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OOTP 20 - General Discussions Everything about the newest version of Out of the Park Baseball - officially licensed by MLB.com and the MLBPA. |
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03-19-2019, 05:53 AM | #1 |
Minors (Triple A)
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Ormond Beach Fl
Posts: 299
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Has anyone read this book?
"The Universal Baseball Association Inc". By Robert Coover.
It is over 20 years old. It is the story of a guy J. Henry Waugh, who is OBSESSED with simulation baseball (imagine that?). His entire life revolves around it (imagine that as well). He "creates" a dice game and naturally keeps records by hand etc.. It is a must read.. You will probably see yourself in this.. Could be scary..lol |
03-19-2019, 08:10 AM | #2 |
Minors (Triple A)
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Racine,WI
Posts: 255
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Read it twice. Very good book.
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03-19-2019, 09:18 AM | #3 |
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 991
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Great book.
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03-19-2019, 09:21 AM | #4 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Denver, Colorado
Posts: 4,262
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This book is probably the main reason that, although I built an analog process into my OOTP fictional universe where former players eventually die, I did not go so far as to allow current players to die mid-career.
As we see in Coover's riveting book, that is a bridge too far for those of us who get emotionally involved with our imaginary baseball players. |
03-19-2019, 09:49 AM | #5 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 3,630
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I read it a long time ago. As I recall, I thought it would make a good entry in the "Bad Hemingway Contest."
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03-19-2019, 10:02 AM | #6 | |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Denver, Colorado
Posts: 4,262
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Quote:
Coover is a quite celebrated novelist and short story writer. (Granted, on the avant-garde side of things- an influence on writers like David Foster Wallace, Dave Eggers, Rick Moody, etc.) My sense is that in the literary world he isn't generally regarded as a bad anything. Not that this means your take on this is incorrect. It's just a bit surprising to me (as a lover of literature/failed writer/English major/etc.) |
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03-19-2019, 10:11 AM | #7 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 3,630
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That's quite possible. I read it over thirty years ago, so my tastes may have matured. Still, I remember finishing the book only because I was a big Strat-O-Matic player in the day and was captivated by the intricate tabletop world created by Coover. As for his writing style, on the other hand, I found it to be excruciating.
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03-19-2019, 10:31 AM | #8 |
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 991
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He is much more profound than anything Hemingway wrote. In the end the book is about why God has to tie his own hands by allowing free will. Why an omnipotent being would be bound by his own laws.
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03-19-2019, 10:35 AM | #9 |
Major Leagues
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: UK
Posts: 367
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Yes came across this book 10 years ago it's a masterpiece!
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03-19-2019, 01:45 PM | #10 |
All Star Starter
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Spanaway, Washington
Posts: 1,181
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I bought the book when it first appeared in paperback (1969) but for some reason never finished it, probably because that was a busy period in my life. I must exhume my copy sometime.
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03-19-2019, 03:50 PM | #11 |
All Star Starter
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Kelowna, British Columbia
Posts: 1,266
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Read it, scarily had me thinking about my SOM days.
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03-19-2019, 05:58 PM | #12 |
Bat Boy
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 5
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Loaned to me by my brother in law decades ago. Had been happily playing a dice game developed with a friend. Was stunned by plot developments as Coover brought real life grown up issues into imaginary baseball. Great book. Unexpectedly dark. Hamilton Crafts, right? Thanks for the memory jog.
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03-19-2019, 06:43 PM | #13 |
Hall Of Famer
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read an excerpt from the book.. i'll get around to reading the hole thing someday.
For my fictional dynasties, i have started naming my commissioners either Robert Coover or J. Henry Waugh. Last edited by Dark Horse; 03-19-2019 at 06:45 PM. |
03-19-2019, 09:29 PM | #14 |
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Michigan
Posts: 555
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One of my favorite books.Always hoped it would be a movie.
The cover has changed a bit since the earlier editions Somewhere I have a hardback version (with a different cover then those below or above) My 1st Printing (1971) and 1st Printing (1968) paperbacks:
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Good pitching will always stop good hitting and vice-versa - Casey Stengel Last edited by plannine; 03-20-2019 at 05:34 AM. |
03-20-2019, 01:55 AM | #15 |
All Star Starter
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,352
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I did come across a baseball game, not quite up to OOTP, that has some interesting features, one of which was an embodiment of that league from the book.
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BASEBALL, HOCKEY AND BOXING FAN |
03-20-2019, 03:28 AM | #16 |
All Star Starter
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Brighouse, West Yorkshire, U.K.
Posts: 1,122
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Teams in my fictional dynasty always play for the Robert Coover Trophy.
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03-20-2019, 03:40 AM | #17 |
Minors (Double A)
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 132
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What does this have to do with ootp 20?
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03-20-2019, 05:05 AM | #18 |
All Star Reserve
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 991
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It is a book about a man who creates a table top baseball world of his own, that becomes more real to him than the real world around him, his job, his (sort of) girlfriend, his friends.
He becomes so involved with it that he makes questionable moral decisions, leading to his having to make himself accountable to the people he has created in the baseball league. Hard to think of a better book for the OOTP-addicted like us. |
03-20-2019, 05:19 AM | #19 |
Minors (Rookie Ball)
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 25
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I just hopped on Amazon and bought the paperback because of this thread.
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03-20-2019, 05:21 AM | #20 |
Minors (Triple A)
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Ormond Beach Fl
Posts: 299
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Exactly... And I wanted to share it with other "addicted" sim peeps
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