Reviews of Baseball's Test of Spirit: A Man's Unlikely Odyssey into the Scouting World for Sale now on Amazon.
"Jim Pransky was my coach at St. Bonaventure University in the early 80s. "Nice guys finish last," was a famous line by manager Leo Durocher. Jim has proven this adage wrong. For anyone who loves baseball, this is a behind the scenes look of baseball's less glamorous side of being a baseball lifer. In a world of dysfunction, his story is one of function - a solid youth, loving parents, overcoming injury, and a wife he adores. It's a life of gratitude, hard work, many nights at the Holiday Inn, and countless baseball games. His memoir is an engaging read. Baseball may have tested Jim's spirit, but he is not someone to be underestimated."
-Tom Lagasse
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"Baseball’s Test of Spirit is a book of two themes. The first theme is one of perseverence and determination in chasing one’s dreams. It is the unlikely story of how one person essentially gave up on his dream after suffering an injury, then rebounded to build a successful career in college and Major League Baseball. The second theme gives an inside look at professional baseball and scouting in particular. Anyone who likes a “feel good” comeback story or enjoys baseball will enjoy this book."
-Mark Frick
“Jim Pransky has written a sterling account of his improbable climb in professional baseball. He has proven over the course of his long scouting and collegiate coaching career that there is more than one way to observe and evaluate a baseball game. He is a true baseball man. His commitment to the game and the people in it has made an indelible mark on the players he has drafted and coached.” Shawn Pender, Senior advisor to the president and general manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Formerly, vice-president of player development of the Cincinnati Reds.✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻
- Shawn Pender, Senior advisor to the president and general manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Formerly, vice-president of player development of the Cincinnati Reds.
“Jim is a patient teacher and an excellent evaluator. He’s been a positive influence✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻
for baseball players at all levels.”
- Arnie Chavera, former catcher in the Astros organization. Presently, Athletic Director at Black Hawk College.
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"The book, available in Kindle and paperback versions on Amazon offers a behind- the-scenes look into the life of a full-time baseball scout, a close-knit fraternity that has dwindled to 1,000 or fewer today. It provides intriguing baseball stories, scouting reports on players who made it big and those who didn't, as well as life lessons Pransky learned from four decades of coaching and scouting. Baseball junkies will love it,"
-Don Crim, Senior Columnist, Muddy River News.
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"Jim Pransky went from the baseball fields in McKean County to a 25-year career in Major League Baseball. Even Pransky admits it was an unlikely trek. 'I never thought I'd end up working in professional baseball, Really. for me, it was very unlikely that I would ever become a big league scout.First, it's hard to do anyway, but I just a kid who grew up in Eldred. I played baseball, loved baseball, but we never played in front of a scout. I had never even met a scout until I started college coaching, I never thought that was possible.'"
- Sarah Furlong, Managing Editor, Bradford Era
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"I just finished this wonderful book. As a baseball fan I enjoyed the anecdotes about the various players and baseball personnel. And I really liked learning about scouting and all it entails. But the book is about much more than perseverance, following your passion and work/life balance. Kudos to Jim Pransky for this well written book about his life's journey through the prism of baseball.
- Herb Niles
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Jim's true life story of his career as a baseball scout is truly an odyssey as the title indicates. The twists and turns of a scout workingin MLB where there is only 30 MLB teams is quite revealing of how baseball works and of how challenging it is to find and develop MLB players. Jim's participation in the first Money Ball draft was one of many compelling stories Jim shares with his readers.
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- Tom Wagner
