Safe at Home: Confessions of a Baseball Fanatic by Alyssa Milano


Safe at Home: Confessions of a Baseball Fanatic
Title : Safe at Home: Confessions of a Baseball Fanatic
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0061625108
ISBN-10 : 9780061625107
Language : English
Format Type : Hardcover
Number of Pages : 256
Publication : First published March 24, 2009

Film and television star Alyssa Milano (Who’s the Boss, Charmed) is one of the most popular bloggers on MLB.com (http://alyssa.mlblogs.com), and has even done on-field commentary for TBS. In Safe at Home, she writes about her passion for baseball and how her love for the game has helped to shape who she is.


Safe at Home: Confessions of a Baseball Fanatic Reviews


  • Carol Storm

    This is the freshest, most original book on baseball I have ever read. Alyssa Milano writes with passion, knowledge, emotion and humor about the ways baseball has mattered in her life.

    If you think baseball writers are all old fuddy-duddies like David Halberstam, if you think baseball is for guys only -- think again! Oh, and I'm putting a link below just because Alyssa Milano is so giving and caring in every possible way, not just about sports.


    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/s...

  • Carrie

    I would give this book 3.5 stars if I could.

    I was intrigued to learn that Alyssa Milano had written a book. I clearly remember watching her every week on Who's the Boss? when I was a kid. (I loved that show!) I also know that she's a huge baseball fan who's also designed a line of clothing specifically for female baseball fans. As a huge baseball fan myself, I was interested to see what she had to say.

    The book starts off strong. Within the first couple chapters, she had my eyes tearing up a time or two, and she also made me laugh out loud. Her personal voice comes through in her writing, which is nice for this kind of a book. She has a love for the game of baseball that I can relate to, which is part of the reason that I enjoyed this book. However, she definitely does more than just explain the game. She also brings in her own personal experiences throughout the book, often showing the part that baseball played in her life (and the lives of her family members).

    If you're not a fan of baseball, Milano does a good job of explaining what's so fascinating about the sport. For most of the book, she simply explains the various aspects of the game that those of us who are fans already know and love. She also acknowledges some of the not-so-good aspects of the game. There are a couple chapters in the middle of the book that get a little-heavy handed. I love baseball and understand it well, and yet her chapter on the numbers of the game started to be a bit much, even for me. There were also a few places in the book where she seemed to get a bit sidetracked and went off on a tangent for a few pages.

    If you already love baseball, you should give this book a try (especially if you're a woman). If you're a good friend or relative of someone who's a big fan of baseball, you should read this book. It might explain a lot about your friend. :) However, if you're only mildly interested in the sport, it's definitely still worth reading; you just might want to consider skimming through the chapters that get heavy on stats and numbers.

  • Mary

    Alyssa Milano seems as unaffected as might be possible, given her background, and this book is a love letter to baseball. I did get a kick out of what she does not like about the game - the DH, among other things - but especially beach balls bouncing around, as if the game was not interesting enough on its own. (In my experience, having been to some ten ballparks, although not Chavez Ravine, this is a big problem at Fenway - for all the supposed love the pink hats have for their team you would think they would be more interested in the game.) I did wonder why she did not rail against waves, which always seem to get started when the game is interesting - presumably by people who are not there for the game. Overall I think she probably makes a mistake to have season tickets behind the Dodgers dugout - those tickets are almost all bought by companies as corporate entertainment, so real baseball fans are not in those seats. In my ballpark you have to go to the second deck to find the real fans, keeping score - while not as fashionable, she would probably feel more at home there.

  • Kevin

    This is a good baseball book in that Alyssa Milano is no average chick when it comes to baseball. A passionate fan, she mixes in her knowledge of baseball with fun and interesting stories all while singing the praises of the game itself. In no way a tell-all or memoir, this is just about what baseball means to her and how it has gotten her through some tough times and brought her family closer together. Of course I am envious of the perks she gets in baseball from being a star but she really seems like a down-to-earth person who thinks and acts like a regular fan (not a normal fan). This has made me like her more (aside from just eye candy) and to read her blog on MLB.com. A good book, an easy read and a fun experience.

  • aaron

    wow...alyssa loves her some sweet, sweet baseball! and as a huge baseball fan...i love this book! it is like a love letter to a game that may very well have kept her sane throughout her tumultuous life as a child-actress turned adult-actress. i have always been a fan of alyssa milano. she just seems to exude some sort of charm in whatever it is that she does. now she writes a book about how baseball was such a huge contributing factor in her life and how it makes her who she is today. if you are a fan of baseball or of alyssa milano (better yet, both) then do yourself a favor and pick this one up...i think you're gonna like it!

  • Amy

    I'm not a baseball fan (I don't dislike it either, I just don't know much about it) but I do like Alyssa Milano. I guess to be fair, before this book, I should have said that I liked the shows Alyssa Milano was in, I didn't know much about her at all. But after this book I can say that I like her. She is funny and smart and seems incredibly down to earth. I'm not a fan of baseball but she kind of makes me want to be!

  • Mary

    I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did--- I assumed it'd be more dumbed down. Just goes to show you. I don't know that a serious baseball fan would like it as a baseball book, because it's at least as much memoir as baseball book, but it's kind of an offbeat mixture of genres that I found very appealing. Great for a change of pace.

  • Shirley

    I love Alyssa but I just couldn't bring myself to continue reading it.

    More of a light read, when you're in a waiting room or on the beach.
    I'll finish it at some point.

  • Peggyzbooksnmusic

    My sister recommended this book and I did find it very enjoyable. I was a Dodger fan as a child back in the late 50's early 60's; although never went to a game back then. Then in 1970 I went to my first game at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego and have been a San Diego Padre fan ever since. Was fun to read a book written by a female fan who really knows her game! In fact Alyssa Milano knows much more about the game then I would ever be able to remember in my lifetime :D

    I only gave the book 3 stars as it wasn't quite as well written as


    Crazy '08 How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History by Cait Murphy . Safe at Home would be a good book for a new fan; in fact at the end of the book is a glossary of baseball "lingo".

    Loved her description of Kirk Gibson in the first chapter and was glad that this book was not a tell all of her relationships with a few pitchers that she was involved with a few years back.

  • Samantha

    I was looking for a way to describe this book and the only thing I can come up with is fun. It's a fun book. It's not a serious discussion of baseball or even Alyssa Milano's life. It's just about being a fan. How to be one or how to be a better one. It talks about why she's a fan and gets you to think why are you a fan. I really enjoyed it. It's a very quick read and it will definitely get you in the mood for baseball season but it could be for any sport. I would highly recommend this to any female going to be sports fans and recommend it to any other fans as a fun quick read. Great beach book.

  • Cyndi

    Could relate 100% to Alyssa's passion for baseball and read many things I've either said or thought myself. Baseball is life, and she accurately expresses how baseball brings families together and how females have the same passion as males. Only complaint were the times she talks about sitting behind home plate, going to the club before a game, meeting players, etc. I consider myself a true fan but I'll never get that experience. She did a great job explaining how much baseball means but had moments where her stardom came through too much.

  • Will Plunkett

    I couldn't consider myself in her "know nothing about baseball" category, but there was quite a bit of history and statistics even I hadn't heard of before. She brings a different persepective to a sports book; mainly being someone who learned to love it by watching it with family in stadiums and on TV, rather than a former participant. And she didn't make any jokes about the Pittsburgh Pirates woes of recent years!

  • Mike

    Its taken me awhile to read this book, but all in all this was a very good read.

    This is a good book for any baseball fan, male and female, written not from a baseball insider, but a fan who happens to be a TV Star (Alyssa Milano). Its a very refreshing look at a former child star who made good for herself and who also gives us a first hand look at her love of baseball.

    Highly recommended for the baseball fan from any team.

  • Jerry

    The writer offers personal anecdotes about growing up in a family that loves baseball, and she describes why she became a baseball fan. The tone is conversational. She also offers strong opinions about the current state of the game --- drug problems, use of the designated hitter, etiquette for fans at the ballpark, and so forth.

    I enjoyed the humorous, yet insightful, perspectives and would recommend this book to any baseball fan.

  • Iris

    This book wasn't what I expected... I was thinking more autobiography with a thread of baseball. It was really the reverse, but still a very enjoyable read. I grew up watching baseball with dad, but admittedly as an adult I lost interest. However, as I finished the book tonight I find I'm left with a feeling that I should get back into it. Engaging story-telling here whether you're a major fan or not.

  • Ally

    If you are a woman and a baseball fan, you really can't go wrong here. While at times I found the book somewhat repetitive (and there were several spelling errors - she needs a better copy editor), her passion for baseball, and especially the Dodgers, is fantastic. As a Dodgers fanatic, I really related to much of this book. Also, it's a really quick read.

  • Alex Rivas

    This book seems to be written for new baseball fans, almost like the "ABC of Baseaball", or "Baseball for Dummies" and I mean it in the nice way.

    I like Alyssa but there is really little of her own life and lots on baseball rules and historical references that I wasn't expected to read, however it is not a boring read, so I gave it 2 stars.

    Alex

  • Jenna

    This books was fun. I liked the history of the game, and I felt that she really captured a lot of the reasons I like baseball (the reasons most "normal people" don't understand). I felt the writing was too wordy at times, and sometimes I felt she took too long to get to her point.

  • Dean

    Alyssa tells some interesting stories as a baseball fan from a woman's point of view. At a time when she and her father were in Los Angeles trying to get her career as a child actress started, her discovery of baseball and the Dodgers brought she and her father closer together.

  • Josh Skogman

    A quick read, but well done. Alyssa Milano shares her passion for baseball and why baseball is an important part of growing up in America. Reading this made me feel like spring was here (in January). Has a very "Field of Dreams" or "The Natural" nostalgia to it.

  • Brian123

    I absolutely loved this book. I am very inpressed. She intertwines history, life lessons, and just bringing people together through baseball. All things considered never judge a book by its cover.