Secure A Copy Have Glove, Will Travel: Adventures Of A Baseball Vagabond Devised By Bill Lee Ready In Digital Version

"Spaceman" Lee is one of the most colorful personalities to ever step onto a baseball diamond and this book perfectly captures that personality in a collection of tales from his days after major league baseball.
Lee is a Boston legend not only for his heroics on the field, but also for his uncensored sound bites and wacky behavior.
This book, though not dealing with the famous or infamous incidents that made Lee such an oddity, gives plenty of evidence of that bigger then life persona.

The book starts with Lee's last days in the majors pitching for the Montreal Expos when Lee claims he was let go and then black balled by the league's owners.
Lee's paranoia combined with his crazy antics leaves one wondering if he was truly black balled or if it's just a figment of his imagination and ego.
To Lee's credit, this conspiracy is never dwelt upon and becomes a launching point for the rest of the story rather than a bitter lament that radiates through the narrative.
The rest of the book follows Lee around the world as he brings his one of a kind personality to anywhere that will let him on a mound and hit cleanup.

What truly makes this book entertaining is how well it captures Bill Lee, I'm not sure how much Richard Lally had to work to make Lee fly off every page, but he certainly didn't make Lee appear boring and stale like many of these sport autobiographies can come off.
It would probably take quite a bit to make Lee stale, but at the very least Lally knew when to get out of the way and let the tale tell itself.

This book is has both moments of great humor and deep sentimentality, It gives us more then just the crazy persona we saw in the newspapers, and ultimately that is what makes it such a good read.
Lee and Lally do a great job conveying Lee's deep love of the sport that made him famous along with all the quirks that make him so interesting.
Although the themes go beyond the game, this probably isn't a read for people who don't like baseball since everything is framed around the sport.
But if you enjoy baseball or grew up a Red Sox fan this is a highly entertaining read about one of the games most interesting players.
The spaceman writes a quirky book, more anecdotes than autobiography, More than a few laughs and a good philosophy of life buried in here, cannot get enough of Lee !! A light read, but full of funny stories and generally well written, Recommended for anyone who loves baseball at all levels, semipro, little league, pickup leagues etc, My favorite stories involve his trip to the Russian pool hall, I'll leave the details unsaid in case you read it, They called him "Spaceman" an opinionated, wisecracking, irreverent, incorrigible, narcissistic party animal, Bill Lee was major league baseball's redheaded step child an unapologetic, pot smoking counterculturist in a tradition bound profession who delighted fans while infuriating baseball's brass with his wild antics and outspokenness.
His book, Have Glove Will Travel, is a perfect reflection of his persona, and whether or not you enjoy it will depend heavily on how much you enjoy Bill Lee.
Reading it you feel like you are sitting around with "Spaceman", sharing a joint and a bottle while he regales you with story after story of his experiences some of them perhaps more tall than true, but all of them entertaining.


In Have Glove Will Travel Lee tells the stories of his life after major league baseball from the point inwhen he was released from the Montreal Expos and subsequently blackballed from the major leagues for offending the lords of baseball one time too many onward.
Though banished from the Major Leagues, baseball was in his blood, A pitcher is what he was, so he continued his career playing for whatever semipro league or outfit that would have him.
Playing throughout the U. S. and Canada, South America, Cuba, and Russia with teammates and opponents that ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous, Bill continued his baseball ways and collected these tales.
From running for president on the Rhinoceros Party ticket into teaching Ted Williams something he didn't know about his hitting ability, all of these tales are vintage "Spaceman".


Lee's book is easy reading and great entertainment, Each chapter stands alone as a complete tale, and you can read them in pretty much any order that amuses you stopping to refresh your drink or roll a new one between stories if

needed.
If you love baseball for the pure joy of it as Lee does, and if you appreciate his nonconformist, screwball ways, then you will be sure to find Have Glove Will Travel a homerun of a book.
Even as a fan of Bill Lee, I have to say this book is for the fan who understands that it's all about the game.
A player is a player, and they have to find somewhere to play, whether it be in Cuba, Russia, Nova Scotia, Florida, or wherever.


This book details Bill "Spaceman" Lee's travels, literally, from the time he was released from the Montreal Expos for standing up against the manager and GM following teammate Rodney Scott's release to the time the book was written.
It details his adventures, with tongue occasionally pressed too firmly in cheek for his own good, in adapting from trying to find his way back to the majors, finding he was being blacklisted, to just going wherever there was a chance to play, even if the pay was poor or nonexistent.


Bottom line is, this is a fun read, Lee isn't afraid to poke fun at himself, or at others for that matter, and tells stories that are probably only slightly embellished.
Well, maybe more than that in some cases, But hey, that's Spaceman. You know what you're getting when you start reading, Most of the baseball authored books I've read are so dull Bill Lee had complied his tales in snapshots with his insights and reflections as he travels all over Cuba, South America, Canada to keep on pitching in various leagues.
The characters he meets he records their stories quickly and with a sharp eye he's a pitcher but this book shows he's a humorous, profound, writer.
Think Bill Bryson goes Gonzo, Lee writes sort of like he pitches like a crazy person, He tends to drop threads of stories and forget to go back to them, but the stories he finishes are hilarious and heartbreaking, sometimes at the same time.
Not so much a baseball book as a book about a crazy dude who happened to play baseball, but interesting.
Lee's second effort, in which he describes his postbaseball career and travels, is highly entertaining as well, His attitude is once a ball player, always a ball player, and he will go wherever there is a game, be it Russia, China, Cuba, Venezeula, or Canada.
Again, Lee writes with humor and surprising insight about life as an athlete, But unlike The Wrong Stuff, Have Glove Will Travel takes place over many more decades, and lacks the coherence of his first effort.
Parts of it are incredible, while other parts seem a little forced, or neat and tidy, The epilogue however, is an homage to baseball worthy of a classic baseball movie, My favorite baseball book. Lee renders his wit and pinache and hardheadedness onto the page, The second part of Bill Lee's autobiography inshallah there will be a third part! tracks the Spaceman's life trajectory following his blackballing from Major League Baseball.
Highlights include his time spent pitching in Venezuela, in semipro ball in Ontario, in less than semipro ball in far flung regions of Canada, against the Soviet National team, and in futile struggle against superannuated players on several trips to Cuba.

Bill Lee is the only MLBer that Warren Zevon ever wrote a song about, and the only MLBer ever to run for President with Dr.
Hunter S. Thompson as a running mate although nobody is entirely sure if the good doctor was ever informed of his candidacy.
This memoir is filled with humor, poignancy, wisdom, and a profound reverence for the Game it is the sweetest lovesong to Baseball that any player has ever written.
A collection of incidents, fun, but they don't add up to more than the sum of their parts Book by Lee, Bill, Lally, Richard Bill "Spaceman" Lee was an intriguing and controversial pitcher back in the day when I was growing up.
To most of my generation, he was a player who stood out and made the game more entertaining, To my parents' generation, he was a no good semicriminal who was ruining baseball, This is a simplified summary, but probably not that far off the mark

I was actually looking for Lee's autobiography "The Wrong Stuff" which I still haven't found when I stumbled across this book.
It hones in on the part of Lee's life which started when he was essentially blackballed from the major leagues, and began barnstorming to pay the bills.
I found it absorbing and often hilarious, and I recognized a lot of names from those barnstorming teams, Lee at times got somewhat repetitious and wordy he did have a cowriter, so Richard Lally is involved in that also but for anyone like me who remembers the Spaceman at the height of his glory/notoriety, this is a really fun read.
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