a review by Romare Onishi
I found the book, “What’s My Name, Fool?” by Dave Zirin, very interesting because I like the sport of baseball, and the book went into depth about many different aspects of the sport. I also really enjoyed the mixture of politics, sports, and race that Dave Zirin wrote about, and I found it to be relevant for many of the topics in the book, such as Jackie Robinson and integrating baseball, and also the role that the higher ups and executives play in sports, and how it can be harmful to normal people, from athletes to fans.
I particularly found interesting how Zirin explored the other side of history that not many people talk about. A good example of this is the story of Barry Bonds and his experience with steroids. It’s quite well known that Bonds used some sort of a steroid that improved his performance. However, Zirin gave me a lot to think about. He suggests that while he may have used steroids, racism was involved in why Bonds was so disliked. I am reconsidering that this should not overshadow his otherwise great career. I had always thought that Bonds had cheated his way to becoming the home run king. Furthermore, whenever a player is caught with drugs in his system, they often say that they had no idea. I became like everyone else who only remembered the fact that Bonds tested positive in the first place. Now, I do think that there is some possibility that Bonds had taken more steroids, however I think that the main point of Zirin’s take on Bonds is that the bad parts of his career do not overshadow the good parts, especially when you stop and consider that Bonds was taking more criticism from the media and the baseball world than anyone else, especially anyone who was not a person of color, involved with steroids received.
Another topic that I found interesting was Zirin’s telling of Jackie Robinson’s story. He presented the criticisms of Robinson, as to how he was a Republican, and how he had a tendency to not speak out. I hadn’t really thought of these sorts of criticisms before, simply because in the typical baseball story, Robinson had always symbolized the progression of equality in this country, and for baseball. But Zirin offers a multi-layered analysis, pointing out that Robinson knew that he couldn’t talk back, or speak out because he needed to survive in the league and symbolize something bigger to the world. The other part of Jackie Robinson’s story was about his political views, and how they were very complicated. Zirin breaks them down by explaining that because Robinson grew up in the south and in a Jim Crow, he saw Democrats as the party that pushed for segregation which formed his beliefs.
Zirin’s presentations on Bonds and Robinson lead us to look differently at baseball players and how they are seen. But there is more to professional sports. Everything and everyone above the players also fit into the mixture of sports and politics.
For instance, Zirin explained how the Washington Nationals used taxpayer money to build their new stadium. This brought back something that I had read before–how the Minnesota Twins had also used taxpayer money to build Target Field. Once again, this book changed the way I thought about sports in relation to politics. Before, I hadn’t really thought about the negative aspects of this type of fundraising, I thought that it would generate more revenue and increase the city’s popularity. However, Zirin pointed out that the stadium that was being constructed cost millions of dollars while many other things like education and social services were facing budget cuts, and were not able to have the things that they needed. I thought that this showed the amount of power the people running the team have in relation to the players.
The book, “What’s My Name, Fool?” by Dave Zirin combined the topic of sports with the topic of politics and race. The book tackled many controversial issues, such as Barry Bonds, and the Nationals stadium. I especially enjoyed this take on sports, and also how Zirin took on different perspectives than the norm, making for a fascinating, and well put-together book. I encourage other young athletes and fans–like me–to read this book and explore other books on the shelves at the East Side Freedom Library.
Romare Onishi is a rising 9th grader living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He plays baseball, and classical guitar. He enjoys watching the Minnesota Twins and spending time with friends and family.