Long Schott: Building Homes, Dreams, and Baseball Teams Hardcover – June 21, 2022

I was hoping this would be a biography that included his construction businesses.

I loved that the author gave the reader an honest look at his life, his dreams and aspirations, and how he made them come true. A truly self-made man who wasn't afraid to think out of the box at times in order to procure his piece of the American Dream. Love all of the stories, from home building to baseball to life in general, and telling them in an entertaining way. Definitely recommend this book!

I love the movie Moneyball so I was drawn to read this book. It did not disappoint and Schott's story is inspirational. I just ordered another copy for a friend. That Paul DePodesta (the Jonah Hill character in the movie) wrote the forward should speak volumes about how good of a book this is.

As a Santa Clara grad, it was extra special to read this book. He’s an example of doing well and doing good. Great stories and lessons in these pages.

Schott gives a great description of the hard work he put in to achieve success. The writing style made it an enjoyable book. Well done!

Local boy makes good! (I also live in the SF Bay Area) I really enjoyed the chapter about the A's, as they are my favorite team! Parts one, two, six, seven and eight didn’t really capture my interest. Maybe it was the extremely short chapters, which seemed to interrupt the flow of the story telling. (overall, there are 50 chapters in this book!!!). And a whole chapter of Yankee stories? In an A’s book??? Vomit. And even worse, part Five - “Selling The A’s” - to the horrible man who still owns them today. Thanks a lot Steve…But worth the read for an A’s fan like me, especially the title of Chapter 17:“The Raiders and the Horror That is Mount Davis”Truer words were never spoken! “The Raiders screwed us royally from day one. They tore up the field every year. It was a mess.”“Some mistakes really bugged me. Like Giambi not sliding. And Tejada and Byrnes.” Me too Steve. Me too…Again, a good read for me, even if it did open a lot of old wounds. So many what if's and what could have been's... And why, oh why, didn't you slide Jeremy?

As an Oakland native, I have been following the colorful history of the A’s since their migration from Kansas City. This narrative by Steve Schott and John Shea provides a great accounting of behind the scenes information that the general public does not often have access to. As a previous reviewer noted, I found this work to be very entertaining and informative.

I truly enjoyed this book for many reasons including new insight into the A's Moneyball era, background on the professional sports history in the Bay Area that I didn't know about and especially the business side of the book in which Steve Schott explains how he overcame some setbacks early in his career to make enough money to buy a baseball team. I also enjoyed the chapter offering business tips. An easy read and a great use of quotations from a variety of people in every chapter.