Review of 'The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
This book is a long series of articles interspersed with a bit too much Todd Coffey and Daniel Hudson, and doesn't live up to it's subtitle. Let me explain.
Many chapters are along the lines of articles from a journal - popular mechanics for instance. These are often interesting, though they draw few conclusions. For an article, that's fine, but I found it a bit frustrating as a chapter.
In this book, we learn about kids that require surgery, over and under use among kids and adults, and a history of the procedure. We go further back in history to our simian relatives and forward to repeat surgeries, with a side trip to Jon Lester's free agency. We receive a glimpse at the year-long rehab (would have liked more here) and a good discussion of injuries in Japanese baseball. Two more interesting chapters examine alternative remedies and strengthening exercises to …
This book is a long series of articles interspersed with a bit too much Todd Coffey and Daniel Hudson, and doesn't live up to it's subtitle. Let me explain.
Many chapters are along the lines of articles from a journal - popular mechanics for instance. These are often interesting, though they draw few conclusions. For an article, that's fine, but I found it a bit frustrating as a chapter.
In this book, we learn about kids that require surgery, over and under use among kids and adults, and a history of the procedure. We go further back in history to our simian relatives and forward to repeat surgeries, with a side trip to Jon Lester's free agency. We receive a glimpse at the year-long rehab (would have liked more here) and a good discussion of injuries in Japanese baseball. Two more interesting chapters examine alternative remedies and strengthening exercises to help prevent problems.
After all that, though, we have no solutions - not even a summary of what we know or suspect. Again, not necessary in an article, but very much lacking in a book. We also have the scattershot stories of two guys who recovered from second Tommy John surgeries - one ends up being successful, one less so. These stories are interesting in their way, but don't mesh well with the articles. The styles of the stories also vary considerably - some calendar based facts, some anecdotes. I felt like some facts were skipped or ignored.
Side note - I was at Todd Coffey's last home game for the Tacoma Rainiers, and saw him pitch fairly well. In one inning of work, he struck out three batters, allowing only one hit. I don't remember if he ran in from the bullpen.
My summary: I found a few portions of the book interesting and the rest in need of better direction and/or editing. If done as a series of articles, it would be shorter (because the Hudson and Coffey articles would be more focused) and probably a better match for the subtitle - if not perfect.