Fish Stripes Book Review: Armand Rosamilia takes you inside the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville

“A View From My Seat: My Baseball Season With The Jumbo Shrimp” is now available.

By Jesse Nieves Aug 3, 2018, 10:00am EDT

If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Published this past April, “A View From My Seat: My Baseball Season With The Jumbo Shrimp” was written by Armand Rosamilia based on his experiences as a 2017 season ticket holder for the Marlins Double-A affiliate. In addition to recapping the action on the field, Rosamilia also intertwines history lessons and anecdotes from his personal life.

The author’s love for baseball jumps off the pages and pulls you deeper into the information that is being relayed. The strong family bond Rosamilia has with the game helps add a layer of depth to the book. Readers get to reminisce about the Jumbo Shrimp’s season—which included big performances from Brian Anderson, John Norwood, Dillon Peters and Trevor Richards—while also understanding the moments and memories that helped shape a life-long baseball fan.

Early on in the book, you learn how dedicated the Rosamilla family is to baseball. The author is a Boston Red Sox fan, while his mother is a New York Yankees fan and his father roots for the Detroit Tigers. The pure love for baseball resonates throughout the book. The first interview in the book is from Rosamilia’s wife, who made the decision to purchase Jumbo Shrimp season tickets. One moment that stuck with me was when she tries to accept the affiliate’s rebranding:

“But the Suns have been the Suns for as long as i can remember. Not that I had any attachment to them or cared, but they were always the Suns. When they changed the name, I did what so many other locals did who never really went to games or followed the team and I got territorial about not wanting them to change it.”

I personally felt the same way when the Florida Marlins became the Miami Marlins. Many baseball fans go through this when a team changes its look or name and this just showed how genuine the feelings were in the book.

Rosamilia got to interview a number of Jacksonville players, each with their own unique insight into what everyday life is like in the minor leagues. The reader gets to follow the progress of Anderson, Richards, Tayron Guerrero and others at a critical stage in their careers. It’s satisfying to look back on them a year later and know their hard work paid off.

Baseball fans will take to this book because it goes beyond the athlete’s perspective and takes them behind the scenes of operating a team. Owner Ken Babby, general manager Harold Craw and manager Randy Ready were among those who described their responsibilities. Additional interviews with sales representatives, broadcasters, promotions/special events and concessions personnel prove to be equally fascinating.

By the end of the book, readers will feel deeply invested in the Jumbo Shrimp organization. The author answers questions with the kind of specificity that nobody else can. Who would not wanna know what actually happens during a rain delay?

The passion that Rosamilia has for baseball and this Marlins affiliate makes for a fun and interesting read.

Armand Rosamilia writes stories in many other genres, including horror, zombies, contemporary fiction, thrillers and more. You can browse all his work on Amazon. The Jumbo Shrimp also carry copies of this book at the Souvenir Shop.