Review of "Big Sexy: Bartolo Colon in His Own Words," with Michael Stahl

 Review of

Big Sexy: Bartolo Colon in His Own Words, with Michael Stahl ISBN 9781419740374

Four out of five stars

An autobiography of a popular player

Bartolo Colon pitched in the major leagues for 21 years and won more games than any other Latin American player. Which surprised me, my first guess would have been Juan Marichal. Like so many other Latin players, he had fairly humble beginnings in the Dominican Republic. He grew up working on his father’s farm, doing the kind of physical labor that most people do on farms.  

 Despite his success on the mound, Colon played for 11 teams, winning the Cy Young award as the best pitcher in the American League in 2005. He was very much a product of his youth in the Dominican Republic and was considered “colorful.”

 This is a first person account of his life, told in a series of snippets and not in chronological order. There are many quotes from the people that he interacted with during his major league career, from teammates to managers and coaches to opposing players to sportscasters. There are a few negative comments and those that are come across as rather tame.

 Written as the level of the young adult, this is a book that is different from most of the sports memoir books. While Colon did have some difficulties as a player and as a person, there is none of the harsh backstabbing of teammates, opponents, umpires, and others around baseball that is so typical of the modern sports memoirs. While many will think it makes this book dull, in many ways it is quite refreshing. It is often frustrating to hear pampered millionaires complaining about their lives.

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