It's Gone!... No, Wait a Minute . .: Talking My Way Into the Big Leagues at 40

Levine was chief writer and co-producer of the TV series M*A*S*H and Cheers when he set out to achieve his secret ambition to become a baseball broadcaster. After working in minor league cities, he was tapped to be the second banana on WBAL Radio in Baltimore in 1991, covering the Oriole games. He stayed for one season (he moved to Seattle, home to the Mariners), the subject of this uneven book. When discussing the personalities of his colleagues and members of the team, he is generous and tolerant of human frailty; when writing about the athletes' performances on the field, Levine becomes contemptuous. His weepy accounts of parting from his family, which he did dozens of times during the season, are annoying. The book is far less impressive than Levine's work for the tube. Author tour. (Mar.)