Booklist Review:
Toms River, New Jersey, has a history in Little League baseball, winning the World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in 1998. In 2006, its team advanced farther in the competition than any team had in recent years, andwith most of the key players returningexpectations for 2007 were very high. Anything less than a trip to Williamsport would be disappointing. Kreidler, a regular contributor to ESPN and the author of the extraordinary Four Days to Glory (2006), returns with another in-depth examination of an off-the-beaten-path sports story. With virtually unlimited access to the teams coaches, players, and parents, Kreidler follows the season-long quest for Little League immortality. In an era when too many Little League stories are about parental misbehavior, the most compelling angle to emerge here is the remarkably selfless dedication of everyone involved, from coach to players to parents. This is the story of a community effort to build a champion, and it is a genuine feel-good saga, a fascinating, warm, and decidedly entertaining look inside one branch of youth sports.
Toms River, New Jersey, has a history in Little League baseball, winning the World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in 1998. In 2006, its team advanced farther in the competition than any team had in recent years, andwith most of the key players returningexpectations for 2007 were very high. Anything less than a trip to Williamsport would be disappointing. Kreidler, a regular contributor to ESPN and the author of the extraordinary Four Days to Glory (2006), returns with another in-depth examination of an off-the-beaten-path sports story. With virtually unlimited access to the teams coaches, players, and parents, Kreidler follows the season-long quest for Little League immortality. In an era when too many Little League stories are about parental misbehavior, the most compelling angle to emerge here is the remarkably selfless dedication of everyone involved, from coach to players to parents. This is the story of a community effort to build a champion, and it is a genuine feel-good saga, a fascinating, warm, and decidedly entertaining look inside one branch of youth sports.
