Chasing the Dream
Joe Torre's "Chasing the Dream" is the life story of Torre, and its theme is his lifelong quest to win a World Series and a World Series ring. His brother Frank played baseball, Joe saw first hand the joy of winning a Series, and it became his goal in life to do the same -- to experience the joy of winning the ultimate baseball game. He writes, "As I took my team on a victory lap around Yankee Stadium, I thought, This is what I wanted my whole life" (Torre 12). The book is an autobiography, but it is really more than his life story, it shows how everything in his life helped lead to this defining moment in his life.
Throughout the book, Torre weaves his lifelong love of baseball into the theme of the book, showing how it became his ultimate goal and dream job. He writes, "At an early age I was in love with the game and all its splendid intricacies" (Torre 52). That love permeates the book and illustrates how his entire adult life revolved around the game in some way.
In conclusion, "Chasing the Dream" tells the story of Torre's life, but more, it shows why baseball is so beloved...
More than an autobiography, it is a love story about the game of baseball, and it shows how the game can permeate the lives of the people who work and play in the game.
My own life experiences helped me understand the work, because I'm a lover of baseball too, and so I could understand why Torre fell in love with the game and wanted to win a World Series so much. There is something magical about baseball in a big stadium decorated for the ultimate championship, and Torre manages to capture that magic, which makes his book come alive. For example, he writes, "This was one of them: a home run off Whitey Ford, with Mickey Mantle, his powerful legs giving up the chase, looking up at a baseball that I had hit as it flew away against the blue Florida sky" (Torre 86). His writing is powerful and shows his love for the game.
The descriptions all are vivid. They show how much the game means to him and that is easy to understand, since I like the game too. He shows how it affected his whole life, and how his life is empty without it. It is an important…
