The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness
The book is full of tension and cliff-hangers, and all that suspense makes for a welcome foil to McCullough’s subject ... Like most sports biographies, The Last of His Kind trends toward the hagiographical. McCullough seems to know that, though, and he cleverly uses that critical cliché to his advantage by fusing his telling of the hero’s journey with Kershaw’s adopted faith ... For some, there will be a fluent predictability in all this pressure ... Still, for the concentric circles of baseball fans and Dodger diehards who will make up the majority of McCullough’s readers, annotated play-by-plays like this are catnip.
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McCullough certainly gives full attention to Kershaw’s development as a lockdown pitcher ... But it’s Kershaw’s humanity, from the pressure he put on himself as an only child to lift his single mom and himself out of poverty... to his 2012 Roberto Clemente Award as an exemplar of character and community involvement, to his forthright stand in support of Black Lives Matter following the murder of George Floyd, among other attributes, that will win over pretty much any baseball fan.
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McCullough delivers a view of a fundamentally decent man with the usual foibles, one who brings kindness as well as ungodly pitches to the game ... Dodgers fans and aspiring pro pitchers alike will enjoy this report of how a master of the diamond works his magic.
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