are having baseball withdrawals right now, you should probably pass on this one.
This “tale of modern baseball” also comes along with all the off-field scenarios that you would expect from the contemporary baseball star, crass vulgarity included. While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book (aside from the crudeness, the story constantly and confusingly jumps backwards and forwards in time, making it difficult to follow at some points), you do get a believable portrayal and a glimpse at the complete picture of what it may be like to be a major league baseball player in the 21st century.
I found this book at McKay’s in Chattanooga (and I do highly recommend their store—it’s a used media superstore), where my personal favorites are the sports fiction section, the historical fiction, the biographies, the “scratched” CDs, and the NES and Atari video game sections.
Author Frank Deford is a recognized sports journalist and also wrote the book “Everybody’s All-American,” that became a major motion picture back in the late 80s. I could see this book becoming a movie as well, as the plot toward the end of the book really seemed to come together to fill in the missing pieces that I felt like I wasn’t getting when the storyline kept jumping back and forth throughout the meat of the book. Overall, I gave the book 2 out of 5 stars. Unless you are having baseball withdrawals right now, you should probably pass on this one.
August 11, 2012
I'm not a baseball fan nor one of baseball stories. I tried The Entitled based on author Frank Deford's excellent commentaries on NPR. I wanted to see how he handles fiction. Now I wonder how he handles the facts. A lot of curves bases between these covers.
At first I was disappointed with the shambling prose. I expected Deford to be striking out batters with three pitches. Instead, we were served "with the saddest most sympathetic expression . . . bassetfaced", ". . . or some such thing" or "In the vernacular, in fact, he . . .". Then I got it: Deford is talking in the voice of Howie Traveler, the grizzled veteran Cleveland Indians manager. He's telling us about Howie without telling us. (I loved "penmumbra" of "style.")
The plot was hard to follow as Deford started us ninety percent of the way through the story then took us through flashbacks--and flashbacks inside flashbacks--to fill in the back story.
I almost gave this four stars, but Deford has Howie and Lindsey make a bad decision and the book basically condones what may have been rape. "What may have been" are the key words. Deford doesn't tell us directly what happened and, for reasons elucidated, Howie and Lindsey substitute their judgement for due process and (oh, by the way) get something they very badly want.
In postmodern America it makes perfect sense. 'My judgement and my needs supersede those of everyone else, even the justice system.' No matter how you sugarcoat it, that's wrong. The reader is left never knowing what really happened in Jay's room, though Deford has employed his considerable talent on the emotional side of the entitled ball player.
A good read, but a sad commentary about how our sports figures get a bye from equal, mature participation in our our society, because, after all, they're "altogether" entitled.
At first I was disappointed with the shambling prose. I expected Deford to be striking out batters with three pitches. Instead, we were served "with the saddest most sympathetic expression . . . bassetfaced", ". . . or some such thing" or "In the vernacular, in fact, he . . .". Then I got it: Deford is talking in the voice of Howie Traveler, the grizzled veteran Cleveland Indians manager. He's telling us about Howie without telling us. (I loved "penmumbra" of "style.")
The plot was hard to follow as Deford started us ninety percent of the way through the story then took us through flashbacks--and flashbacks inside flashbacks--to fill in the back story.
I almost gave this four stars, but Deford has Howie and Lindsey make a bad decision and the book basically condones what may have been rape. "What may have been" are the key words. Deford doesn't tell us directly what happened and, for reasons elucidated, Howie and Lindsey substitute their judgement for due process and (oh, by the way) get something they very badly want.
In postmodern America it makes perfect sense. 'My judgement and my needs supersede those of everyone else, even the justice system.' No matter how you sugarcoat it, that's wrong. The reader is left never knowing what really happened in Jay's room, though Deford has employed his considerable talent on the emotional side of the entitled ball player.
A good read, but a sad commentary about how our sports figures get a bye from equal, mature participation in our our society, because, after all, they're "altogether" entitled.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 11, 2008
This had to be one of my quickest reads. I started it on a 3 hour plane ride from Chicago to Fort Myers and finished it the following day on the beach. What caught my eye initially was the author - Frank Deford, who is famously known for writing "Everybody's All-American", an old football movie that I enjoyed watching. So I immediately snagged this one because he wrote it and because it was about baseball. The story centers around an old-school manager, Howie Traveler, who just got his shot in the big leagues very late in his career. The book cleverly weaves each character's past into the present, with each chapter jumping back and forth in time, teasing you and giving you a glimpse of why characters reacted in particular ways. The premise is that Howie, after all of these years struggling through the minors and finally getting his shot to manage a big league team, has to deal with a pre-Madonna superstar Jay Alcazar. Howie has to win but also keep his superstar happy. When Howie witnesses something involving Jay, he struggles to do what he believes is right for his superstar, his own baseball career and his own conscience. It was an excellent book. My favorite part in the book regarded Howie's unpopular decision to pinch hit his ailing superstar, Jay Alcazar, late in a playoff game. Only later in the book does the author reveal Howie's insight on why he made that tough decision...and absolutely loved how the author gave the reader a glimpse of some of the unique & crazy things a manager remembers and subsequently, reacts in the same manner. One of my favorite baseball books of all time, up there with "Blue Ruin."
August 13, 2016
Meh. What I really can't stand in modern day sports journalism is how everyone who played/coached before the 1990s is just such a great guy because he played before the era of free agency and ridiculous salaries. This makes him a better person because he does not have the sense of "entitlement" that the modern day athlete apparently just stumbled upon overnight.
Take the case of Howie Travler. The guy was a lousy husband and father, and yet because he toiled in the minors for years and paid his dues as a coach before becoming a manager, the author chooses to portray him more sympathetically. Yeah sure he's a louse in other aspects, but he's a "true baseball man."
Meanwhile Jay Alcazar, the spoiled brat athlete, is portrayed negatively even though he comes off as more confused and troubled by his past than anything else. He works hard to become the best player in the game, but its not good enough for Travler or anyone else. He is too spoiled, thus he is a bad person because he doesn't respect the game.
Hypocrisy. Otherwise, its a decent read I guess. Predictable.
Take the case of Howie Travler. The guy was a lousy husband and father, and yet because he toiled in the minors for years and paid his dues as a coach before becoming a manager, the author chooses to portray him more sympathetically. Yeah sure he's a louse in other aspects, but he's a "true baseball man."
Meanwhile Jay Alcazar, the spoiled brat athlete, is portrayed negatively even though he comes off as more confused and troubled by his past than anything else. He works hard to become the best player in the game, but its not good enough for Travler or anyone else. He is too spoiled, thus he is a bad person because he doesn't respect the game.
Hypocrisy. Otherwise, its a decent read I guess. Predictable.
February 1, 2023
This book came out in 2008. There’s a chance the author, who won many, many sports writing awards before he died, was attempting to show a snapshot of the sport in its day: That players, though beloved, can be monsters; that managers, though experienced, can be naïve; that people, though professional, can be racists. That fans are greedy, that the youth are egotistical, that analysts are know-it-alls and that writers are just kindly old souls who are equal in both brilliance and coolness (except the young ones, or the ones on the radio).
But this book goes places so sloppily, so ignorantly, and so ham-fistedly, whatever points the author thought he was making are entirely lost.
This book is a sad old man’s fantasy. It takes place in a world where rape is just a plot point and not a crime, where every negative quality about a person can become sympathetic because of other things they’ve been through, and where an old man still has an adult daughter who exclusively calls him “daddy” (Over and over and over again, even when he’s not in the room). The main character compares her boobs–yep, his own daughter’s boobs–to his ex-wife’s. Don’t worry, he decides that his daughter’s are better. This happens on like, page 6.
Oh I’m sorry, was that weird? Well don’t worry, the author sort of explains for him that, actually, it’s not creepy, and is in fact normal and fine. Thirty pages later, he says his daughter is too much of a child for him to have an adult conversation with–his daughter who is both A. an adult and B. old enough for him to be talking about her boobs. Let’s, for sake of the argument, give the author the benefit of the doubt here and say for A, it was supposed to be a character moment, showing that our protagonist has never accepted the end of his daughter’s childhood. But then there’s B, which told me I should not be taking anything this writer has written, or attempted to write, at all seriously.
Also, closer to the end, he sees his daughter in person and she immediately pities him and treats him like she’s his mother, even thinking (the book jarringly switches perspectives without warning whenever the author feels like it) “I’m the parent now.” Nothing to read into there!
It turns out our hero’s in a bad spot because he lied to the police about witnessing his star player get aggressive with a woman before he allegedly raped her in his hotel room. And then his daughter, who is a survivor of rape, tries to TALK HIM OUT OF TELLING THE COPS THE TRUTH. She succeeds, and everyone agrees it’s the right thing to do. That’s how the book ends. At no point are you given a definitive answer as to whether or not the guy committed the crime. So we’re left with a story where all the characters get what they want, but one of them could be a rapist, and the other one covered for him. Uh?
This is a quote from this book. You will not believe me. I am dead serious:
“Hey, I’m the one who got raped, Daddy, not you!”
Wh… what. What? Who would… say that sentence? Who would write that someone said that sentence? Why is “daddy” capitalized? In the book, this is framed as a playful statement, right before the main character’s daughter goes to speak privately with the alleged rapist. Oh, also, did I mention that the book ends with the alleged rapist and the rape survivor having a flirtatious relationship where they keep winking at each other?
Mike Schmidt called this book, “a baseball masterpiece,” on the same level as The Natural and Field of Dreams. Everyone with a quote on this dust jacket is as dumb as a character in the book, only they actually exist and are walking around out there in real life. Chilling.
I bet you thought this book wouldn’t touch on race! Well great news: Our main character has thoughts on black players’ names, and they are–you guessed it–what I assume the opener at a boomer comedy club sounds like. The white main character considers–and he says this, to a non-white person, in what’s supposed to be a poignant moment–himself to be a minority because–hold onto your hat–of how hard it was for him to play baseball in the minor leagues. And he doesn’t mean hard culturally, socially, or even racially. Just the skill level. He wasn’t very good, so it was hard. And to him, that's the same thing as racial discrimination.
I know! I know.
Then he puts an exclamation point on this exchange by shouting two racial slurs (??)–yep, that one is one of them–I guess because he felt like he had the chance within the context to say them and get away with it?
This feels like a story that was written so that a guy who spent a career in the industry could unload his off-the-record notebook before he went on his way, and then also try to sprinkle his own feelings in there so that now HE can decide what happens. Every character, especially the main one, is dumb as hell. Again, is this by design? The prose and the idea are both so poor I can’t imagine that’s the case. Besides, the thoughts and feelings he’s framing as “truth bombs” or “the real baseball” for his characters to say seem to be reflections of himself, as well.
If this was an attempt for the author to jam together everything he feels the modern sport of baseball is missing while discussing issues he was in no way equipped to write about, using zero grace or nuance, it was a success. It just made for a shitty, embarrassing book. If this was an attempt at satire or a portrayal of events for us to observe, and not necessarily sympathize with, it still doesn’t work, because it’s so, so poorly executed.
Here’s a quote from a Sports Illustrated writer about this book: “In men like Traveler and Alcazar we find the beating heart and struggling soul of baseball..."
Those character names refer to that guy who likes his daughter’s boobs and the guy who might be a rapist, respectively. The beating heart of baseball.
But this book goes places so sloppily, so ignorantly, and so ham-fistedly, whatever points the author thought he was making are entirely lost.
This book is a sad old man’s fantasy. It takes place in a world where rape is just a plot point and not a crime, where every negative quality about a person can become sympathetic because of other things they’ve been through, and where an old man still has an adult daughter who exclusively calls him “daddy” (Over and over and over again, even when he’s not in the room). The main character compares her boobs–yep, his own daughter’s boobs–to his ex-wife’s. Don’t worry, he decides that his daughter’s are better. This happens on like, page 6.
Oh I’m sorry, was that weird? Well don’t worry, the author sort of explains for him that, actually, it’s not creepy, and is in fact normal and fine. Thirty pages later, he says his daughter is too much of a child for him to have an adult conversation with–his daughter who is both A. an adult and B. old enough for him to be talking about her boobs. Let’s, for sake of the argument, give the author the benefit of the doubt here and say for A, it was supposed to be a character moment, showing that our protagonist has never accepted the end of his daughter’s childhood. But then there’s B, which told me I should not be taking anything this writer has written, or attempted to write, at all seriously.
Also, closer to the end, he sees his daughter in person and she immediately pities him and treats him like she’s his mother, even thinking (the book jarringly switches perspectives without warning whenever the author feels like it) “I’m the parent now.” Nothing to read into there!
It turns out our hero’s in a bad spot because he lied to the police about witnessing his star player get aggressive with a woman before he allegedly raped her in his hotel room. And then his daughter, who is a survivor of rape, tries to TALK HIM OUT OF TELLING THE COPS THE TRUTH. She succeeds, and everyone agrees it’s the right thing to do. That’s how the book ends. At no point are you given a definitive answer as to whether or not the guy committed the crime. So we’re left with a story where all the characters get what they want, but one of them could be a rapist, and the other one covered for him. Uh?
This is a quote from this book. You will not believe me. I am dead serious:
“Hey, I’m the one who got raped, Daddy, not you!”
Wh… what. What? Who would… say that sentence? Who would write that someone said that sentence? Why is “daddy” capitalized? In the book, this is framed as a playful statement, right before the main character’s daughter goes to speak privately with the alleged rapist. Oh, also, did I mention that the book ends with the alleged rapist and the rape survivor having a flirtatious relationship where they keep winking at each other?
Mike Schmidt called this book, “a baseball masterpiece,” on the same level as The Natural and Field of Dreams. Everyone with a quote on this dust jacket is as dumb as a character in the book, only they actually exist and are walking around out there in real life. Chilling.
I bet you thought this book wouldn’t touch on race! Well great news: Our main character has thoughts on black players’ names, and they are–you guessed it–what I assume the opener at a boomer comedy club sounds like. The white main character considers–and he says this, to a non-white person, in what’s supposed to be a poignant moment–himself to be a minority because–hold onto your hat–of how hard it was for him to play baseball in the minor leagues. And he doesn’t mean hard culturally, socially, or even racially. Just the skill level. He wasn’t very good, so it was hard. And to him, that's the same thing as racial discrimination.
I know! I know.
Then he puts an exclamation point on this exchange by shouting two racial slurs (??)–yep, that one is one of them–I guess because he felt like he had the chance within the context to say them and get away with it?
This feels like a story that was written so that a guy who spent a career in the industry could unload his off-the-record notebook before he went on his way, and then also try to sprinkle his own feelings in there so that now HE can decide what happens. Every character, especially the main one, is dumb as hell. Again, is this by design? The prose and the idea are both so poor I can’t imagine that’s the case. Besides, the thoughts and feelings he’s framing as “truth bombs” or “the real baseball” for his characters to say seem to be reflections of himself, as well.
If this was an attempt for the author to jam together everything he feels the modern sport of baseball is missing while discussing issues he was in no way equipped to write about, using zero grace or nuance, it was a success. It just made for a shitty, embarrassing book. If this was an attempt at satire or a portrayal of events for us to observe, and not necessarily sympathize with, it still doesn’t work, because it’s so, so poorly executed.
Here’s a quote from a Sports Illustrated writer about this book: “In men like Traveler and Alcazar we find the beating heart and struggling soul of baseball..."
Those character names refer to that guy who likes his daughter’s boobs and the guy who might be a rapist, respectively. The beating heart of baseball.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
May 16, 2025Frank Deford’s The Entitled is a book I read at least a dozen years ago. When I first became a regular NPR listener in 1989, Deford had a weekly opinion piece about some aspect of sports, with his most common topic being his dislike of soccer. He was one of several writers who appeared weekly throughout the 90s; others included the often surreal poet Andrew Codrescu, cowboy poet and large animal veterinarian Baxter Black, children’s author (and surrealist) Daniel Pinkwater, as well as writer Bailey White who had a thanksgiving story every year for many years. Deford and Black are no longer with us.
But, about the novel, The Entitled. It is the story of Howie Traveler, a man in his mid fifties who, after many years in baseball’s minor leagues is given a short contract with the major league team the Cleveland Indians which he hopes to extend by having a winning season. I do have a certain passion for baseball and end up reading three or four novels or nonfiction books on the topic every year. The plot is about Traveler and his superstar player, Jay Alcazar (the entitled one) and their complicated relationship. The novel is short, more of a novella than a novel, but it is filled with details about how much Traveler’s family has suffered because of the time and travel his work demands. I think what I like most about the novel is that it has heart; Deford had been writing about sports for many years before he wrote this book and one can see that he has thought deeply about the issues here. The main plot point involves what may or not be a crime, but what makes the book better than most sports novels is the ambiguity of wondering who’s story you can or cannot trust.
The book is not without its flaws: the timeline switches, sometimes confusingly, between past and present, and the dialogue is often less than inspired. I can think of baseball novels that are much better such as David James Duncan’s The Brothers K, W P Kinsella’s The Iowa Baseball Confederacy, Chad Harbach’s The Art of Fielding, or Emily Nemen’s The Cactus League. Still, I felt a kinship with Howie Traveler and continue to fondly remember Deford’s book more than a decade after I finished it.
Baseball is a largely American sport that was a complete mystery to my students in Poland. They could never quite understand the idea that the ball is not needed to score. But then again, consider what Mark Leyner once said about baseball:
When you are a child, you often stare too closely at the wrong thing. I remember the first time I was taken to Yankee Stadium. Someone had spilled something sweet earlier in the day and the ground was covered with ants. I spent the whole game staring at the ants, and that was more fascinating than the game.
Do you have a favorite sports book?
But, about the novel, The Entitled. It is the story of Howie Traveler, a man in his mid fifties who, after many years in baseball’s minor leagues is given a short contract with the major league team the Cleveland Indians which he hopes to extend by having a winning season. I do have a certain passion for baseball and end up reading three or four novels or nonfiction books on the topic every year. The plot is about Traveler and his superstar player, Jay Alcazar (the entitled one) and their complicated relationship. The novel is short, more of a novella than a novel, but it is filled with details about how much Traveler’s family has suffered because of the time and travel his work demands. I think what I like most about the novel is that it has heart; Deford had been writing about sports for many years before he wrote this book and one can see that he has thought deeply about the issues here. The main plot point involves what may or not be a crime, but what makes the book better than most sports novels is the ambiguity of wondering who’s story you can or cannot trust.
The book is not without its flaws: the timeline switches, sometimes confusingly, between past and present, and the dialogue is often less than inspired. I can think of baseball novels that are much better such as David James Duncan’s The Brothers K, W P Kinsella’s The Iowa Baseball Confederacy, Chad Harbach’s The Art of Fielding, or Emily Nemen’s The Cactus League. Still, I felt a kinship with Howie Traveler and continue to fondly remember Deford’s book more than a decade after I finished it.
Baseball is a largely American sport that was a complete mystery to my students in Poland. They could never quite understand the idea that the ball is not needed to score. But then again, consider what Mark Leyner once said about baseball:
When you are a child, you often stare too closely at the wrong thing. I remember the first time I was taken to Yankee Stadium. Someone had spilled something sweet earlier in the day and the ground was covered with ants. I spent the whole game staring at the ants, and that was more fascinating than the game.
Do you have a favorite sports book?
May 19, 2022
I wish Frank Deford hadn't written this book.
I love baseball and I love baseball novels. I loved the baseball parts of this novel.
But what the hell was he thinking? Let me summarize the plot for you: A hot young star ("the next Babe Ruth") is accused of rape. His manager witnesses part of the (alleged) assault. The manager initially covers for him, then has a crisis of conscience and decides to go to the police with what he knows. The manager's daughter, who is herself a survivor of rape, offers the superstar/accused rapist a quid pro quo: if he'll make sure that her father will keep his job, she will convince him not to go the police.
What. The. Eff.
I love baseball and I love baseball novels. I loved the baseball parts of this novel.
But what the hell was he thinking? Let me summarize the plot for you: A hot young star ("the next Babe Ruth") is accused of rape. His manager witnesses part of the (alleged) assault. The manager initially covers for him, then has a crisis of conscience and decides to go to the police with what he knows. The manager's daughter, who is herself a survivor of rape, offers the superstar/accused rapist a quid pro quo: if he'll make sure that her father will keep his job, she will convince him not to go the police.
What. The. Eff.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2018
Even baseball non-fans will like the characters and conflicts in this short novel about a new major league manager and how he responds when his star player is accused of rape. Characters are well-done and the ethical dilemma is realistic. The manager witnesses part of the sexual encounter behind the accusation, but the situation is ambiguous and it is not at all clear who is lying and who is telling the truth.
Full review here: http://www.morebooksthantime.com/revi...
Full review here: http://www.morebooksthantime.com/revi...
February 14, 2024
Well written, interesting. A page turner. I read it in 2-3 days. Not a dense read, but brings up many issues simultaneously. I’m not a big sports fan, so this was not my usual type of book. Written by a man, about pro sports, all the main characters were men. It was kind of strange that I found it so compelling. I’m not going to say anything about the exact plot, only that it did not end the way I hoped it would. Which I guess from a writer’s point of view is his right, and makes the book less predictable.
November 20, 2018
I like Frank Deford's writings. Usually. I found this offering to contain some uneven writing. If you can get past the first few pages. Maybe a couple chapters. Anyway, the payoff, if you can get there has a nice twist. And, on the way you get a fictionalized look at what the business of modern baseball is like.
March 1, 2021
This is a re-read and this time, I got more out of the story. I had faint memories of this being a steroid rant but it wasn't. It is a great Deford read, enjoyable for any baseball fan and all about the "entitled", the trappings, the anger at what they can get away with and a realness with Howie and Lindsay central and supporting figures in the book.
February 18, 2018
I downloaded this ebook to my Nook library in 2012 when it was free from Barnes and Noble.
It is nice to find a "guy" book that is not a murder mystery. It might be a good discussion book for a book club.
It is nice to find a "guy" book that is not a murder mystery. It might be a good discussion book for a book club.
May 20, 2017
Not a great book, but a fun book. Baseball readers would likely enjoy, as Deford is an excellent writer.
February 9, 2018
An easy and enjoyable read. I believe that it gives insight into how baseball runs. It also touches on an important and timely topic for our society.
August 26, 2020
Baseball, Deford, strong characters. My kind of book.
May 2, 2023
It’s not a perfect book but it flows really well, the characters all matter to the story and the pieces all come together at the end for a satisfying conclusion.
Read
May 16, 2023This is a ... complicated, potentially troubling book. I'm not sure what to think.
December 28, 2012
I liked this book, partly because it's about baseball and it talks a lot about baseball, but also because it's good reading. But as you can see I'm only giving it three stars because, while it was fun going and fun reading, it's not clear to me what the point was, if there was one. (One of the odd things is that my edition came with a sort of study guide with some questions to ask yourself about the book. They didn't help.)
The book is mainly about Howie Traveler, manager of a professional baseball team (the Cleveland Indians, of all things) and about his star player Jay Alcazar. This is Traveler's first year as a major league manager and he desperately wants to avoid blowing what is probably his only chance at this level. Alcazar, on the other hand, is so supremely talented that he doesn't need anyone professionally, although as we come to see he has his own vulnerabilities. The story is bookended by the occurance and resolution of an incident in a hotel where Traveler may have witnessed the rape of a woman by Alcazar - he sees a woman open the hotel room door as he walks by and sees Alcazar slam it shut. Or at least that's what he thinks he sees. He is haunted by his uncertainty and by his inaction and the notion that he's placed his job over his moral responsibilities.
There are a lot of truly interesting tales and side stories about Traveler and his relationship to his wife, his ex-wife, his daughter; about Alcazar and his past and his future and his family; about baseball happenings involving each of them and others. It's hard to see what there is to connect them all, other than perhaps that they illustrate that there's more to anything than what lies on the surface. And perhaps maybe you can find some kind of allegory between these people and the members of a team, both in the transient nature of a team and in the interdependence and independence between its members. But that's a stretch.
And about the name of the book: is it Alcazar who feels entitled to do what he wants because of his talent? Is it Traveler who feels entitled to his career and thus hesitates to act according to his morals? (There are other actors and motives that I won't mention here that the question can be directed to, as well.)
As I say, I enjoyed reading it. I just didn't like the part where it was over and I didn't get it.
The book is mainly about Howie Traveler, manager of a professional baseball team (the Cleveland Indians, of all things) and about his star player Jay Alcazar. This is Traveler's first year as a major league manager and he desperately wants to avoid blowing what is probably his only chance at this level. Alcazar, on the other hand, is so supremely talented that he doesn't need anyone professionally, although as we come to see he has his own vulnerabilities. The story is bookended by the occurance and resolution of an incident in a hotel where Traveler may have witnessed the rape of a woman by Alcazar - he sees a woman open the hotel room door as he walks by and sees Alcazar slam it shut. Or at least that's what he thinks he sees. He is haunted by his uncertainty and by his inaction and the notion that he's placed his job over his moral responsibilities.
There are a lot of truly interesting tales and side stories about Traveler and his relationship to his wife, his ex-wife, his daughter; about Alcazar and his past and his future and his family; about baseball happenings involving each of them and others. It's hard to see what there is to connect them all, other than perhaps that they illustrate that there's more to anything than what lies on the surface. And perhaps maybe you can find some kind of allegory between these people and the members of a team, both in the transient nature of a team and in the interdependence and independence between its members. But that's a stretch.
And about the name of the book: is it Alcazar who feels entitled to do what he wants because of his talent? Is it Traveler who feels entitled to his career and thus hesitates to act according to his morals? (There are other actors and motives that I won't mention here that the question can be directed to, as well.)
As I say, I enjoyed reading it. I just didn't like the part where it was over and I didn't get it.
March 3, 2014
A Bit TOO Entitled
The Entitled is several stories rolled into one. It begins as a story about a man whose life dream is to make it in the big leagues. When that dream falls short, he spends the remainder of his adulthood striving to make it big as an MLB manager and these efforts cost him his marriage and relationships with his children. Enter a big star player whose feats have gone to his head and you have the makings of this book. Each man, old and young, has their own haunts, fears and obstacles to overcome and each must decide what (or who) they must give up in order to obtain their goal. I love baseball, so I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes aspect of a players life, but was disappointed when neither character stepped up to the plate to defend or admonish a young woman who was raped. I personally don't feel that any of us are entitled to anything more than the next person. What we receive in life is usually measured by what we give in life. I felt this story fell a bit short when both men felt entitled to skip over the truth in order to further themselves and their careers. I wasn't sure what kind of message the author was trying to send. I thought the story was well written, but was disappointed by the lack of character or backbone of both men. I am not a feminist, but it was obvious that this book was written by a man who could not possibly comprehend the magnitude of emotional and internal scarring that follows being raped. I am afraid he missed the boat in the end. Had it not been for the baseball aspect, which I enjoyed, I probably would have given this a thumbs down.
The Entitled is several stories rolled into one. It begins as a story about a man whose life dream is to make it in the big leagues. When that dream falls short, he spends the remainder of his adulthood striving to make it big as an MLB manager and these efforts cost him his marriage and relationships with his children. Enter a big star player whose feats have gone to his head and you have the makings of this book. Each man, old and young, has their own haunts, fears and obstacles to overcome and each must decide what (or who) they must give up in order to obtain their goal. I love baseball, so I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes aspect of a players life, but was disappointed when neither character stepped up to the plate to defend or admonish a young woman who was raped. I personally don't feel that any of us are entitled to anything more than the next person. What we receive in life is usually measured by what we give in life. I felt this story fell a bit short when both men felt entitled to skip over the truth in order to further themselves and their careers. I wasn't sure what kind of message the author was trying to send. I thought the story was well written, but was disappointed by the lack of character or backbone of both men. I am not a feminist, but it was obvious that this book was written by a man who could not possibly comprehend the magnitude of emotional and internal scarring that follows being raped. I am afraid he missed the boat in the end. Had it not been for the baseball aspect, which I enjoyed, I probably would have given this a thumbs down.
February 9, 2013
The Entitled, by Frank Deford, begins with Howie Traveler, who had spent a lifetime in baseball as an unimpressive player and then as a long-time coach and manager in the minor leagues. He finally landed a major league manager position with the Cleveland Indians when he was in his mid-fifties. Unfortunately, he expects to be fired at the end of his second season with the Indians. However, before that unfolds, Deford takes the reader through a wonderful story that reveals the life stories of Howie Traveler and his star player, Jay Alcazar, along with the development of their complex relationship with each other. In addition, the reader experiences how much the game of baseball demands from those who struggle for success as players and as coaches and managers in the minor leagues and then in the major league. Howie’s dedication and endurance are inspirational, but his perseverance cost him and his family a difficult price. I really liked this book. Deford is an adept storyteller. He includes very colorful and interesting characters that struggle with personal challenges. He also incorporates much informative discussion about baseball and its implications for players, coaches, managers, and even sports writers into the story. If you love baseball, you should definitely read this book. Even if you only casually like baseball and/or played baseball when you were young, you should not hesitate to read this book. Even if you don’t care about baseball, I would still encourage you to read this engrossing story.
August 24, 2007
Deford Hits a Dinger
Technically, and according to the subtitle ("A Tale of Modern Baseball"), The Entitled is a baseball novel. But calling this just a baseball novel is like saying The Road is just a post-apocalypse novel. There is so much more to it. It's literature.
The lead character of The Entitled is an old-school lifetime minor leaguer, Howie Traveler, who finally gets his shot to manage in the big leagues with the Cleveland Indians. His lifelong dream is compromised, though, when he catches his star player Jay Alcazar (possibly) raping a woman. Now Howie has a moral dilemma. Does he protect his player and his job, or does he come out against the player and jeopordize his career in the process?
This is also the story of Alcazar. It would have been easy to have him be a cartoon character, the selfish, "entitled" superstar modern ballplayer. But Deford gives him a complex character, too, and there is a nifty subplot with Alcazar returning to Cuba to locate family that was left behind when his parents escaped with the infant Jay.
Deford does an excellent job of mixing up the chapters, changing the POV, and feeding the reader the background on the individual characters in a non-linear fashion. And Deford's baseball knowledge and observations are spot-on. You can understand what he's saying, and the nuances of baseball even if you are not a fan. That is the beauty and the art of his writing.
Technically, and according to the subtitle ("A Tale of Modern Baseball"), The Entitled is a baseball novel. But calling this just a baseball novel is like saying The Road is just a post-apocalypse novel. There is so much more to it. It's literature.
The lead character of The Entitled is an old-school lifetime minor leaguer, Howie Traveler, who finally gets his shot to manage in the big leagues with the Cleveland Indians. His lifelong dream is compromised, though, when he catches his star player Jay Alcazar (possibly) raping a woman. Now Howie has a moral dilemma. Does he protect his player and his job, or does he come out against the player and jeopordize his career in the process?
This is also the story of Alcazar. It would have been easy to have him be a cartoon character, the selfish, "entitled" superstar modern ballplayer. But Deford gives him a complex character, too, and there is a nifty subplot with Alcazar returning to Cuba to locate family that was left behind when his parents escaped with the infant Jay.
Deford does an excellent job of mixing up the chapters, changing the POV, and feeding the reader the background on the individual characters in a non-linear fashion. And Deford's baseball knowledge and observations are spot-on. You can understand what he's saying, and the nuances of baseball even if you are not a fan. That is the beauty and the art of his writing.
November 13, 2013
I went back and forth with 3 or 4 stars ... 3.5 is probably most accurate but I tipped to the "4" because I spend a lot of time interviewing people in baseball and a lot of what DeFord wrote about really resonated with me.
I felt for Harry and his family and their sacrifices. His story (although "fiction") sounded so much like many of the players and coaches we have interviewed in the Minor Leagues ... just waiting for that chance to get called up ... and when you do, will you be able to make the most of it? Harry did - it may have taken nearly a lifetime - but he made it through the lens of a manager and used his experience to lead his team.
I even felt for Alcazar (the "STAR") and thought about the autograph hounds (dealers) we see at the ballpark ... knocking real fans out of the way to secure an autograph they want ... or the disgusting parents who push their kids forward to "pretend" it is just a kid wanting an autograph when it is really for them. It is amazing that anyone still signs - for as Kirk Gibson said to a friend of mine (a true collector - never sells autographs) ... "yea, that's what they all say" when he told him he wasn't a dealer.
But I digress ... The book could use a bit more editing and it could be tightened in parts but overall, I thought it was a sincere read and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to get a feel for the struggle behind the glory of MLB.
I felt for Harry and his family and their sacrifices. His story (although "fiction") sounded so much like many of the players and coaches we have interviewed in the Minor Leagues ... just waiting for that chance to get called up ... and when you do, will you be able to make the most of it? Harry did - it may have taken nearly a lifetime - but he made it through the lens of a manager and used his experience to lead his team.
I even felt for Alcazar (the "STAR") and thought about the autograph hounds (dealers) we see at the ballpark ... knocking real fans out of the way to secure an autograph they want ... or the disgusting parents who push their kids forward to "pretend" it is just a kid wanting an autograph when it is really for them. It is amazing that anyone still signs - for as Kirk Gibson said to a friend of mine (a true collector - never sells autographs) ... "yea, that's what they all say" when he told him he wasn't a dealer.
But I digress ... The book could use a bit more editing and it could be tightened in parts but overall, I thought it was a sincere read and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to get a feel for the struggle behind the glory of MLB.
August 5, 2012
I like listening to Frank DeFord. I like reading his articles. I wondered if he was able to sustain a novel, so I selected one of his novels to answer my question. I would not call what he has done with this book a novel. It has a plot, but one that could have been resolved without chapter after chapter of back story. We have a series of vignettes about various characters that go the whole way back to the Little League days of one of our main characters just to explain why he shouldn't ever be called "Chief". While we learn a great deal about the sort of men who devote themselves to baseball, the plot moves very slowly toward nothing of any consequence for the main characters and a veiled warning to any woman who is stupid enough to strike up an acquaintance with a baseball player. Despite DeFord's attempts to get the reader to like these characters, they are just the sort one might expect to find in a bar, arguing in a manly sort of way about last night's game. Paragraphs about the big hitter being a good dancer have little relevance to the story. In the end, the season continues, a lot of people will be around for next season, and the fans will still be asking for autographs, but only from the ones who are worthy.
March 27, 2013
I wish we could give half stars. I really want to give this one 3 1/2. I can't, so I went back and forth. 3 or 4? I chose 3 because I didn't quite love it. It has the feel of how I imagine baseball life to be down pretty well, I think. You can tell it's written by somebody with insights into how the game and players work behind the scenes. I like that. I also like the author's little bit of trickery that kept me wondering how the story would turn out. The writing itself was good enough, but not great. Much of the characterization is told through interesting backstory, which, again, isn't bad, but I didn't love it. I don't mind the moral ambiguity shown by most of the characters because that's how people are, even (especially?) people who don't believe they are.
In the end, my writing came down to this: will I ever look back at this and consider it one of the great baseball stories. No. I liked it. At times I really liked it. But, overall, I just liked it.
It's worth reading, especially if you like the baseball background to a story that, like most good baseball stories, isn't really about the game. I can think of several friends I'd recommend it to, as a quick and enjoyable read, but not as something that I think would rank among their favorite books.
In the end, my writing came down to this: will I ever look back at this and consider it one of the great baseball stories. No. I liked it. At times I really liked it. But, overall, I just liked it.
It's worth reading, especially if you like the baseball background to a story that, like most good baseball stories, isn't really about the game. I can think of several friends I'd recommend it to, as a quick and enjoyable read, but not as something that I think would rank among their favorite books.
August 1, 2012
I was pleasantly surprised after finishing the Entitled. I got this book part of the Free Nook Book Friday program. The ratings for the book aren't very good, but I thought I'd give it a chance, mostly because I am really into sports and never read sports books.
This book is a very quick read, and I feel it should only be read by people who know baseball. The massive amounts of baseball references were both good and bad in my opinion. It added to the credibility of the author (I didn't know he was a Sports Illustrated author beforehand) and even had a few old school references I had never heard before. There were times that I felt there was almost too many references about baseball which took a away from the story just a tad.
Overall, I felt a connection with the main characters in the short span of the book and liked the way in which this fictional story was tied into real life with the mentioning of Kobe Bryant and playing in the MLB.
This book should definitely only be read by baseball or sports lovers because it is such a main theme of the book. Despite that, the story itself is a good one, just a quickie.
This book is a very quick read, and I feel it should only be read by people who know baseball. The massive amounts of baseball references were both good and bad in my opinion. It added to the credibility of the author (I didn't know he was a Sports Illustrated author beforehand) and even had a few old school references I had never heard before. There were times that I felt there was almost too many references about baseball which took a away from the story just a tad.
Overall, I felt a connection with the main characters in the short span of the book and liked the way in which this fictional story was tied into real life with the mentioning of Kobe Bryant and playing in the MLB.
This book should definitely only be read by baseball or sports lovers because it is such a main theme of the book. Despite that, the story itself is a good one, just a quickie.
May 21, 2009
This was not a good book. The characters had no substance and it seemed as if everyone was a good guy throughout. It seemed like Deford was afraid to have any character be evil in any way. Even after the main character was accused of rape, all we hear about him is how great a guy he is. Even their names were strange, which is a odd thing to pick on, but the names just seemed so ridiculously made-up.
The book was not really about baseball, either. Deford couldn't make up his mind about what the book was about. Is it about contemporary baseball? Or is it about this weird rape case thing with baseball in the background? It seemed more like a celebration of the phrase "boys will be boys." The dust jacket claimed it was better than "The Natural", "Field of Dreams", and other great baseball books. This book was not even close. The language was pretty bad too, with the word c*** being used to describe a woman.
Deford is great on NPR and his work with Sports Illustrated is also of a high-caliber, but this was just a bad book.
The book was not really about baseball, either. Deford couldn't make up his mind about what the book was about. Is it about contemporary baseball? Or is it about this weird rape case thing with baseball in the background? It seemed more like a celebration of the phrase "boys will be boys." The dust jacket claimed it was better than "The Natural", "Field of Dreams", and other great baseball books. This book was not even close. The language was pretty bad too, with the word c*** being used to describe a woman.
Deford is great on NPR and his work with Sports Illustrated is also of a high-caliber, but this was just a bad book.
February 11, 2010
A baseball-addict manager on the hot-seat thinks he has seen proof that his superstar outfielder has raped a woman in their team's hotel. The player, charged with the crime, maintains his innocence. The manager's daughter intervenes, gets both sides of the story, and convinces her father that the player is, in fact, innocent. And the player goes to bat for the manager, assuring the embattled skipper another year at the helm of the club.
Scattered around the fringes of that soap-opera plot are some great vignettes of the life of a modern baseball team. The manager's interactions with his various players make for a good read. The self-discovery journey of the slugging superstar is a compelling subplot. The manager's maneuvering to keep his job rings true.
The weakness in The Entitled is that the vehicle Deford uses to deliver the compelling stories is a hackneyed he said-she said rape drama. There has got to be a better way to tell the story of grown men playing a boys game in the modern era.
Scattered around the fringes of that soap-opera plot are some great vignettes of the life of a modern baseball team. The manager's interactions with his various players make for a good read. The self-discovery journey of the slugging superstar is a compelling subplot. The manager's maneuvering to keep his job rings true.
The weakness in The Entitled is that the vehicle Deford uses to deliver the compelling stories is a hackneyed he said-she said rape drama. There has got to be a better way to tell the story of grown men playing a boys game in the modern era.
December 10, 2012
I've never been in the least interested in baseball. So the fact that this book kept me, a non-fan, engaged and fascinated until the end is more than enough reason to give it four stars.
This book has a lot of layers to it. On one level it's a novel about having a career in a sport, as the main character does and how that effects your life and family. It's about the relationship between a star player and his manager. It's about Cuban immigrants. It's about a rape scandal, and how the characters deal with that situation (no detailed depictions of rape are in this book). It's also about baseball.
Having read this book I understand the baseball fan a bit better. I still think I'll never enjoy the game myself, but I understand some of the strategy and tactics that are used in the game, something that was completely opaque to me before.
I'd say that even if you don't like baseball (unless it's due to way too much exposure, in which case foggedaboutit) give this book a try. It might surprise you.
This book has a lot of layers to it. On one level it's a novel about having a career in a sport, as the main character does and how that effects your life and family. It's about the relationship between a star player and his manager. It's about Cuban immigrants. It's about a rape scandal, and how the characters deal with that situation (no detailed depictions of rape are in this book). It's also about baseball.
Having read this book I understand the baseball fan a bit better. I still think I'll never enjoy the game myself, but I understand some of the strategy and tactics that are used in the game, something that was completely opaque to me before.
I'd say that even if you don't like baseball (unless it's due to way too much exposure, in which case foggedaboutit) give this book a try. It might surprise you.
August 29, 2012
A quick, easy free read from B&N about a childish, self important baseball superstar who believes he can have anything he wants and when he wants it. His manager sees something he thinks is a probable rape but says he didn't see anything. Why?, because they're in a close pennant race and the attitude in pro sports (amateur too) is win at any cost. But, it may be the woman is lying because she knows he's rich. There is also a Christian ball player who leads prayers but has little effect on others behavior because of the win at any cost attitude. Also the story of a manager so obsessed with the sport that it ruins his relationships with his wife and daughter. The superstar is adopted and makes plans to find his mother in Cuba who he's never seen and bring her to the states but is shocked when she turns down his offer and chooses to stay in Cuba and tells him to go lead the life he's made for himself.
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