I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. John Cangelosi, The Impossible Baseball Journey of the Undersized Kid from Nowhere to World Series Champion is a memoir of John Cangelosi’s baseball career written by John Cangelosi and K.P. Wee. I chose to read this book because my son plays competitive baseball and I was hoping for a better understanding of the path he wishes to undertake. The book is meticulous in its detail and quite enlightening. Most people are aware of the big stars of baseball but this book explains what it’s like to be one of the journeyman players on a team and the challenges that go along with that. I think the memoir would appeal to both fans of John Cangelosi and baseball in general. Publishing Date July 9, 2019 #NetGalley #JohnCangelosi #RiverdaleAvenueBooks #Bookstagram #BaseballMemoires

This book read as though you were sitting and having a conversation with the author. While this is normally a good thing, it became a bit confusing at times as to whom the author was referring. It was also somewhat repetitive how the author would make a statement and then back it up with a statement in quotes. This seemed unnecessary since no one was arguing the statements made by the author.

Most baseball fans of a certain age remember John Cangelosi. That's probably because he was relatively small.

A few players have done well despite not having an extra-large frame - Phil Rizzuto, Jose Altuve, Dustin Pedroia, etc. But it's difficult. You check in at 5-foot-8 and 150 pounds, the odds are against you.

Cangelosi carved out parts of 13 years in the major leagues, which definitely beat the odds. Now, 20 years after his last game in the majors, he's cooperated fully with author K.P. Wee on something of a self-titled autobiography - even though the book is more of a biography since it's written in the third period.

For those who don't remember, Cangelosi was a long shot since coming out of South Florida, one of the most fertile areas for young baseball talent in the country. He wasn't drafted, but played well in junior college. That led to his entry into the pro ranks as a draft pick of the Chicago White Sox.

Cangelosi first popped up as a pro rookie in 1982 with Niagara Falls, and three years later turned up in Buffalo for the Bisons. In other words, Western New York got to look at him first. No matter where he played, though, he was fast. That translated into stolen bases and infield hits, and he had a lot of both.

Cangelosi was a regular for the Chicago White Sox as a rookie in 1986. Oddly, it was the best season of his career. The outfielder set an American League record for steals by a rookie with 50. He also drove in a career-best 32 runs. From there, Cangelosi got type-cast as a fourth or fifth outfielder. He could help out on defense, draw a walk and steal a base. Accordingly to all who knew him, and many are quoted here, Cangelosi accepted his role without complaint. Some managers appreciated that more than others, so he often had a job with another team after getting cut by the old team. Cangelosi played for seven different squads.

But the next-to-last team was the one that provided the biggest thrill. Cangelosi was part of a World Series champion when he played for the Marlins in 1997. The now-veteran even got to pinch-hit in Game Seven of the Series that year, although he struck out. Cangelosi considers that something of a highlight as well as a reward for his dedication to the game, and deservedly so.

It's a decent start for a book, but the treatment of the story wasn't done particularly well. There are a couple of big problems here.

The first is that it really needed another look by an editor. Material is duplicated quite frequently, and it's easy to become tired of the same old themes. The story is told in chronological order, but some of the anecdotes jump around a bit. For example, Cangelosi offers his all-time team in the middle of the discussion of the '97 playoffs. And some of the quotes from the players really could have been trimmed down to avoid repetition.

The second problem is that Cangelosi is the subject of a great deal of cheerleading from co-author Wee, who I assume put together the manuscript. Just because you are one of the leaders in stolen bases doesn't punch an automatic ticket to the All-Star Game. Just because you hit well in some spring training games doesn't mean you will make the big club in April.

And do we really need a few pages near the end of how Cangelosi hit a few good pitchers well in his career? He ends up with a .250 career batting average in the end.

"John Cangelosi" probably should have been written more than 10 years ago, when his name was familiar to more fans. This current effort could serve as something of an inspiration to someone who literally looks up to other big leaguers, as Cangelosi did. But otherwise, this probably isn't worth your time.

John Cangelosi had an up and down baseball career. After being bypassed by many teams and scouts because of his diminutive size, he was able to sign a contract with the Chicago White Sox. After appearing in a few games for the White Sox late in the 1985 season, he made the team in 1986 and started his career by threatening to break several records. How his career and life faired from there is captured in this memoir written with K.P. Wee.

The best way to describe reading this book is that it was much like Cangelosi’s major league career. Both started out like gangbusters – for baseball, Cangelosi’s start to the 1986 season was filled with promise as he was stealing bases at a good clip and was threatening to break the American League record for bases stolen by a rookie, which was 49 at that time. The book started the same way, as it was fun to read about his early life and how he overcame the stigma that baseball scouts usually have for shorter players (he was “generously” listed as 5’ 8” in official records) and showed enough talent and heart that minor league coaches, John Boles in particular, often campaigned for Cangelosi to have a spot waiting for him on the major league roster.

Then, just when Cangelosi’s rookie season was about to fully bloom, the White Sox suddenly decided to go in a different direction with their outfielders and Cangelosi was relegated to duties such as pinch hitting, pinch running and entering the game as a defensive replacement. That made his quest to break the AL rookie record for stolen bases tough, but he was able to accomplish that late in the 1986 season. That year also marked the only time he was a starting outfielder, as he was in 1987 not only relegated back to a utility role, he spent time in the minor leagues as well. That became his career pattern as he spent time with the Pirates, Mets, Astros and Marlins organizations. Each time Cangelosi credited a manager for giving him a chance with those organizations – Jim Leyland in Pittsburgh and Florida, Bobby Valentine with the Mets, and Terry Collins in Houston. While he was a member of the 1997 Marlins team that won the World Series, he played sparingly in the Fall Classic, with most of the text in the book about that series being about his strikeout in game 7.

If that sounds like his baseball career had a lot of ups and downs after his rookie year, then that is the best way to describe reading this book felt as well. When reading about his baseball career up to the point where the White Sox decided to reduce his role, it felt exciting, like the reader is going to go on a wonderful adventure with Cangelosi. After that, however, reading the passages range from entertaining to being a chore. The latter mainly comes about because of two characteristics.

One, there is a lot of skipping around or missing chunks of information. The best example of that is something already mentioned – when Cangelosi reminisces about the 1997 World Series. While the reader will get a feeling about how he and the team felt hosting the first World Series games held in the Sunshine State (and how the media wasn’t too kind about the lack of a “fall” feel) there is barely anything mentioned about the three games in Cleveland and even little about the last two games in Miami, save for his at bat.

Two, there is a lot of repetition in the book about various topics, most notably about thankful he was to coaches and managers who gave him a chance in the minor or major leagues. While that was certainly a nice gesture to thank these men, it seemed like nearly every chapter the reader would be reminded how much Boles, Leyland and others meant to Cangelosi. I was actually talking to the book near the end, saying “Okay, I get it – those guys were very supportive.”

As for the better aspects of the last 2/3 of the book, I found some of the passages quite humorous and one that even shows a side of umpire Angel Hernandez that current baseball fans would be surprised to learn. Cangelosi has been friends with Hernandez for a long time as Hernandez’s father started the league where he played organized baseball as a youngster. Later, when Cangelosi started his baseball school in Florida, Hernandez always comes to support the school and they socialize together. As for the humor – whether it comes from Cangelosi himself or he got it from another source, it is sprinkled liberally throughout the book. I will quote my favorite line, which came from Michael Farber in Sports Illustrated. When the Marlins signed Cangelosi as one of the many free agents they acquired for a championship run, Farber noted that “they paid $4.07 million for two outfielders, Jim Eisenreich and John Cangelosi, who make a lovely pair of bench ornaments.”

While this book wasn’t quite what I expected, it was a good illustration of the ups and downs of Cangelosi’s career in his own words. Readers who remember him, especially that rookie season in Chicago, would like this reflection on his baseball career.

I wish to thank Riverdale Avenue Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The author's painstaking research and attention to detail is obvious in the writing of this book. There were many facts that I only discovered after reading this!