From the humble heights of a Class-A pitcher's mound to the deflating lows of sleeping on his gun-toting grandmother's air mattress, veteran reliever Dirk Hayhurst steps out of the bullpen to deliver the best pitch of his career--a raw, unflinching and surprisingly moving account of his life in the minors.

I enjoyed the visualizations, maybe a little too much, and would stop only when I felt I'd centered myself...or after one of my teammates hit me in the nuts with the rosin bag while my eyes were closed.

Hilariously self-effacing and brutally honest, Hayhurst captures the absurdities, the grim realities, and the occasional nuggets of hard-won wisdom culled from four seasons in the minors. Whether training tarantulas to protect his room from thieving employees in a backwater hotel, watching the raging battles fought between his partially paralyzed father and his alcoholic brother, or absorbing the gentle mockery of some not-quite-starstruck schoolchildren, Dirk reveals a side of baseball, and life, rarely seen on ESPN.

My career has crash-landed on the floor of my grandma's old sewing room. If this is a dream come true, then dreams smell a lot like mothballs and Bengay.

Somewhere between Bull Durham and The Rookie, The Bullpen Gospels takes an unforgettable trot around the inglorious base paths of minor league baseball, where an inch separates a ball from a strike, and a razor-thin margin can be the difference between The Show or a long trip home.

The condition of the book, delivery and service were excellent. Right o0n the money. Welcome the opportunity to do business again.

this book is great it is hillariuous pardon my spelllin im 7 there is tons of swaerin which makes this book lol i reccomend this to old people like u

The Bullpen Gospels is masterful storytelling, yet down to earth and so accessible. It's a human story placed in the setting of minor league baseball. Anyone would enjoy this.

Barnes & Nobel and Borders both refused to carry this book in my area, but Amazon came through.

That's right, I was dining at a Cracker Barrel outside of Baton Rouge and hit upon a piece in this book that caused me to explode right there at my table...

I bought this book a few months ago at the urging of a mention in Jayson Stark's column. It sat on my bookshelf week after week before finally I found myself in need of something to keep me company on a business trip. This book did the trick and then some, and I am sorry that I waited so long to read it.

Have you ever laughed yourself into a fit? I mean, to the point where you are shaking and gyrating so hard that you can't even answer those who are asking 'what's so funny?' That happened three times while reading this book. On one occasion I had to put it down for awhile because I just could not move on.

This is not a book that takes you play-by-play, pitch-by-pitch through Hayhurst's games. In fact, little of the book takes place between the foul lines. This is more of a romp thru the ups and downs of a season in which you scale mountains with the author, but also find yourself crawling thru the valleys.

Don't be fooled, though. In addition to uproarious laughs, the book caused me to tear up a few times. Hayhurst shares some of his experiences with everyday people, stories that will make you stop, think and be grateful for what you have.

Parts of this book might be offensive to some, or full of delinquent behavior to others, yet this is an honest and raw account of the author's battles, both public and private. Though full of locker room banter, absent from these stories is any machismo-laced arrogance.

The only disappointment for me came at the end: I would've enjoyed another 100 pages at the least.

If you enjoyed Seasons in Hell, rest assured that you'll really appreciate this book as well.

Seasons in Hell: With Billy Martin, Whitey Herzog and "The Worst Baseball Team in History"-The 1973-1975 Texas Rangers

To me, Ball Four is the classic baseball diary book. Gospels is okay. but IMO no where near as good as the glowing reviews here portray it to be. I am glad I bought and read it, but doubt if I will ever re-read it (I will re-read good books many times). i tried to give it three stars but am not sure if the website is recording this vote correctly