2 comments about Still A Legend: The Story of Roger Maris.

1. As a teenager at Busch Stadium I thrilled to watch Roger Maris play right field during two Cardinal championship seasons. In "Still A Legend" I was introduced to the man wearing number "9". In this work, Harvey Rosenfeld does a good job at projecting the whole Roger Maris. Comparable emphasis is given to Maris the baseball player, Maris the family man, Maris the son of Fargo and Maris the faithful Catholic.
   
   Roger Maris grew up an Fargo, North Dakota where he attended Catholic schools and met his wife, Pat, while developing into a great baseball star. After the minor leagues, Roger continued his march to stardom as a Cleveland Indian and a Kansas City Athletic. Even in Cleveland he was regarded as a surly loner.
   
   After his playing time in his adopted home of Kansas City, Roger was ready for the Yankee pinstripes but not for the glare of the New York press. Although he changed teams, Roger retained a privacy which would forever bar the press from his world and would limit his enjoyment of public adulation. The press would demonize Roger in his pursuit of Babe Ruth's record, while manufacturing the legend of a feud between himself and his roommate, Mickey Mantle.
   
   Throughout the ups and downs of his stormy and injury plagued career, Roger retained his love of baseball which was damped only during the most severe of the onslaughts by fans and media.
   
   This book wears its themes on its sleeve. The main themes are that Roger was not properly appreciated, his purported surliness was merely a justified demand for privacy and that he has been unjustly denied admission into the Hall Of Fame.
   
   Although written by an obvious fan, this book does not do justice to Roger Maris. Too often the story degenerates into a litany of quotes from Roger, his teammates, friends and detractors to be classified as good writing. The sections dealing with the media bias and the injustice of his exclusion from the Hall Of Fame run on too long. This book is more editorial than biography. Still, this book tells much about Roger Maris. It also tells us much about ourselves, the fans. Yankee fans booed the Roger Maris whom they regarded a surly usurper. By contrast, Cardinal fans loved Jolly Roger. This is in keeping with our reputation as the greatest fans in baseball. The story of how the Cardinals restored Roger's enjoyment of the game and delayed his retirement for two years confirm the stories I remember from the time. It is too bad that Roger did not become a Cardinal in 1960. He could have been as big as Mark McGwire.



2. You said he could have been as big as Mark McGuire? I do not thing Roger took steroids my friend!!!!!!!!!!!!

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 Recovering Life.

1. Darryl's and Charisse Strawberry 's book is a touching and true story of what a proffessional athlete has to deal with beyond the game. I played baseball with Straw in St. Paul when he was a Saint - trying to get back to the bigs, and I feel lucky to call him a friend.. too many people are ready to judge a man from the outside without gettting to know him on the inside.. We all deserve a 2nd chance and even a 3rd and 4th chance sometimes... Recovering Life talks about the struggles.. the defeats and the tiny victories along the way - for a husband and wife who truely shared love and conqured addiction.. disease and depression... this is a great book by a good man



2. This story is in no way diminished by the relapses that Strawberry deals with in life. The title is "Recovering Life" and "recovering" is an on-going process. Read the book, join the battle, root and pray for The Straw and all the rest who battle with addictions. The game isn't over until its over,(and I don't mean baseball).



3. I AM DUMBFOUNDED AFTER READING THIS BOOK ABOUT ANOTHER VICTIM, THAT PEOPLE FEEL SORRY FOR HIM AFTER HE BROKE THE LAW MORE THAN ONCE.I AM SORRY ABOUT HIS CANCER BECAUSE NO ONE DESERVES THAT, BUT THIS MAN HAS HAD MANY CHANCES TO BE A GREAT ONE AND HE BLEW IT. FOR THAT,I AM NOT BUYING INTO THE SO-CALLED COURAGE THIS COUPLE HAS HAD TO ENDURE BECAUSE IT WAS OF HIS OWN DOING.LIKE BILL CLINTON,WE SHOULD ALL FORGIVE HIM WHILE HE GOES THROUGH HIS PROCESS.WHAT HAVE WE AS A NATION BECOME.



4. Knowing what was going on in this mans life, this book was a chance to make money and not a true reflection of what he was really doing in his life. This book and the dishonesty involved in telling this story was only the beginning of Darryl's dishonesty with his peers and the public but most of all with himself and those he was hurting. I can only hope and pray this family is finally getting honest, once and for all to save his life.



5. I was surprised this book did not mention anything about baseball playing chickens.

2 comments about Streak: Joe DiMaggio and the Summer of '41.

1. THIS IS ABOUT THE LONGEST HITTING STREAK IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASBALL HISTORY AND SOME OF THE EVENTS DURING 1941. THE AUTHOR GIVES US A GOOD LOOK AT EACH GAME DURING THE STREAK AND A GREAT DEAL OF DETAIL CONCERNING THE EVENTS LEADING TO WORLD WAR II. HE DOES A VERY GOOD JOB AND KEEPS MY INTERST WHEN HE STICKS TO THE STREAK AND WHAT DIMAG DID DURING EACH AT BAT. BUT HE ALSO INCLUDES TOO MUCH DETAIL ABOUT WORLD EVENTS WHICH BECOME TEDIOUS AND REPETITITVE. I RECOMMEND THIS FOR HISTORY BUFFS OF BASEBALL.



2. Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak in 1941 has long been one of sports most hallowed accomplishments, and one which it seems may never be equalled. Author Michael Seidel examines the streak game-by-game, detailing not just the exploits of DiMaggio, but also the events of the world at that time, especially the escalation of World War II. From the news of the sinking of the Egyptian steamer Zamzam with 138 Americans aboard to violinist Fritz Kriesler walking for the first time since being hit by a car to numerous other news stories of the time, the stories that go along with the chronicling of the streak make this book a unique and totally enjoyable read. To make the book all the more desireable for baseball fans and statisticians, the appendix of the book has complete box scores for each of the games. A great book that would fit nicely in the collection of any baseball trivia buff or fan of Joe DiMaggio and the New York Yankees.

2 comments about Mickey Cochrane: The Life of a Baseball Hall of Fame Catcher.

1. I was so looking forward to reading this book. The effort by Charlie Bevis is good. The content is short and sweet. Seems that 180 or so pages just does not seem like enough information about as fascinating a baseball character as you will ever find. I was left wanting so much more. Of note, I found it somewhat distressing that towards the end of this book, the author did his bit to dispell the rumours about Cochrane being assisted by Cobb in his down and out years of the 50's decade. Even though he got the word from Cochrane's daughter herself that this was totally false, I was not convinced by the author himself. Anyone can flip a story or subject anyway they choose, good or bad. It is up to the author to relay and convince the reader of the truth. Sadly, this is one truth that still has not been nailed down, regardless of denials. Considering the history and negative knowledge of this particular period in Mike's life, it really is too bad that Charlie Bevis had the opportunity and really did nothing with it to solidify claims to the opposite. Too bad for Mike too. The book is good, as is the effort, but lacking in content and duration.



2. THIS BOOK IS A VERY QUICK LOOK AT THE GREAT CATCHER FOR THE A'S AND TIGERS. I ENJOYED THIS BOOK ALOT. THE ONLY COMPLAINT IS THAT IT IS TOO SHORT AND NOT VERY DETAILED. IT HAS SOME INTERESTING FACTS, ESPECIALLY THE PART OF TY COBB HELPING HIM FINANCIALLY. STILL HE WAS A HARD NOSED PLAYER AND MANAGER. HE WAS HUMAN, AND THIS BOOK DOES A GOOD JOB OF SHOWING HIS GREATNESS AND FAULTS. I RECOMMEND THIS FOR BASEBALL HISTORIANS AND FOR THOSE WHO APPRECIATE A GREAT PLAYER AND GOOD PERSON.

No comments about Branch Rickey: A Biography.

2 comments about The Man in the Dugout: Fifteen Big League Managers Speak Their Minds.

1. This is one more Donald Honig masterpiece that you should add to your baseball library. In this edition, Honig interviews player-managers Ossie Bluege, Roger Peckinpaugh, and Hall of Famers Burleigh Grimes and Al Lopez, among others. This time, you read the stories of a manager's point of view as well, which is very interesting.

   This book is about a rookie third baseman coming up the line to tag out a lumbering Ty Cobb. About Early Wynn just walking into a tryout camp and announcing himself. About how the Chicago White Sox didn't always play to win in 1919-20.

   One of the more memorable parts is Roger Peckinpaugh reflecting on how the illiterate Shoeless Joe Jackson had to listen to what his teammates ordered for dinner first because he could not read the menu. Jackson, by the way, was one of the greatest natural hitters of all time, showing how things were in those days and how they have changed so much.




2. This is an excellent oral history about the art of baseball managing. In the 1970's author Donald Honig interviewed 15 former baseball managers (many long retired), including Joe McCarthy, Al Lopez, Walt Alston, Billy Herman, Dick Williams, etc. We hear them speak passionately about their days as team skipper, and often as player too. These men differ somewhat on their recipes for success, but nearly all agreed that good managers handle players effectively, get their respect, and get them to hustle. Eddie Sawyer insisted that catchers and outfielders take infield practice to increase their skills - a valuable idea he attributed to Joe McCarthy. Paul Richards and certain others emphasized practice and preparation on every aspect of the game. Others promoted not becoming buddies with your players, basic fundamentals, and watching opposing players practice to learn their tendencies. Many of these ex-managers were elderly (Joe McCarthy was nearly 90), but each spoke clearly and from the heart.
   
   This book is valuable reading for today's coaches/managers at both the amateur and professional ranks - wish I'd read it before becoming assistant coach in high school. Readers should also consider BASEBALL WHEN THE GRASS WAS REAL (also by Honig) and GLORY OF THEIR TIMES (by Lawrence Ritter), two excellent oral histories of baseball from long ago.

1 comments about Designated Hebrew: The Ron Blomberg Story.

1. Very good book except Ronnie never played football in high school or ran track. Other than that, interesting story.

2 comments about Larry Bowa: I Still Hate to Lose.

1. I am still trying to make up my mind if "Larry Bowa: `I Still Hate to Lose'" was written either a season too early or a season too late. If this book by Barry M. Bloom, the sportswriter who wrote the book with lengthy quotations from Bowa throughout the book," had come out a year earlier it would have been after Bowa had won National League Manager of the Year after guiding the Philadelphia Phillies to a respectable second place finish in the NL East. With the Atlanta Braves being so decimated by free agency that a thirteenth straight title seems an impossibility and the World Champion Florida Marlins having to lose several key players as well, the Phillies are favorite to win the title, which would mean a book like this next year could celebrate their success. However, given the team's collapse at the end of last year, it is hard not to have second thoughts about their prospects (signing Kevin Millwood for another season, picking up Eric Milton, and getting Billy Wagner to be the stopper are both good signs). Then again, the Phillies are getting off to a rough start, the Marlins are hot, and already there are calls for Bowa to get axed.

   When I picked up this book I was expecting it to be a biography of Bowa, who enjoyed a fiery reputation as a hard playing shortstop for the Phillies and Cubs in a relatively successful career. Bowa was never going to be considered for the Hall of Fame, but he was often an All-Star and in his era when you ticked off the five best shortstops on the fingers of one hand he was going to be there most of the time. Instead, "I Still Hate to Lose" is really more of an apologia. I have seen presidential candidates pick running mates with less justification that is provided in this book for Bowa being signed to manage the Phillies. The problem is that Bloom spends so much time explaining how Bowa's problems with particular players (e.g., Stanley Jefferson, Chris Brown, Scott Rolen) are not his fault, that it is hard to remember those players who speak highly of him as a manager (e.g., John Kruk). The net result is that the failures seem to outweigh the successes, which is not exactly how you want to make your case here.

   The problem is that if this book is supposed to convince me that Bowa is a first-rate major league manager it is not providing the evidence that would prove the point for me beyond the team's record. You would think there would be stories of key moves in a game, some evidence of Bowa's skill at baseball strategy, but they are not forthcoming. Instead we get stories about Bowa not throwing temper tantrums and people providing votes of confidence. The same thing applies when Bowa is described as the best third base coach in baseball; there is not one specific suggestion as to what that involves. We are constantly being told things in this book about Bowa that I would rather be shown, especially if I am to be convinced he is one of the best at his chosen vocation. I stopped counting the number of times that Bowa looked back on his past and decided he should have done things differently because I would rather have the argument made in positive terms instead of these double negatives.

   There are four quotations on the dedication page, including A. Bartlett Giamatti's famous poem "The Green Fields of the Mind" and Chico Marx's baseball bit from "Duck Soup," but the most relevant one is from Bernard Malamud's novel "The Natural": "We have two lives-the one we learn with and the life we live after that." In the context of this book the life that Bowa learned with did not end until he was hired to be the manager of the Phillies, with the learning coming as a player, as a minor league manager, as the manager of the San Diego Padres, and as a third-base coach for the Phillies, Angels and Mariners. This book would have worked a lot better if the focus was on the lessons, provided, of course, that the proof was actually forthcoming to prove each point. But I have the feeling that the only way that could happen is if the book was written first person from Bowa's perspetive, because I think if Bowa kept talking he would show why he is a good baseball manager.

   It is helpful to keep in mind that Bloom is a sportswriter, because there is definitely a sense at times throughout this book that the chapters are more like sports articles (so I was not surprised to see that Chapter 10 was based on an actual article in the "San Diego Tribune"). There are a couple of points that pop up more than once in the book. For those who pick up this book and want more of a biography about Bowa, apparently you need to go check out the book that Bloom wrote about him back in the San Diego days, "Bleep! Larry Bowa Manager." Maybe that is why the look at Bowa's early life and playing career is so uneven. Fans of Bowa as a player are going to be rather disappointed by this book, and even those who support him as Phillies manager are going to be uneasy after reading this book. I should have had a higher opinion of Bowa at the end of this book than I had before I picked it up and, to my surprise, that is not the case here.




2. I was born and raised in Philly, and make no mistake, Larry Bowa is Phillies baseball. The book focuses on his time in Philadelphia as a player and now as a manager, so it covers multiple eras. There are some great photos included too. The author, Barry Bloom, writes a really neat Preface, where he talks about about his relationship with Bowa, and how he (Bloom) was the first person to let Bowa know that he was going to be fired as Padres manager in 1988. (At the time, Bloom was writing for the San Diego Union-Tribune.) Really interesting stuff!

5 comments about Big and Little Poison: Paul and Lloyd Waner, Baseball Brothers.

1. Excellent portrayal of American baseball history through the rollicking lives of Paul and Lloyd Waner. Fun to read!



2. I loved this book. Unlike so many baseball biographies, it captures the good and bad alike about the players, offers interesting, fascinating nuggets of information about the game and even American history. Excellent job Clifton Blue Parker! I think this guy's one of the best up-and-coming baseball historians.



3. This book contains tons of info about the days of baseball back in the 1920s and 1930s. The Waners were fascinating, often forgotten today. I'm glad we get books like these and not more of the usual stuff on all the guys who get too much ink, like Ruth, DiMaggio, Mantle.



4. Good book - very interesting story about two brothers from a small town in Oklahoma who make it together in the big leagues - and into the Hall of Fame!



5. Clifton Blue Parker's "Big and Little Poison: Paul and Lloyd Waner, Baseball Brothers" is a much needed and welcomed biography of two brothers that don't get much publicity any more: the Waners. In their time, the late 1920s and 1930s, they were considered a force to be reckoned with for any team that played Pittsburgh: Paul being the better hitter, Lloyd being the better fielder. Each brother's ability in the other brother's expertise, though, was close enough for teams to acknowledge that the Waners could beat you with their bats, gloves, arms or speed on any given day. They were greatly respected around the league for their conduct, too, something harder to win than ability and to be treasured more. While Parker's book describes the live and time of the Waners and America (a plus) and does a fine job of displaying how good the Waners were, the book is not without its faults. My major complaint is the frequent referemces to Paul's drinking. Yes, Paul had a drinking problem, although it seldom affected his play and never seemed to affect his personality, which is a large plus. I had read before about his drinking, but perhaps others had not, and it's a fair topic to bring up in an autobiography. Perhaps kids will read the book and need to know that this is a conditionn that they need to avoid in the future, which is fair. But how many times can this be brought up before alcoholism becomes a heavy-handed, repetitous story? The book's focus on this matter becomes a prime point if this were a kid's instructional book, but it's not: it's an adult's biography, we know after the first couple of mentions that both brothers drink and the point really doesn't have to be driven home as frequently as it does. Other than this point, though, this is a fine book that does its subjects much justice, and is fine reading for anyone who wants to read about baseball and its stars when they were a lot close to being average folks than those playing today.