Kelly: At Home on Third

Andrew Thomson is a Ph.D. candidate in history at the University of
Guelph.

Kelly Gruber shares a writer’s credit on the cover of his biography,
but this is clearly Kevin Boland’s book. Boland, a sports writer for
the Toronto Sun, presents a detailed view of the Blue Jays’ third
baseman, gleaned largely from interviews with Gruber and others in the
baseball community. The book is generally well written but suffers
somewhat from a confused presentation that would have benefited from a
more chronological approach. That aside, the book contains some
fascinating insights into the development of a major-league player.

Boland shows the reader a Kelly Gruber blessed with enormous talent,
but lacking the work ethic and drive to fully exploit those skills.
Gruber’s career is marked by episodes of great success coupled with
periods of frustrating mediocrity, and Boland’s discussion suggests
the reasons behind this pattern. Gruber’s childhood is dealt with very
effectively, and the player’s trial in the minor leagues is also well
presented. Baseball fans looking for gossip or criticism of Blue Jay
players will be largely disappointed, but the book does offer some mild
reproach to George Bell and Cliff Johnston. As with so many biographies
of active players, however, diplomacy wins out in the end.

In general, the picture of Gruber that emerges is of a likable,
easygoing ball player. The book, like its subject, lacks focus at times,
but baseball fans will enjoy a biography that digs a bit deeper than the
usual baseball memoir.