Clubbie

It was a great read for die-hard baseball fans about the clubhouse attendant for two years in a short-season Orioles affiliate. The stories were great, and the story-telling worked well.

But you know when there's a good movie that throws in a sex scene that really has nothing to do with the storyline and it just messes up the flow? Yeah, they aren't "scenes" but just very uncalled for and it really makes me wonder why. And it's his first book, so I'll give it a slight pass.

The other part that bothered me is seeing a 22-year old working his first season in baseball telling me how stupid the older (40-something) staff are stupid. Granted I'm sure some are - but if you've been working in baseball for decades, you might know a little bit more than a rookie. I'd rather the writer tell us what he disagreed with rather than a blanket "That guy [who is making millions for a MLB team] is just a jerk." And he repeats conversations that he accidentally overheard, some about very private things. Weird.

This could have been a 5-star book with the removal of about 5 paragraphs worth of material.

Greg Larson spent two years as a clubhouse attendant for Aberdeen Ironbirds and recounts his experiences in CLUBBIE. Larson began his tenure with the team as a lost soul, looking for purpose in his post college life. Over the course of two seasons full of great moments and soul-searching realities, Larson comes away without a clearer path for his life, but with a fuller spirit and some life experiences few of us ever get to have.
The book flows like a good storyteller at your favorite bar. Sometimes linear and looking into the deeper meaning of life, other times as a stream of consciousness and is just a funny recap of crazy day. Larson reveals some of the ugly realities of minor league baseball, like salaries, lodging, etc, but always drifts back to Larson's fulfillment and happiness that he got to work for two years for a professional baseball team. By the end of the book, he takes pride in his job and in himself that he was a part of the team. Larson touches on his personal life and his girlfriend at the time, but I wonder if he could have either expanded his personal life to a greater part of the book so the reader can appreciate that part of him, or left it out completely and told more tales of the triumphs and tragedies of minor league baseball.
Baseball fans will enjoy CLUBBIE, and most people who simply wanted to find themselves after college while like this book as well.

I came across this book on a cold December night while looking online at a bunch of new baseball books due out in 2021. I was excited to read it, but I was also a little nervous as the last time I picked up a book chronicling the low minors, I was supremely disappointed. After finishing this book, I’m happy to say it exceeded my expectations. Clubbie follows Greg Larson, a recent college graduate, during his two years as a clubbie for the Aberdeen Ironbirds. The Ironbirds were a short season minor league affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles (now in High A with MLB’s restructuring of the minors) and owned by the Iron Man himself, Cal Ripken. Taking place during the 2012 and 2013 seasons it details the highs (free beer and paid dues) and the lows (long hours and living in the clubhouse) of being a minor league clubbie. Through it all Mr. Larson does a great job making us feel like we are there as he deals with his ever changing perception of the game he grew up loving.

I really like the telling of this story. It felt like Greg and I were sitting at a bar, a number of beers in, as he tells me about his time with the Ironbirds.. A few more stories involving the players themselves would have been nice as he only talks about a couple during his two years, but he manages to make up for it with his stories revolving around the support staff and coaches around the Ironbirds during that time. Former Major League pitcher Alan Mills, at the time Ironbirds pitching coach, steals the show. He calls everyone meat, yes I immediately thought of Crash Davis/Bull Durham too, and he shows a wide variety of emotions to his fellow coaches, players, and even the lowly clubbie. Mr. Larson details his doomed relationship with his girlfriend at the time which was the one part of the story that didn’t really work for me. It probably could have been left out for more clubhouse stories. I also wish he would have expanded on his time coming to an end with the Ironbirds. It went from a Spring Training invite at the end of the season to no invite and no job the following year. That is a minor point though and doesn’t take away from the enjoyment of the book.

If you are a baseball fan, and especially a minor league baseball fan, this is a must read. You won’t be disappointed. Thank you to @netgallery and @univnebpress for a free Kindle copy of this book for an honest review.

Ohhhh, Clubbie is a fabulous memoir by Greg Larson.

Having worked myself for the AA Yankees team in the past, this story is close to my heart. I appreciate the ins and outs of minor league ball.

And, hot damn, the author mentions the time Tino Martinez was hit in the back by Armando Benitez. As Tino is my all time favorite player, I'll admit I had to stop and read that part out loud to my husband. Talk about a moment in time we will never forget.

The writing is good, easy to read, and a good pace. The author definitely leaves you with the nostalgic story telling feel. You can easily picture all he's describing. And one can easily imagine sitting in a baseball dugout while the author reminisces about his two years in AA.

Overall, Clubbie is a delightful baseball memoir. .If you appreciate Minor league Baseball at all, you will enjoy this book. I know I definitely appreciate it.

Clubbie is the memoir of Greg Larson, who spent two years as the clubhouse manager for the Aberdeen Ironbirds, a minor league team in the Baltimore Orioles franchise.

This book reads like a novel, for better or worse. It was very easy to read, but because the writing put me in a fictional mindset, it was harder for me to realize the athletes were real people with real dreams, and the consequences affected actual lives. That aside, the author conveyed an extremely detailed look into minor league baseball - both the good and the bad.

The most interesting part was Larson’s reflection on the experience. There is a scene where he gets to warm up the right fielder and says it was the highlight of the season. Without being able to play himself, does he actually like supporting the team?

Fans of baseball will enjoy this book, as will anyone with friends who have played in the minor leagues. I love behind the scenes stories of sporting leagues and events, so I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for making this book available. 3.5 stars, if that was an available rating. Cross-posted to Goodreads.

Interesting premise, reading about the life of a minor-league clubhouse attendant. I did not realize how difficult of a job or how complicated of a job it is. Baseball players are generally jerks and prima donnas, and more than a few are ethically challenged, and this book showed that, but some of the individuals in this book (particularly the ex-major leaguers) came off as bad people.

The writing and editing left a lot to be desired. Some of the chapters read like stream-of-consciousness thought, and there were numerous typos. At times, the author would mention someone by either first or last name (or nickname) and I found myself backing up a few pages to determine to whom he was referring.

And while the author seemed driven to get this job, I was turned off by his lack of motivation during the off-season, and not understanding that his laziness was negatively affecting his relationship, and he was turning into one of the selfish jerks in the clubhouse. Hopefully he’s grown up since leaving the industry.