5 comments about Dugout Days : Untold Tales and Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Career of Billy Martin.

1. This is a fascinating look at Billy Martin that works on two levels. First, it shows how Martin rose to the tops of the baseball managing ranks through his passionate love of the game. From his apprenticeship at the side of Casey Stengel through his later wanderings with second-rate teams, Martin was learning the game inside out so that when the opportunity came to manage, he was ready. Second, the book shows how Martin unleashed his knowledge as a manager. Through conversations with many of Martin's players, the author shows how Martin worked one on one with his players to inspire their best, and then fit those players together at the team level to orchestrate some amazing seasons. Players from the "Billyball" teams in Oakland (like Mike Heath and Mike Norris) and the "Turnaround Gang" in Texas (like Toby Harrah and Lenny Randle) offer fasicnating pictures of a man full of confidence, bravado, and knowledge, willing to do ANYTHING to win a ballgame. He created opportunities for success and pumped up his overachieving players to attack those opportunities. Billy's raw, energetic confidence emerges very clearly. Martin was certainly a fascinating character and leader, and that's readily clear in "Dugout Days".



2. DeMarco goes against coventional wisdom and appeals to the less visable side of the reading audience....the virtuous side! It's so easy to capture us with the picture of a man which the dotors of spin have firmly established....whether true or half true (which is another way to say false!) But Demarco elects not to take the easy way out. He goes to those who knew Billy personally and I'm not talking about a handful of cronnies but, rather, fourty plus former players and fellow managers. What we get for the more than hundred hours of interviews and research is the truth about Billy Martin....The GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY. However with the previous writters appealing to our ever hungry, "give me the dirt side", DeMarco focouses more on the former....the good. Much to my surprise and my "already spun" perception of this man, I found there was a great leader and,even more surprising, a soft side to this tough guy....a tremendous giver to the underdogs of life and an amazing spiritual side that was very real! I highly recomend this book for personal consumption you will be pleasantly surprised once you get past Billy's "cover". Well done DeMarco!



3. I guess the main reason this book was written was to provide a more balanced account of Billy Martin. He certainly had a number of people who didn't care for him and a number of derogatory stories have been told about him. This book relates experiences about people such as Willie Horton, Paul Blair, Rod Carew, Mike Heath, and others who had positive experiences regarding Billy Martin. Any manager has individuals who can tell both positive or negative stories about them so Martin would not be unique in this respect. I find Billy Martin to be an interesting individual to read about in baseball, but I found the book to have pretty much the same people commenting on him throughout. It is not a story of his life, but one that is told by those having positive experiences with him. I buy baseball books to save for my baseball library, but if I had the chance to do it again, this book would have remained in the bookstore. I found it to be repetitious and boring at times.



4. According to the subtitle, DeMarco provides "untold tales & leadership lessons from the extraordinary career of Billy Martin" and indeed he does. I am among those who saw Martin play for the New York Yankees and I later followed his career as a Major League manager of several different teams, including one in Texas where I now live. He always fascinated me. DeMarco draws certain appropriate comparisons between Martin and George S. Patton. Indeed, many of the same qualities which explain Martin's success in the dugout and Patton's success on the battlefield help to explain why both had so many problems elsewhere.

   Consider first Martin's and then Matt Keogh's explanation of "Billyball": "Just give me a little room, I'm going to take advantage of it. What the hell. When you're a leader, you have to lead. That's when you stick your neck out. Leaders ar not followers. They are innovators. They are gamblers. They're not afraid to take a chance, not afraid to fail....Billyball is nothing more than just aggressive, old-fashioned baseball where you're not afraid to make a mistake...forcing the opposition to make mental and physical mistakes. Going against the grain. Going after them all the time...Force the other team to execute perfectly...Always looking for an opportunity out there to create something. But get it quick. Right now. Not two innings from now." Now consider what what one of his former players, Matt Keough, has to say: "A definition of Billyball would be: What we did equaled making them worry. Talk about spitters and all that. stuff -- the whole thing was to create anxiety. And when you create anxiety, you beat 'em. That's all it was. He generated a tremendous amount of anxiety, because no one wanted to look stupid."

   Especially the younger members of teams which played "Billyball" under Martin's leadership usually performed above their talent levels. They developed a swagger, a brawler's mentality, and a hatred of losing. Meanwhile, the values and principles which drove Martin the player and manager suggest why he was fired eight times and divorced three times as well as why he initiated so many heated arguments which often resulted in a fight with an individual or a brawl involving both teams. According to DeMarco, Martin "was a great leader, but like General George Patton and General Douglas MacArthur, he was not a great employee." Indeed, Martin eventually (and inevitably) shredded every welcome mat which greeted him when he first assumed the manager's position with a series of teams which include the Minnesota Twins, the Detroit Tigers, the Texas Rangers, the New York Rangers, the Oakland Athletics, and finally once again the New York Yankees whose owner George Steinbrenner hired and fired him five different times. Martin seems to have been most effective when entrusted with relatively inexperienced and less-talented players, players more inclined to be deferential to him, although a few of his World Champion Yankee teams are among the best during the last 30 years.

   As indicated previously, the bulk of the material in this book is provided by 33 people who either played with or for Martin or were in some other way closely associated with him. All duly acknowledge Martin's flaws -- and some speak frankly about having been personally abused by Martin -- while suggesting (to a degree of agreement which surprised me) that Martin was also an uncommonly sensitive, thoughtful, loyal, generous, and (believe it or not) spiritual, if not precisely religious person. They knew him well, both in and out of the dugout; I knew of him only from a great distance and was almost wholly dependent upon how he was portrayed by the media.

   Near the end of his book, DeMarco includes some insightful comments by Paul Stoltz, author of The Adversity Quotient: "So many entrepreneurs and leaders have some of Billy's profile -- a nontraditional path, childhood adversity, being made fun of or ridiculed, and an uncompromising track record of relentlessness. This is the high AQ [Adversity Quotient) Climber profile. These people can really irritate....Thank God! Without them, this world would be far less interesting and rich. It is It is the Climbers who shape whatever game they are in. Once the wounds are healed and the hurt feelings mend, we remember the Climbers most fondly and admiringly for the impact they have had and legacy they left." The 33 provide "untold tales" and DeMarco suggests several "leadership lessons." Read the book and then take your own measure of Alfred Manuel Martin.




5. I found this to be an extrememly interesting baseball book, with numerous valuable insights regarding management as well. (By the way, Dugout Days perhaps should get a 5-star rating based on what I typically see in review, but I tend not to give 5 stars except for truly extraordinary books. This is, however, a very good book, well worth the money and time.)

   Dugout Days presents a great perspective on the legendary manager/player. DeMarco has interviewed scores of former players and teammates, lending the book a firsthand quality often missing from biographies, especially those in the sports field. Furthermore, the subject inherently adds some value to the equation, as Martin was an intriguing figure within one of sports' legendary franchises.

   From a business perspective, I consider Dugout Days better than most. (I generally am skeptical of the "business" book genre.) Whereas most other offerings pass off common sense observations as platitudes on how to succeed, etc., Dugout Days demonstrates a few key points with actual situations, how they were handled and what the results were. There is no sense of "stretching" to prove a point, thereby avoiding the bloat to which business writers succumb.

   I highly recommend the book for any baseball fan.

5 comments about Judge and Jury: The Life and Times of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis.

1. David Pietruza has written an extraordinary book about a complex, fascinating man. I always thought of Landis as a mostly eccentric showman. But Pietruza gives a portrait of a towering figure with a legacy extending far beyond baseball. I bought this thinking I'd find a good baseball book for the dead of winter; what I got was that and more. Landis' early life is particularly interesting. You don't have to be a baseball fan to enjoy "Judge and Jury." It's well worth the read.



2. Biographer Pietrusza has undertaken a significant task in this biography, and has done admirably. He has fully explored much of what molded Judge Landis, and explores in major league fashion his checkered career as a Federal Judge. The history of baseball, of which Landis was obviously an integral componet is well researched and covered. His interactions with the other greats of the game, like Ruth, Cobb and Rickey give good insight into his character and impact.

   The work does have one glaring deficciency, though. I must disagree with a fellow writer, with regard to the book's chronicle of Landis and the efforts to integrate the game. I rather felt that this (certainly the most significant of any shortcoming of his reign) was given less than adequate coverage by the author. Others have written more authoritatively (including first hand reporting of confrontations over the issue) about how intractable a foe Landis was of integration of the American pasttime. This book not only ignores almost all of these, but glosses over the issue in general with little more than an apologist's dismissal. From my perspective, this is an unpardonable transgression.

   All in all, though, certainly a book worth reading by anyone interested in either the history of the game, or an exploration of who those with significant power may wield it.




3. Someone once described Branch Rickey as a man of many facets, and they are all turned on. Much the same could describe baseball's first commissioner. Landis, being a baseball fan, appeared to make decisions which would benefit the game. An example would be delaying the Federal League court decision which could have changed the game radically. Rather than make a decision he didn't want to make, he delayed until a settlement could be made with the major leagues. He banned Shufflin' Phil Douglas when Douglas said he would go fishing rather than pitch a game for the Giants he would probably win. This was to get back at his manager, John McGraw, who gave him a vicious tongue lashing and had him given a so-called harsh drying out from alcohol abuse without his wife's knowledge as to his whereabouts. When asked by Landis his side of the story, Douglas didn't defend himself against McGraw's actions and just hung his head. Gambling wasn't a banishable offense prior to the Cobb/Speaker incident in 1927, and Landis seemed to let these two superstars off easy, whereas he was especially hard on Rogers Hornsby. The Rajah, who enjoyed attending the racetrack, stood up to Landis and said his wagering money at the racetrack was no different than Landis losing money in the stockmarket. An unfortunate character in the story is Jimmy O'Connell of the Giants. O'Connell, naively approached Heinie Sand of the Phillies about making it worth his while to lose a game against the Giants during the last week of the season. Sand, knowing what happened to Buck Weaver of the White Sox, reported the incident, and this led to O'Connell's banishment from the game. The sad part of this story is that O'Connell's teammates, Frank Frisch and Ross Youngs played a prank on O'Connell and Jimmy took it seriously. Frisch and Youngs, both Hall of Famers, were never punished. Landis's treatment of the eight Black Sox players would never be upheld today. His beginning statement, "Regardless of the verdict of juries..." tells it all. Landis would do what he wanted. He would never get away with that with either the ACLU or the players' union if they had one at that time. The author appears to defend Landis for his lack of action towards allowing blacks to play in the major leagues. Landis said he feared riots in ball parks if blacks were admitted. Maybe it was true that the time was not right, but he hid behind the tired response stating there was no rule prohibiting blacks from playing in the major leagues. Maybe not, but there was a "gentleman's agreement" that none would be signed. Some gentlemen! Landis was hired by the owners, but he didn't appear to respect them. He claimed to be a player's commissioner, and one way he showed that was in releasing players from the minor leagues that he felt covered up preventing their advancement. You really never knew what Landis' reaction would be to something. He could be very unpredictable with what he would do regarding an issue, and he seemed to play favorites regarding players. He didn't care for Branch Rickey, who he may have felt was hypocritical by playing the part of a preacher while doing things that Landis felt were self-serving. The Judge had his fights with J. G. Taylor Spink, the publisher of The Sporting News because a Saturday Evening Post article referred to Spink as Mr. Baseball and the conscience of baseball. There are some strong willed personalities in this book and the author does an excellent job of bringing this part of baseball and American history to life.



4. I rated this book a 5 because it captured the flavor of the Anabaptist spirit. His Mennonite heritage was outlined in the first part of the book. His character certainly was played out, as he mentioned the Landis Family is in the book of "Martyrs Mirror". This man definitely knew no compromise. It was evident that he was willing to help the underpriviledged. For anyone who knows Mennonite Philosophy he fits the ticket. I am not a baseball fan, but I did enjoy reading and seeing his character played out. Definitely worth reading.



5. Pietrusza's portrait of the Squire is not without its flaws. Typos are too frequent. Some words, like soon and merely, are used repetitiously; Hampton L. Carson is represented as "Hampton L. Carlson." Pietrusza also commits redundancies and is too enamored of stilted adverbial phrases. In addition, some readers will cringe at Pietrusza's space allocation: large sections are given over to explanations and clarifications of cases and issues where Landis's name fails to be mentioned, and substantial sections also deal with characters only peripherally associated with Landis.

1 comments about The Memoirs of Bing Devine: Stealing Lou Brock and Other Brilliant Moves by a Master G.M..

1. Bing Devine became the General Manager of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1958, and I fondly remember those Cardinals teams from the 1960's onward. We have heard about the Cardinals in books from Harry Caray, Jack Buck, Bob Gibson, Bob Broeg, and others. Missing has been the story of their marvelous General Manager, Bing Devine. Just as Bill Veeck will always be associated with Eddie Gaedel, Bing Devine will always be associated with the acquisition of Lou Brock from the Chicago Cubs in 1964 in exchange for pitcher Ernie Broglio. It was Devine that brought together the 1964 All-Star game starting infield of Boyer, Groat, Javier, and White. The latter three all acquired in trades by Devine. Devine provides us with his viewpoint of his mid-season firing in 1964 when his team then went on to win the National League pennant and the World Series against the Yankees. Manager Johnny Keane was to be fired at the end of the season, before the team fooled owner Gussie Busch and won it all. Devine also explains his tenious relationship with Branch Rickey who Mr. Busch had brought in as a "senior consultant." I knew that Mr. Busch was unhappy with GM Devine and manager Johnny Keane due to a problem with shortstop Dick Groat, but I never knew the reason for it. Groat was unhappy that Keane had taken away permission from Groat to use the hit-and-run play on his own. Busch got word there was a problem with Groat, but Devine, believing the problem had been solved, didn't tell Busch when Busch asked him if he had anything to tell him. Devine then went on to join the New York Mets for three years before being rehired again as GM of the Cardinals. Devine also explains his dislike of being ordered by Mr. Busch to trade pitchers Steve Carlton and Jerry Reuss against Devine's better judgment. Bing Devine does not bad mouth anybody in the book. He just gives his opinions regarding the trading of players, and his relationships with the people he has worked with over the years. As a measure of the respect Devine is held, he is now 88 years old and still is involved in an active capacity with his beloved Cardinals. St. Louis has a tremendous baseball tradition and history, and Bing Devine is responsible for a great part of it. Thank you, Mr. Devine, for this book. We needed to hear your viewpoint.

5 comments about One-Armed Wonder: Pete Gray, Wartime Baseball, and the American Dream.

1. As a boy growing up in the West German State of Hess, I came to admire the great national soccor league players of my time. Since coming to the States, I have learned something of The Great American Past time. While initially dubious of the tradition in this country of professional athletisism I, none the less felt proud to meet Mr. Pete Gray while travelling on extended vacation through the Pennsylvania Anthracite region, (my family owned and operated mines along the Ruhr prior to the war).

   Having overcome the obstacles inherent to anyone, of working with the deficiency of one limb, (most particuarly an athlete), Mr. Grays grim determation served as an inspiration to his generation.

   While sad that he is little remembered outside his own home town, Kashatus' book brings to us quite vividly his life and times.




2. As a boy growing up in the West German State of Hess, I came to admire the great national soccor league players of my time. Since coming to the States, I have learned something of The Great American Past time. While initially dubious of the tradition in this country of professional athletisism I, none the less felt proud to meet Mr. Pete Gray while ravelling on extended vacation through the Pennsylvania Anthracite region, (my family owned and operated mines along the Ruhr prior to the war).

   Having overcome the obstacles inherent to anyone, of working with the deficiency of one limb, (most particuarly an athlete), Mr. Grays grim determation served as an inspiration to his generation.

   While sad that he is little remembered outside his own home town, Kashatus' book brings to us quite vividly his life and times.




3. As a boy growing up in the West German State of Hess, I came to admire the great national soccor league players of my time. Since coming to the States, I have learned something of The Great American Past time. While initially dubious of the tradition in this country of professional athletisism I, none the less felt proud to meet Mr. Pete Gray while ravelling on extended vacation through the Pennsylvania Anthracite region, (my family owned and operated mines along the Ruhr prior to the war).

   Having overcome the obstacles inherent to anyone, of working with the deficiency of one limb, (most particuarly an athlete), Mr. Grays grim determation served as an inspiration to his generation.

   While sad that he is little remembered outside his own home town, Kashatus' book brings to us quite vividly his life and times.




4. AN EXCELLENT STORY ABOUT AN INCREDIBLE MAN. PETE IS A HERO IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD. THIS BOOK MAKES HIM HUMAN WITH FLAWS. I REALLY ADMIRE THIS AMAZING MAN. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE WHO NEEDS SOME MOTIVATION TO ACCOMPLISH THINGS IN THEIR LIFE. I AM GLAD TO SEE THIS MAN GET THE ATTENTION HE RICHLY DESERVES FOR AN INCREDIBLE FEAT. HE PLAYED BETTER THAN MEN WITH 2 ARMS. IN ANY LEAGUE HE PLAYED, PETE IS A HALL OF FAMER.



5. When Pete Gray reached the St. Louis Browns in 1945, the team was coming off the only pennant-winning season in its history. This fine biography by veteran baseball historian William C. Kashatus relates the story of Gray before, during, and after his stint with the Browns. Sportswriters dubbed Gray the "one-armed wonder." Born Peter J. Wyshner in the grimy coal-mining town of Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, Gray at age six lost his right arm in a farming accident. He showed remarkable perseverance, however, and pursued sports with a zeal born of adversity. He overcame his handicap to play semi-pro and later professional ball. In 1943 and 1944 he stared for the Class A Southern Association's Memphis Chicks. In 1944 he hit .333, drove in sixty runs, stole sixty-three bases, led the league in fielding percentage, and was voted the Southern Association's most valuable player. While his handicap certainly raised questions about his ability to play in the major league, his 1944 performance earned him a serious look and the Browns acquired his contract for $20,000. Manager Luke Sewell viewed Gray as a sparkplug whose bat and speed would stimulate the Browns' pitiful offense. His strong fielding could only help in the outfield. The Browns' owner believed the one-armed outfielder would also be a gate attraction, especially for thousands of soldiers returning from World War II with handicaps just as significant as Gray's.
   
   For his part, Gray understood that he was something of a token acquisition for the team, but he believed he could help the perennial American League doormat. And Gray had some spectacular moments, as Kashatus relates. He beat the Tigers all by himself during their first meeting of the season. A reporter with the "Detroit News" opined in June 1945 that no one could any longer be suspicious of the Browns' owner for "hiring the outfielder for box office purposes. That he helps the gate receipts is inevitable, but that he helped the Browns win games now is evident to all who have watched him play." And he did help at the gate. By July 1945 the Browns had won over many die-hard Cardinals fans because of the sympathy and excitement generated by Gray's presence in a Browns uniform.
   
   Unfortunately for Gray and the Browns, the "one-armed wonder" could not sustain his early season success. Once opposing pitchers found his weakness they were merciless. Since he had only one arm he had to start the bat earlier than most other hitters and had less control over it once he began his swing. He had become a star in the Southern Association by murdering fast balls, and he could hit big league ones as well, but he had trouble with curves and change-ups because of his difficulty in altering the bat during his swing. Appearing in seventy-seven games for the Browns, Gray batted only .218 with fifty-one hits in 234 plate appearances. Sewell finally benched him when his hitting tapered off.
   
   In an irony of the first magnitude, the noble experiment of giving a one-armed ballplayer a major league opportunity may have actually cost the Browns the pennant. While his teammates admired Gray's courage and resolution in overcoming a handicap, several blamed their third-place finish on him. According to third baseman Mark Christman: "Pete did a great job with what he had. But he cost us the pennant in 1945. We finished third, only six games out. There were an awful lot of ground balls hit to center field. When the kids who hit those balls were pretty good runners, they could keep on going and wind up at second base [because Gray could not throw the ball in as fast as a two-armed player]. I know that lost us eight or ten ball games because it took away the double play or somebody would single and the runner on second would score, where if he had been on first it would take two hits to get him to score."
   
   When the Browns' 1945 season ended, so did the major league career of Pete Gray. Thereafter he played with several minor league clubs all over the country but retired to his hometown of Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, in 1949. He finally died in 2002, but was still alive when Kashatus wrote this short biography and oral histories provided much of the information contained in this work.

5 comments about Rogers Hornsby: A Biography.

1. Alexander captures Hornsby and his times perfectly. While not as readable as the author's previous "Ty Cobb", this is due more to Hornsby's general colorlessness than in Alexander's writing. As enigmatic as Hornsby was, Alexander does a great job in telling the life of the man who hit for the highest average in the 20th century.



2. This is the third book I've read by Alexander, which I suppose is evidence that his books are readable.

   In the end they all share the same strengths and weaknesses.

   For a straightforward narrative of the key points of Hornsby's career and life, this is perfectly OK.

   But the book really stays on the surface. For example, there is never any in-depth discussion of techniques of batting or fielding. It's like reading a book on Napoleon without finding anything about the nature of warfare in the period.

   Also, there is very little meangingful discussion of Hornsby's relative baseball greatness. Alexander doesn't need to become a zealous SABRmetrician, but some basic statistics about Hornsby and others (beyond saying what the average batting average for the league was in a given year) seems called for. Alexander doesn't even include a table or appendix with Hornsby's basic statistics.

   I've given this 3 stars, because for the general reader it's OK. If I were rating it as serious history, I'd give it a 1. You come away from this book unaware that there have been lots of serious books written about baseball and its relation to society. Alexander's attempts to provide historical context are embarassing--on the order of, "The same continued hot, dry weather than made the Great Plains a Dust Bowl was present on Opening Day 1936 [my paraphrase, to be honest]".

   In short, there is the same strain of intellectual laziness in this book that I saw in his others.




3. This is an outstanding biography of the hitting machine, Rogers Hornsby, perhaps the greatest right-handed hitter in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB). The story that Charles C. Alexander tells explores the rise and fall of this remarkable baseball player, an individual who could work magic on the diamond but had real difficulty off of it.
   
   Signed out of Texas to the St. Louis Cardinals, he had a "cup-of-coffee" with the team at the end of the 1915 season, hitting a measly .246. Hardly a stellar debut, but after working hard all winter the next year Hornsby made the Cardinals and batted .313 while becoming the everyday second baseman. He went on to compile a career batting average of .358 and established the highest single season batting average when he hit .424 for the Cards in 1924. Indeed, from 1921-1925, Rogers' overall batting average was .402, a truly amazing accomplishment. In 1925 Hornsby became player-manager of the Cardinals and the next year his team captured its first National League pennant by edging Cincinnati in the final week of the season after an August spurt had shot them into pennant contention. The season was made perfect by the Cards' first victory in the World Series, coming at the expense of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and the rest of the New York Yankees.
   
   Always an abrasive force on the Cardinals, the year after his World Series success the owner shipped him off to the New York Giants for Frankie Frisch and Jimmy Ring. It was only the first time in which Hornsby's personality led to adversity for him. But there was room for only one massive ego on the Giants and within a short time manager John J. McGraw shipped him to the Boston Braves. From there he went to the Chicago Cubs, back to the Cardinals, and then to the St. Louis Browns. He finally retired in 1937. Hornsby lived another 26 years after retiring from MLB, always hovering around the fringes of it but never truly a part of it. He eventually died in 1963, bitter about his fate.
   
   Charles C. Alexander is an outstanding historian, the author of several other books on baseball as well as on other subjects. This is a superb addition to his path-breaking series of studies on a range of subjects.



4. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I thought the author did a marvelous job of capturing the essence of Rogers Hornsby's personality, warts and all. By the time I finished it, I felt that I really knew what Hornsby was like.
   
   I also had a small personal connection to Hornsby that served to increase my enjoyment of this book. When I was ten years old in 1960, living in the Chicago suburb of Lincolnwood, my grandfather, who was retired and living with my family, somehow became friends with Rogers Hornsby. What was the one common interest that brought these two guys together? You guessed it - playing the horses! Almost everyday, from the time they met in 1960 until Hornsby died in 1963, he would drive his car to our house, and then ride together with my grandfather in my grandfather's car to Arlington Park Race Track. Knowing of my love for baseball even at the age of ten, my grandfather introduced me to Mr. Hornsby and even had him sign a baseball for me - unfortunately long since lost! I also spoke to him numerous times on the phone when he called our house.
   
   Mr. Alexander makes it vividly clear that, other than his love for baseball, the major constant in Hornsby's live was his addiction to playing the horses. It's now very clear to me why these two old codgers became fast friends - their love of horseracing.



5. Just like his book on Cobb, Alexander's bio on Hornsby is excellent. What I especially like about it is that the author provided considerable info. on Hornsby's personal life during and after his career as a player. I don't feel that Hornsby was "colorless." He had an abrasive, stubborn insensitive personality and his interests were generally confined to baseball and horseracing. Still he managed several major league teams and married three times. I think Alexander really captured the essence of Hornsby. you were actually able to feel Hornsby's one track obsession with baseball and human failings that his contemporaries saw. If Hornsby had been able to contain his horseracing gambling addiction, he would have become a wealthy man after he retired as a player instead of struggling. Yet Hornsby was always able to find someone- in baseball or out to hire him.
   
   The author's writing style makes for an easy read. Alexander's research is excellent. This includes interviews with players who played for him. There's just enough detail about his career to make the chronology of his baseball career complete- without a boring recitation of every game he played. And in contrast to one reviewer, I don't find the author's omission of Hornsby's baseball statistics or discussion of his saber metrics a problem at all. There are many other sources for such information.

3 comments about Honus Wagner: The Life of Baseball's "Flying Dutchman".

1. With detail and documentation Arthur D. Hitner offers insight into the life and times of Honus Wagner of the Pittsburgh Pirates, baseball's greatest shortstop.This book is academic and entertaining.



2. There are a few books around about Honus Wagner - this is the one to get.
   
   Read a detailed review of this Seymour Award winning book at haroldseymour.com. Or copy and paste the name of the book and "Review" into Google to find it.
   
   Also, be sure to click on the Editorial Reviews link above. There are lots of positive comments there, and it's easy to miss.



3. I bought this book because I'm a baseball fan (Pirates and Red Sox) and decided to learn more about Honus Wagner, one of the greatest players who every played the game. This book isn't quite what I expected. The short 5-star reviews of this book significantly overrate it in my opinion. After reading through it, I realize that surprisingly little is actually known about Wagner. This may well be, in large part, due to his quiet personality off the field. About 1/3 of this book is dedicated to Wagner and his life as a ballplayer, about 1/3 to the early history of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and 1/3 to the early history of baseball in general.
   
   There are several reasons that I only give this book only three stars. First, the vast majority of the book discusses each baseball season. Each chapter corresponds to roughly one season of Wagner's career. There really isn't a great deal about Wagner as a person. It is written as if the author was going through the newspaper clippings for each series throughout the year and summarizes the interesting events. Wagner's contributions (both positive and negative) are highlighted, as well as the Pirates place in the standings, and the goings on of the other teams (particularly the best teams like the Giants and Cubs). I found this narrative style to be very dry, and it is likely to appeal only to really hardcore baseball fanatics. Second, beyond the box score exploits, there isn't a great deal of info about Wagner. I learned that he was shy, loved to fish and hunt, his family immigrated to the US from Germany, he lived in Carnegie, PA, he loved cars, and that is largely it. This is no criticism of the author, I just get the impression that there really isn't much known about Wagner. Third, at nearly $30 for a paperback, I can't recommend this to any but the most serious fans. Most people aren't going to be returning to this again and again.
   
   Bottom line - there is a lot of info in this book about Wagner's exploits on the field and the dead-ball era of baseball more generally, but this is only a book for the most serious students of the history of the game. I learned a great deal from this book and am happy that I read it, but I would recommend to others with caution.

5 comments about Jackie's Nine: Jackie Robinson's Values to Live By.

1. Jackie's Nine is broken down into values rather than chapters. Each is a true value that Jackie Robinson lived by. His daughter, Sharon, also lived by them after his death. Jackie was a great baseball player of his time who fought for his rights to play ball. Sharon shares his stories and other people's stories of courage, determination, teamwork, persistence, integrity, citizenship, justice, commitment, and excellence. Sharon uses flashbacks of when Jackie first started playing Major League baseball and of her childhood days to explain some of the values. I feel this would be a good book for baseball lovers and young adults. It is a good book that helps people understand what Jackie's family went through when he started to play Major League baseball. This book is unique because it not only tells Jackie's values of life, but it demonstrates other famous people who share similar values. I enjoyed this book because I learned a lot more about Jackie Robinson and other celebrities such as Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan. Athletes of all kinds can come to enjoy Jackie's Nine.



2. Jackie's Nine is broken down into values rather than chapters. Each is a true value that Jackie Robinson lived by. His daughter, Sharon, also lived by them after his death. Jackie was a great baseball player of all time who fought for his rights to play. Sharon shares his stories and many other people's stories of courage, determination, teamwork, persistence, integrity, citizenship, justice, commitment, and excellence. Sharon uses flashbacks of when Jackie first started playing ball and of her childhood days to explain some of the values. I feel this would be a good book for baseball lovers and young adults. It is a good book that helps people understand what Jackie's family went through when he started to play Major League baseball. This book is unique because it not only tells about Jackie's values, but it demonstrates other famous people who share similar values. I enjoyed this book because I learned a lot more about Jackie Robinson and other celebrities such as Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan. Athletes of all kinds can come to enjoy Jackie's Nine.



3. It is Jackie Robinson's daughter Sharon who first came up with "Jackie's Nine" as part of an educational program called "Breaking Barriers: In Sports, In Life," an in school program supported by Major League Baseball, which used baseball-themed activities as teaching tools. These nine values are the ones that Sharon Robinson sees as being instrumental in her father's life, a subject which she has written about previously in her family biography "Stealing Home: An Intimate Portrait of Jackie Robinson." She picked nine because a baseball team has nine players and a game is nine innings long.
   
   As far as I am concerned Jackie Robinson and Babe Ruth are the two most important sports figures of the 20th century from the perspective of their impact on society. My argument would be that the popularity of other athletes like Muhammed Ali and Michael Jordan are separate issues from their social significance. You can claim such stars are, in a way, the Babe Ruths of their day, and while Ali and Jordan may well be more popular around the world than the Babe ever was, Jackie Robinson has a legacy that can not even be approached, let alone be equaled (I remember that Larry Doby was the first African American to play in the American League, but I could not tell you who broke the color barrier in the NBA or NFL.). We can argue about who is "best," but who is "first" is a much easier argument to make.
   
   "Jackie's Nine" is essentially an anthology, which includes autobiographical passages from both Jackie Robinson and his daughter as well as profiles of people she sees as carrying on her father's legacy in terms of each of the nine values: (1) Courage: Elizabeth Eckford; (2) Determination: Christopher Reeve; (3) Teamwork: Pee Wee Reese and David Robinson (her brother, not the basketball player); (4) Persistence: Roberto Clemente; (5) Integrity: Muhammed Ali; (6) Citizenship: Marian Wright Edelman; (7) Justice: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; (8) Commitment: Rachel Robinson; and (9) Excellence: Michael Jordan and Oprah Winfrey. This book also includes the eulogy for Jackie Robinson delivered by the Reverend Jesse Jackson.
   
   "Jackie's Nine: Jackie Robinson's Values to Live By" is what I think of as a nightstand book, where you read a section each night before going to sleep because it is beneficial to mull over each of the values and how they manifested themselves in the public careers of Jackie Robinson and these others. Of course, then it becomes impossible not to consider how your own live exhibits these values (or fails to). This is not a book that preaches, but rather one that tries to makes it point by example. Do not be surprised if after reading "Jackie's Nine" you are not interested in reading all of "I Never Had It Made" by Jackie Robinson, "Stealing Home" by Sharon Robinson, "Still Me" by Christopher Reeve, " or any of the dozen books from which excerpts are drawn for this volume.



4. "A Hero for Everyone"
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   Reviewed by Joseph Rosenberg
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   Jackie's Nine: Jackie Robinson's Values to Live By
   
   written by Sharon Robinson
   Scholastic, 2001
   
   On August 25, 1945 a scant three weeks after the atomic bomb destroyed the city of Hiroshima, Jackie Robinson sat down in an office at 215 Montague Street in Brooklyn, NY and signed a contract to play baseball with the Montreal Royals, liberating a nation divided by pigmentation from its own horrific past.
   
   This book, written by Robinson's daughter, is a simple primer of the values this man lived by in his too-short life: courage, determination, teamwork, persistence, integrity, citizenship, justice, commitment and excellence.
   
   Every chapter explains how each of these values was a part of the author's and her father's life, using as examples events or writings from other people Ms. Robinson considers heroic. Although aimed at young adults, the book's 181 pages have a message for anyone who seeks meaning from a less-than-ideal world.
   
   At first Jackie Robinson's courageous efforts as a baseball player were like a paper-cut on the segregated, bigoted American psyche. As his career progressed and the African-American athlete became accepted by his peers, the press and the public, the paper-cut became deeper and deeper, until at last Martin and Malcolm and their followers shamed the white establishment into making the lovely words of the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the rest of the Constitution into a reality.
   
   Jack Roosevelt Robinson started a process that still evolves and resonates in our lives.
   
   I grew up in Brooklyn, and my first memories as a Dodger fan are of rooting for them in 1950, when they lost out on the last day of the season to the Philadelphia Phillies. The next year, when I was 9, I started going to the public library and began taking out books on baseball and my hero, Jackie Robinson.
   
   I recall the day when I went to check out about a half-dozen books on Robinson, and the lady stamping my books looked at the name on my library card and said, "Figures, all of youse is just nigger lovers." This was not Mississippi, but nice Jewish and Italian Bensonhurst. Somehow, I felt like I was not fitting in.
   
   Later, as an adult, I read in Roger Kahn's books how in the very conservative Dodger clubhouse, Jackie Robinson warmly greeted Edward R. Murrow, another hero, while owner Walter O'Malley openly wondered why such a "pinko" was in his house.
   
   Now revisionists say that Branch Rickey just signed Robinson so he could line his pockets with revenue from African-American fans and that Robinson himself was a chronic malcontent. The truth is that Rickey sowed the seeds of his own demise in a power struggle with Walter O'Malley, who forced him out of the Dodgers in 1950 because O'Malley implied Rickey destroyed the status quo of baseball and angered its establishment.
   
   After two years of silence, the same man who battled the US Army about a seat on a bus, who was an All-American football player, basketball and track star, showed that he could fight back and hold his own with anyone.
   
   I recall seeing him recently on an old episode of "Happy Felton's Knothole Gang," a show that aired before Dodger home games. There, some kids catch and throw, and the best get to play catch with a favorite Dodger. In this episode, a young Italian kid won the right to chat up Jackie Robinson and asked him a complicated question about the infield fly rule. With a slight smile on his face and in a "man to man manner," Robinson answers the question, looking the kid and the camera right in the eye.
   
   In the same forthright manner, I remember Robinson explaining in 1960 why he backed Nixon, and later how he was interested in Black enterprise, and finally, in his last appearance at the 1972 World Series, saying he'd be really satisfied if he saw a Black face in the third base coaching box.
   
   I believe it was Rickey Henderson, in many ways a poster child for the immature, unaware athlete, who, when asked about Jackie Robinson, answered that he was nothing special, that he was doing what a Jackie Robinson was supposed to do.
   
   No, Rickey. You are wrong.
   
   I remember Jackie Robinson following Bobby Thompson around the bases in the Polo Grounds in 1951, making sure he touched every one. I remember him stealing home in the 1955 World Series, the only World Series the Brooklyn Dodgers won against the lily-white Yankees. His autobiography, exerpted in this book was titled I Never Had it Made.
   
   And I remember reading about an old bearded man in Ebbets Field one day shouting, when Robinson delivered a game-winning hit, "Yankel, Yankel, atta boychick, mein hero!"
   
   Kids like me worshipped the Dodgers, the Willie Mays/Monte Irvin Giants, the Larry Doby/Satchel Paige/Luke Easter Cleveland Indians.
   
   It is a shame the institution of the Negro Leagues was destroyed by baseball's integration. But many good institutions like black-only academies were harmed by the growth of integration.
   
   Some Englishmen said the leaders of WWI were forged on the playing fields of Eton. The values of a progressive post-war America were formed on the hard chairs of Ebbets Field, the Polo Grounds and other places where we were exposed to people like Jack Roosevelt Robinson, and the values he has come to represent.
   
   They called Jackie Robinson "Ty Cobb in Technicolor," but to me Cobb was just a monochromatic, self-absorbed egoist compared to the self-sacrificing, most important athlete of our times, Mein hero.
   
   
   
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5. Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play in Major League Baseball since the nineteenth century. He had to deal with much criticism and harsh environments because some of the United Sates was still segregated. Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia, on January 31, 1919, the youngest of five children of Jerry and Mallie Robinson. He grew up in Pasadena, California and lettered in football, baseball, basketball and track at UCLA. He was widely regarded as the finest all-around athlete in the United States at that time. After three years in the Army, he played with the Kansas City Monarchs of the American Negro Leagues in 1945. Later that year, in a historic move that ended decades of discrimination against blacks in baseball, he signed a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization. After a successful season in 1946 with its farm club, the Montreal Royals, he became the first black player in the Major Leagues since the nineteenth century. I would really recommend this book because it is very interesting and has many morals in it.
   I like this book because of the character traits shown. There are nine chapters in this book and each has one character trait. There are nine character traits: courage, determination, teamwork, persistence, integrity, citizenship, justice, commitment, and excellence, which are explained thoroughly. In each of the chapters there are three sections. Most of the time there is one written by the author, Sharon Robinson, one written by Jackie Robinson himself, and one written by another famous leader that elaborates on the character trait. They all give an example of them showing this trait and say how it is good.
   I also like the stories told in this book. There are many stories told about the character trait written by different people. There is one written by Christopher Reeves, Martin Luther King Jr., and Roberto Clemente. All of them include elaboration about why it is good to show that trait and a story of when they showed that trait. Sharon Robinson, the author of the book, had many stories being that she is Jackie Robinson's daughter. She had hard times sometimes because of the segregation so she writes about them and how she still showed the character traits to get through it.
   Finally I like the characters in this novel. The most important one is Jackie Robinson. Jackie Robinson was such a great leader to all African Americans pursuing a goal because even through all of the hard times he had and all of the nonsense he had to go through he still showed great integrity to not let it get to him. He fought through many obstacles to get to where he is now and that says a lot about him and to any other minority pursuing a goal.
   This book has lots of good knowledge that the reader can achieve about being a better person. It shows that through all of the good and bad you can still come out on top. It shows how being determined can get you anywhere you want to go and how striving for excellence can take you to far places beyond your dreams. I would highly recommend this book to anybody because of the character traits shown and how it teaches you to become a better person.
   
   - Byron N.

1 comments about George Brett : A Royal Hero.

1. THIS IS A VERY NICE COLLECTION OF HIGHLIGHTS AND LOWLIGHTS CONCERNING THE CAREER OF SUPERSTAR GEORGE BRETT. IT HAS A NICE AMOUNT OF SHORT STORIES AND FACTS FOLLOWING HIS AMAZING CAREER FROM HIS FIRST YEAR IN THE MINORS TO HIS INDUCTION TO COOPERSTOWN. IT IS KINDA SHORT NOT HIGH ON DETAIL BUT HIGH ON CONTENT AND FACTS CONCERNING MR BRETT. I LIKED IT AND RECOMMEND IT FOR ALL BASEBALL FANS WHO MIGHT LIKE TO READ ABOUT THE PINE TAR INCIDENT, ALMOST HITTING FOR A 400 BATTING AVG, AND MANY OTHER FACTS IN HIS GREAT CAREER. WELL WORTH READING.

2 comments about Ted Williams: Reflections on a Splendid Life (Sportstown Series).

1. Compiled and edited by lifelong Boston Red Sox fan Lawrence Baldassaro (who is also Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), Reflections On A Splendid Life: Ted Williams is a remarkable tribute to the talented baseball player who won six batting titles and two Triple Crowns, and in 1941, was the last player to hit over .400. In addition to his legend on the baseball field, he served as a fighter pilot in World War II and worked on behalf of the Jimmy Fund to fight against cancer in children. Reflections On A Splendid Life collects writings and photographs of Williams, from his rookie year in 1939 to his death in July 2002. Articles by sportswriters, best-selling authors, and those who knew and respected the remarkable Ted Williams fill the pages of this one-of-a-kind compilation. This is a "must read" for all Ted Williams fans!



2. Im 17 years old and hardly pick up a book , but I couldnt seem to put this one down , I find myself reading this book 3 hours a day. These are all articles of Ted Williams life that go in order from when he was a young kid to a old man. Its not just about his baseball side , but also about his love of fishing and who he really is behind the baseball image. It doesnt just tell you that he did something but how he did it ( dislike fans , visited kids in hospital , hate writers , sent money to his father even know he hadnt seen him in over 10 years , and why he was so generous to others ). Ive read alot about Ted Williams but I learned alot more about him in this book. I highly reccomend this book to anyone whos interested in " The Kid "

2 comments about Junior: Griffey on Griffey.

1. This book was a nice look at Ken Griffey Jr.'s life through photographs. The photos are awesome and the whole book was super, Indeed, one of my all time favorite books!



2. Book was delivered as described. Nothing on him from the Reds since this book was written before he joined. Great pictures, however.