Book review: Z-Man: Darren Zack
Reviewed by Karl Hele
Z-Man: Darren Zack is a brief biography of a world-renowned fastball pitcher from Garden River First Nation, Darren Zack. The book offers highlights of some key moments in Zack’s storied career.
It begins with his early days playing for the Garden River Braves in the late 1980s and follows him through to 2010 when Zack was inducted into the International Softball Congress Hall of Fame and the International Softball Federation’s Hall of Fame. Zack’s pitching helped his teams win multiple championships, whether he played for the Toronto Gators or Canada’s Softball team.
Some chapters offer glorious detail on the daily match-ups and outcomes during key tournaments. Readers also learn that Zack was never egotistical even though he dominated the sport from about 1990 to 2000. He always made time for fans and fellow players alike, with both referring to him as an ambassador for the game and remembering him for his humility and humanity.
By ending in 2010, however, the book has become dated. An updated edition is needed that continues to follow Zack’s playing and promoting of the sport in which he excels and truly loves. I would also like to see less of a blow-by-blow account with statistics and sport-caster style reporting dominating several chapters. Personally, this style loses the narrative of the biography. A tighter focus on Zack’s career, both on and off the field, would improve the book. Nonetheless, I recognize that devoted fastball fans will relish in the stats and narrative as it stands.
Overall, the little volume is a great introduction to one of the greatest fastball players in the world and offers lessons in sportsmanship, kindness, and overall fair play whether winning or losing. It is also a plus, from my perspective, that Z-Man is from Garden River!
John Thompson, Z-Man: Darren Zack. Waterloo, ON: Sports & Scholarships, 2010.
ISBN: 978-0-9739716-2-0