The author offers his views on the state of basball today, and comments on his experiences as a sportscaster Broadcaster Jon Miller didn't know he was a baseball "purist" until acting commissioner Bud Selig accosted him with the moniker on national TV in 1993. "At one time," writes Miller in retrospect, "the label 'baseball purist' could've been worn as a badge of honor. Any legitimate fan would've been pleased to be thought of as a purist. But I suppose that to Mr. Selig, a purist was a lonely old man hunched over a windup Victrola, thumbing through a 1929 Who's Who in Baseball , fretting that the game just hasn't been the same since the Babe retired." In Confessions Miller admits to being a purist--loosely defined by him not as a forlorn fan stuck in a period-piece movie but as a fan knowledgeable enough to realize that baseball evolves for the good of the game--despite what myopic owners might try to perpetrate in the short term. In a chapter titled "The Good Old Days Are Now," Miller reminds die-hards of the old adage about things changing and staying the same. To wit, here's Ty Cobb in 1925: "The great trouble with baseball today is that most of the players are in the game for the money." Miller goes on to suggest that the 1990s will be remembered in 20 years as a "golden age" of hitting and that accusations of juiced balls, watered-down pitching, smaller ballparks, and expansion still cannot account for this decade's abundance of outstanding batters. The voice of the San Francisco Giants (and formerly the Baltimore Orioles) holds forth on everything from interleague play (it's good for the game but messy) to traveling with Cal Ripken (a game of Strat-O-Matic baseball reveals just how competitive the Iron Man really is). Occasionally he whiffs--as when he suggests that ballparks install 20-second time clocks to keep pitchers hurling at a reasonable pace. But ultimately what comes through the anecdotes and arguments is his tremendous love for the game and a generous capacity for recognizing the quality of the present and not just the past. --Langdon Cook Miller, ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" announcer and former voice of the Baltimore Orioles, is one of the top TV broadcasters in baseball. Fans will enjoy Miller's insights on Cal Ripken's work ethic and his recounting of the incidents surrounding his own dismissal by impulsive Orioles owner Peter Angelos. Miller remains optimistic about the future of baseball. Because of his national presence this book should circulate well in most libraries. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. Miller, the knowledgeable broadcaster for the San Francisco Giants--after many years with the Baltimore Orioles--has a national following as the play-by-play announcer for ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball Game. Miller is a purist, not because he worships baseball's past blindly, but because he values the game as it is played on the field, the same way, year after year. He honed his announcing skills by calling and tape-recording the action as he played a popular baseball board game in his room as a child. He provides a wonderfully wacky account of those pretend broadcasts, including his decision to have his games "sponsored" by the Reuters news service. What sets Miller's memoir apart from other, similar accounts is his opinionated insider's view of the game. For example, he likes some interleague play but adamantly opposes radical realignment of the league structure. Baseball fans will love Miller's mix of opinion, anecdote, and self-deprecating humor. Add national name recognition, and prepare for significant demand. Wes Lukowsky Play-by-play man for ESPNs highly successful Sunday Night Baseball, Miller, with Baltimore Sun reporter Hayman, has slapped together a casual record of his career and a friendly look at the games recent history as seen from the press box. Once derogatorily described as a baseball purist by Bud Selig, baseballs acting commissioner, Miller goes on record to try to show that he is anything but. He got his start in the big leagues at the age of 22 in 1974 when he was hired by Charlie Finleys Oakland As, he remembers fondly. He would later spend 14 wonderful years with the Baltimore Orioles (two separate chapters are devoted to Cal Ripken and his record-breaking streak) and then the Red Sox. He cites current ESPN partner Joe Morgan as the premier baseball analyst. Miller lists among his favorite people in baseball former manager Ralph Houk, one of those who left the game a better place that when he found it. Reggie Jackson, Kirby Puckett, Joe Carter, and Eddie Murray also rate highly in his book. Millers protestations against being dubbed a purist yield mixed results: While he grudgingly admits to liking interleague play, hed like to see it limited to natural rivalries such as the Yankees vs. the Mets, or the White Sox vs. the Cubs. At one point, he decries the suggestion that the game needs to be speeded up; at another, he suggests limiting ca