I was deep into “The Bolivian Diary of Ernesto Che Guevara”, a very dark book, full of misery:
– ….We are in the jungle and it has been raining constantly forever. We all have parasites. We are swollen and our morale is low. Yesterday I drained 50 cc of pus from the abscess on my knee and I drained another 40 cc of purulent exudate today. My asthma is preventing me from breathing normally and I have no more medicine….
That kind of stuff. I decided I needed to read something a little bit lighter.
So I chose to read “Safe At Home – Confessions of a Baseball Fanatic” by Alyssa Milano. It filled the bill, and I mean that in a good way.
You may know who Alyssa Milano is, but I did not.
The short version is that she played Tony Danza’s daughter in the TV show “Who’s the Boss”.
But there’s more to it.
She was born, in Brooklyn, to a father who was a die hard Brooklyn Dodgers fan. Then Walter O’Malley took the Dodgers from Ebbets Field to the West Coast. The Milano family moved to Staten Island and became Yankees fans.
When she was ten or eleven years old Alyssa and her dad moved to LA for her TV career. Her dad reconnected with his Dodgers there. She caught the fever. She is now a rabid LA Dodgers fan. I’m not sure whether I mean that in an entirely good way. She does allow that “as much as I love the boys in blue, I love the game more.”
After reading the book I can say with confidence: Alyssa Milano knows as much about the game of baseball as I do. Probably more.
Alyssa considers the following statement to be one of the fundamental truths of the game: “No matter where you are, no matter how old you are, baseball connects you to your past.”
In the book’s forward, Joe Torre observes: “Rarely have sportswriters and historians paid attention to the ever-expanding role that female fans have played in the support and growth of this game. And rarely have the women been able to tell their stories. ‘Safe at Home’ gives a voice to these stories that have always been a part of the game but have only recently emerged to take their rightful place in its history.”
Alyssa describes early life with her parents thusly: “When I was four and crime started to rise in Brooklyn, they left the borough they grew up in and moved the family to Staten Island, where they could fulfill their American dreams of better schools and a safer neighborhood for their daughter. It was hard for both of them to leave the place where they had grown up, a place so inextricably linked to their memories of youth.
My father in particular wanted nothing more than for me to enjoy the same egg creams that he had; but that Brooklyn, the Brooklyn of his past, had long since faded, passing into New York’s history alongside Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds.”
Our cerebral author observes that “Baseball is the only sport where the team with possession of the ball is actually on defense.” Think about it.
Alyssa tells people: “This chick loves the small ball”, but she doesn’t care for instant replay or Astroturf. She also doesn’t like beach balls at the ballpark. I’m trying to remember if I’ve ever been to a baseball game which featured beach balls. Ever?
At times she slams the Cubs and Wrigley Field, but she says nice things about the Cubs’ uniforms and their fashion sense. I should point out that Miss Milano founded a sports-clothing line for women featuring colors other than pink.
Alyssa has a common sense philosophy regarding circumstances similar to those of the current Sammy Sosa/ Ryne Sandberg difference of opinion: “I’m not saying we should welcome cheating or cheaters. I’m not saying we should accept it and condone it. But enough with the white-hot rage because people in a high-stakes, big-money game look for an edge, and in so doing, sometimes go over it. Punish them, yes. Make it more difficult to cheat, definitely. But spare the puritan apoplexy.”
Miss Milano includes a twelve page glossary at the back of the book. Those of you who already know it all won’t need it. But I think it’s helpful for the rest of us.
I remember once saying that Southern California is just as I had remembered it, only more so. That description extends to Miss Milano as well, who is very LA. Perhaps even more so because she’s originally from New York. I have to say she is very intelligent and very knowledgeable about baseball.
I really enjoyed this book, and I recommend it highly to any and all lovers of the game. The jacket describes this work as “a unique and unexpected book that is equal parts memoir, manifesto, and love letter to our national pastime.” I’d second that.
Oh yes, one more thing. Miss Milano opens Chapter 5 with the following Tommy Lasorda quote: “No matter how good you are, you’re going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are, you are going to win one-third of your games. It’s the other third that makes the difference.”
nice job reviewing this. I’ve seen her at a few Dodger games. She’s always decked out in Dodger gear from head to toe, so I always found her annoying, but this review has me thinking I’ll buy the book under the auspices of it being a gift for my wife, than secretly read it after she goes to bed!
Cap’n, you sly dog!
Cubbiedude, I’ve put this on my list! Thanks for all the reviews you post!
You gotta love a woman that looks like that and has some baseball knowledge.
There are those of us who were aware of her.. Uh.. “body of work” , before the baseball book. Check out the movie Embrace of the Vampire.