5 comments about Ya Gotta Believe: My Roller-Coaster Life As a Screwball Pitcher and Part-Time Father, and My Hope-Filled Fight Against Brain Cancer.

1. I grew up a Met fan in the 70's but his career in NY was a bit vague to me. I knew him better down the pike in Philly while unfortunately having to root against him. I learned so much about him while turning every page and he made me laugh and later brought me close to tears. The book was splended and showed many of his peaks and valleys, reminded me and informed me of his baseball career. Its often said that "this (one) is unique," but Tug truly was one-of-a-kind and apparently a joy to many. The adversity he experienced was wide-spread and unfortunately it may've trickled down to his children, specifically the now renown, Tim McGraw. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone, especially those that knew him during his sports career; the final 100 pages were riveting as you get a front row seat at his final months riding a bad roller-coaster.



2. First off I will admit to no small amount of prejucice when it comes to this book. I have been a Phillies fan since the 1970's and was a huge fan of Tug Mc Graw's growing up. In saying this perhaps this book had a deeper effect on me than the average person as I was aware of a lot of the events that Tug relates in this narrative of his life. What I was not aware of was his incredible courage while he was fighting this illness and the amazing warmth and generosity of his son, C&W star Tim Mc Graw. I feel you have to have grown up as part of Tug's generation to understand his motivations and behaviors. I am not saying that excuses the mistakes he made but it did help me to understand the WHY of what he did. In addition it made me appreciate all the more the courage it took him to admit those mistakes and the effort he put forth trying to correct them. This is an extremely moving and emotional tale with tremendous highs and lows and should effect everyone who reads it. Also this is an incredibly honest insight into the psyche of professional athletes in the 70's and 80's. Highly recommended for its' passion and honesty.



3. Tug McGraw has had a shameful life story that not many people have known about. He had done some very bad things like neglecting his son, country singer Tim McGraw, because he refused to believe that he was his son. When he was dying he forgave everybody and was nice to all of his relatives, and admitted to all of the wrong things he did. He really showed that he was sorry for everything and he would have changed a lot if he could.
   
   I was truly impressed by how he handled everything when he was dying. He is definitely an amazing man, in more than one way.
   
   He had many family-related problems that he got through. He was a little crazy too, but a motivational speaker really got him to the World Series by telling him, "Ya Gotta Believe!"



4. Tug McGraw was a bonafide original. From his thigh slap to his screwball to his love of a good time, Tug did things his way. But as he says during the book, sometimes his way was the selfish way. The most compelling part of the book for me was him discussing his relationship with his son Tim. From refusing to acknowledge his fatherhood to completely ignoring him (other than one visit in Houston) to finally coming around and taking responsibilty for himself and his son.
   
   That's a main theme in this book, taking responsibility. Unlike his ex-teammate Pete Rose who seemingly blamed everyone under the sun for his problems other than himself, Tug steps up and admits his mistakes. He says that he was not a good husband or father. He was determined not to make the same mistakes with his youngest son Matthew. His children all rallied around him as he battled brain cancer.
   
   Sadly this story doesn't have a happy ending as Tug passes away in January of 2004, a month before this book was released. The final chapter of this book is very touching as Don Yaeger describes Tug's final days. This book shows that it's never too late to say you're sorry and it's never too late to make things right. An excellent book, highly recommended.



5. Wow! I'm not a baseball fan, or a Tug McGraw fan for that matter, but I read this book in a day. I love, love, love Tug's son Tim McGraw and it was amazing to read how Tug treated his children, Tim especially and they way Tim loved Tug so unconditionally-even paying for his medical bills, rent, furnishing a home for his father and spending hours on end just holding Tug's hand in Tug's final days. It makes me an even bigger fan of Tims. Tug's own childhood/family life was heartbreaking to read about, as well. The baseball parts were interesting, but not very exciting for me, as I am not a big fan of the sport, but baseball fans will definitely enjoy this book.
   There are some great pictures in the book also.

No comments about Baseballs Fallen Heroes.

5 comments about Chipper Jones : A Brave Legend in the Making.

1. Chipper (Larry) was, is and will be a baseball legend. This Brian guy is obviously full of sour grapes for some reason. Maybe he's an Indians fan. (remember '95 ?) Either that or he is completely ignorant about baseball. Oh, and the book is just fine.



2. This is the best book I have read. I did not know famous player thank chipper is a MVP



3. This is a really good book about Chipper Jones. It's a few years old now so he's accomplished even more now than he did when this book was first released. Also ignore that guy with the negative rating, he's obviously a Mets fan who has some grievance with Chipper and didn't even bother to discuss the book at all. Good book



4. This book was one of the best book I had read. If you are a true Braves fan you should read this book. Every Braves fan should have. Chipper is playing next year.



5. This book is another way to get Larry some money because he won't be playing ball next year....he needs his money so he is calling on his sheep to help him.

5 comments about Baseball's Natural: The Story of Eddie Waitkus.

1. Wow, a can't-stop-reading book for baseball fans who don't care about stats but love the legends.
   
   Waitkus encountered one of the worst stalkers in sports history and when the lable of stalker wasn't even there. Creepy and sad, this book is ironic, bitter and forces us to watch te decline of a player who shoulda, coulda, woulda been better if not for holes in the legal system that allowed a psycho to succeed in destroying a baseball star. Read it for the full, fleshed-out tale: you'll be creeped out more you thought possible.
   
   Mark Braun, Executive Director
   Old Timers' Baseball Association of Chicago



2. In order to fully understand the events described in this book, one needs to place oneself in the time frame in which they arose.

   1949 was a backward period in American history, in which a woman could shoot a man that she did not even know and not even be universally lionized as an empowerment-achieving heroine. It was actually a time in which she could expect to receive a measure of legal and moral reprobation for her actions. Indeed, it was a time when men weren't even universally regarded as worthless, simply for having been born male, and some regarded their lives as having purpose and value. It was a time when millions of people across the country actually found themselves praying for the speedy recovery of the male victim and even lionizing HIM as the hero.

   This was the historical setting in which deranged Baseball Annie, Ruth Steinhagen, shot Philadelphia Phillie first baseman Eddie Waitkus. John Theodore's book largely describes what happened to both the assailant and her victim after the shooting, though, of course, he also includes a pre-shooting biography of both of them.

   As a misogynist and a baseball fan, I would find it easy to simply regard this book as being the story of woman who committed the unpardonable crime of not only shooting a man - but a male baseball player yet.

   Yet - and this is to Theodore's credit - he brings home the realities of Steinhagen's obsession with Eddie Waitkus forcefully enough that even this reader could empathize with it, and I did find myself taking as much interest in Steinhagen's story as I did in Waitkus's.

   This reader himself has undergone two or three experiences in which he found himself strongly obsessed to the point of distraction with an unattainable member of the opposite sex - none of which, I hasten to add, ever had the potential of becoming harmful. But by giving his readers a glimpse into the stark and chilling world of a mind trapped in such a grip, Theodore provided this reader with a glimpse into a mind that once resembled his own - differing (however greatly) only in the strength and emphasis of the grip that seized it.

   The experience gave me a there-but-for-the-grace-of-God-go-I sensation and strengthened my resolve never again to walk that path. I actually would have liked to read more about Steinhagen - her mental health was restored and she is alive today - than Theodore actually provided, and I imagine that Theodore would have liked to have written more about her. But the book is largely about Waitkus, presumably because there is more information about him in the public record and because people close to him (this is obviously not a surprise) were more willing to talk than were people close to Steinhagen (attempts to contact Steinhagen herself were rebuffed).

   I was going to give this book 4 stars on the basis of the author's workmanlike acquisition and delineation of the facts but the Waitkus story, as Theodore weaved it, "grew" on me the more that I read into it.

   Of the World War II generation, Waitkus himself was a corking good ballplayer - though not a Hall of Famer. But he was the best defensive first baseman of his era, one who sprayed the ball around for singles and doubles - more J.T. Snow than Lou Gehrig. There was nothing remarkable about his personality - which appears to have been of a blunt, yet affable character, which philosophically took life, including the tragedies that he suffered, as it was dealt to him. Kilroy in a major-league uniform - he would not be greatly remembered today as anything but one of many names from baseball's past, were it not for the shooting.

   Yet there was really something almost Shakespearean about the story of his life. His recovery from the shooting and his efforts to restore his baseball career match nicely with the rise to glory of the fabled upstart "Whiz Kids" that were the pennant-winning Philadelphia Phillies of 1950.

   But while his physical recovery appears to have been complete and while there is no indication that Waitkus allowed himself to dwell on the past, Theodore tells a story of a man already suffering from the hidden trauma caused by several harrowing war experiences having his trauma heightened by the only experience (occurring, ironically in civilian life) where he was the victim of gunfire.

   After arriving at the summit of fame that was his leading role on the "Whiz Kids", Waitkus, turning too often to drink for solace, suffers slow declines in his baseball career, his marriage, and in his life after baseball that culminated in his untimely death from cancer in 1972 at the age of 53. It makes one wonder if Steinhagen's bullet didn't somehow find its target after all.

   Yet, in his final years, he finds redemption in his continuing relationship with the children that were the product of his marriage and in being an instructor in Ted Williams's baseball camp. Theodore actually misses the opportunity to embellish upon the irony inherent in the fact that Ted Williams had to deal with his own personal demons while he lived, but it was the book's bittersweet ending that moves it into an elite classification in my judgment.

   One minor baseball point that Theodore missed was another brush that Waitkus had with baseball history at the end of the 1951 season, featuring a historic Giants-Dodgers pennant race. Had Jackie Robinson not made a remarkable catch of Waitkus's low line drive in the final game between the Dodgers and the Phillies, the hit would have won the game for the Phillies and knocked the Dodgers out of the pennant race. The Giants would have won the pennant in the regulation season, and Bobby Thomson's miracle homer in the third game of the post-season never would have happened. Waitkus would have achieved the "spoiler's" fame later found by Joe Morgan and Gene Oliver.




3. Here is a first rate baseball story, albeit with a limited audience. "Baseball's Natural" is the story of Eddie Waitkus, who played first base for the Cubs, Phillies and Orioles from 1941 and 1946-1955. That 3 year WW2 break is significant. Many believe that the period after the War to 1960 was a golden age for Major League Baseball. Those were the years of the (pre-expansion) original 16 teams. The NFL was just coming out of the shadows. The NBA and NHL were minor sports by comparison. To appreciate BN, it helps to remember that period, even if one is not familiar with Waitkus. Eddie was a slick fielder and above average hitter with a bright future. He was intelligent, popular off the field, well-spoken and an inquisitive, well-dressed young man. Then, one night in June of '48, he visited a woman in a Chicago hotel room and was shot! He recovered from the physical wounds but not from the mental ones. Somehow the dual demons of the shooting and his WW2 experiences drove him slowly to drink. He was a quiet drunk, not a rowdy one. He hung out in nice bars. His downward slide was slow, almost imperceptible, but just as real. Waitkus was out of baseball by 1955. He never found a second career and was dead by the age of 53. Why is "Baseball's Natural" worthwhile? Because it is a sensitive tale that grabs the reader's interest and holds it. It is a quick reading story. It is also quite well researched, with a wide range of supporting interviews and photographs. Many baseball books deal with the established stars; it's nice to read one that features an average guy. And because we sense that many players must have their own private demons that are invisible to the even the most devoted fan. At the time of this review, Baseball is officially in "hot stove" season, a perfect time to give "Baseball's Natural" a tryout.



4. This book really tells the true story of Eddie Waitkus. If you are a true baseball history fan this book is a must for your collection. At waitkus.org you will find more information about Eddie Waitkus. Read the book, visit the website and you will get to know the man as well as the baseball player.



5. Author John Theodore has provided the reader with the most detailed account of the 1949 shooting of former Philadelphia Phillies' baseball star Eddie Waitkus by an obsessed 19 year-old female fan in a Chicago hotel. At the time of the shooting Waitkus was the leading vote getter among first basemen for the upcoming All-Star game to be played in Brooklyn, New York. Waitkus managed to overcome the attempt on his life and became an integral member of the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies Whiz Kids team that went on to win the National League pennant only to lose the World Series to the New York Yankees in four straight, but hard fought, close games. Waitkus's career began to wind down a couple of years later as he was waived out of the National League, and became a member of the 1954 Baltimore Orioles who were playing their first year in Crabtown after moving from St. Louis. His playing time was very limited and in 1955 the Orioles cut him loose, and he once again returned for a brief period of time with the Phillies. The post baseball years were not kind to Waitkus who, like so many other players during this time, had no training beyond baseball. He tried a job in sales, but hated it. He fought the demons of alcohol, and the memories he had of World War II when he fought in the Pacific in addition to the memory of the evening in 1949 when he nearly lost his life in the Chicago hotel room. He did find happiness as a batting instructor in a Ted Williams baseball camp for young boys. Here he was doing something he loved among kids who shared his devotion to the game. Eddie Waitkus died in 1973 at the age of 53 from esophageal and lung cancer which was most likely brought on by his many years of heavy smoking. I did find a few spelling errors in the book along with the fact that the song Take Me Out to the Ball Game was written in 1908, not 1909, as the book mentions. If you associate the name of Eddie Waitkus only with the unfortunate shooting incident, this book will provide you with additional information about the man's career in addition to details regarding that unfortunate evening in 1949.

5 comments about Bob Feller: Ace of the Greatest Generation.

1. I really enjoyed how Sickels was able to blend historical information with statistics to make this biography more complete. Through this interesting approach, the reader really gets a more complete picture of Feller, not only through the eyes of his peers/contemporaries, but through placing him in his historical context.
   
   This is a book the deserves a wider readership. Even if you are not a fan of Bob Feller or of the Cleveland Indians, you will be able to find a lot of value in this book.



2. THIS IS THE STORY BOB FELLER STAR PITCHER FOR THE CLEVELAND INDIANS DURING THE 1930'S THRU THE MID 1950'S. THE BOOK TOUCHES ON HIS CHILDHOOD WHERE BOB AND HIS FATHER BUILT A PLAYING FIELD ON THEIR FARMLAND (FIELD OF DREAMS) TO HIS DAYS AS A STAR PITCHER. HIS CAREER IS COVERED IN GREAT DETAIL AND IS WELL WRITTEN. THE AUTHOR ALSO TOUCHES ON HIS STINT IN THE NAVY DURING WORLD WAR 2 AND ALSO SOME INSIGHT AND OPINIONS BY VARIOUS PEOPLE CONCERNING BOB. AMONG THESE ARE JACKIE ROBINSON, EX TEAMATES AND VARIOUS WRITERS. BOB WAS NEVER ONE TO BE TIMID IN HIS OPINIONS AND THIS STORY COVERS IN DETAIL HOW HIS CANDIDNESS GOT HIM IN TROUBLE. THE ONLY COMPLAINT I HAD WAS THAT IT DID NOT COVER MUCH OF WHAT HE HAS DONE RECENTLY. OVERALL A GREAT TRIBUTE TO RAPID ROBERT. RECOMMENDED TO ALL BASEBALL FANS.



3. I was given this book as a gift from a good friend. I thought it might be full of baseball statistics - I found it to be not only informative but entertaining. Many times during my reading I had a smile on my face or was laughing about a comment Mr. Sickels made. It was very enjoyable reading.



4. This is one of the best baseball biographies that I have ever read -- balanced, throroughly resaearched, very well written.
   
   I am of Feller's generation, was a Cleveland Indians fan throughout his career, and therefore knew a great deal about him. I have read Feller's autobiographies.
   Yet I learned a great deal from Sickels books and found it fascinating reading -- hard to put down. Some of it was a very pleaseant trip down memory lane.



5. The book is written in an intersting, insightful and entertaining manner. It covers Feller's individual baseball seasons in detail. It alos presents interesting info. about his military service in WW 2. It presents an insightful analysis of his complex personality. Its weaknesses are: (1) it covers reatively little of his personal life, especially his post baseball life; and (2) it includes few, if any, recollections of Feller, based on interviews by the author with players and other people who knew Feller.

   The author seems to rely entirely on synthesizing information from the various articles and books that have been writtem about Feller, plus the results of one or two interviews with Feller. Why the author chose not to contact any of Feller's former teammates or others who knew him is bewildering. Since Bob has been retired for 47 years, it would have been nice to hear more about his post-baseball life. There's a little on this in the book, but not that much.

5 comments about Honus Wagner: A Biography.

1. It's sad that this book has gotten such poor reviews. I tore through the entire thing cover-to-cover and was riveted the entire time. What others see as weakness I see as a strength of the book: you come away knowing not only Johannes Peter Wagner but also Fred Clarke, Deacon Philippe, Tommy Leach, Barney Dreyfuss, and many others. The book takes you on the journey of Honus The Ballplayer, from the early days through each year he played, chronicling not only his ups & downs but also the fortunes of the Pirates teams of those early years along with the city itself. If people were expecting some tabloid revelations about illicit dealings or some scandalous dirt it reveals their own failings, not the book's. Remember, this is the guy who insisted his tobacco card be pulled (the famous T206) because he had moral objections about peddling cigarettes to kids. So enjoy the book as a great period-piece about the people, places, and times of that early 20th-century baseball era. It really is a treat.



2. I see some tough criticism on this page, but I cannot accept that the book has too much baseball detail. When I think of other, more recent biographies of Whitey Ford, Gabby Hartnett, and others that read like a series of several hundred box scores in prose, I think of this book as just the opposite. It paints a good picture of Wagner the man and his family, and how he spent his non-baseball hours and seasons. It retells good anecdotes in proper context, and as my fellow reviewer, Eddie Waddell notes, it doesn't try to gloss over any weaknesses the man may have had - a fault of so many baseball biographers whose goal is to get their man into the Hall of Fame by their book's building up his stats.
   
   The de Valerias obviously love their man, and you will too before you are done with the volume. Just the right amount of baseball detail, I'd say. And not just about Honus. You learn a great deal about his lesser known teammates. And the stats are almost always on target. The de Valerias may not have included a Wagner stats sheet, but at least they seem to have researched all stats they use in the book well. Yes, I wish the footnotes were more specific to the quotes, but that shouldn't deter the majority of readers.



3. Wow, reading the reviews, this is a tough crowd! Too much detail, not enough detail. For me, the detail was just about right. I have been listening to the unabridged audio edition while commuting. The book covers Wagner's career starting in his teen-age years. It provides a good illustration of American life at the turn of the century particularly as it related to baseball. I was especially interested to learn how many of the western PA towns I grew up around had had their own minor league ball teams back in the day - Sharon, New Castle, Warren (PA), etc. I think the authors did a good job of marching the reader through Wagner's career including the highs and the lows while also teaching about the early days of professional baseball and how the sport quickly became America's pastime.



4. One lapse in the DeValerias' work is the preparation of their bibliography, which is incomplete, failing to list many works cited later under chapter sources. An examination of the bibliography, therefore, provides future researchers with a very incomplete picture of the extent of their work. Moreover, they eschew footnotes in favor of a general listing of sources for each chapter. Trying to pinpoint the source of the authors' conclusions or a particular quotation, consequently, is virtually impossible, and weighing the number of sources they used to establish a point even more frustrating. The result is often the impression that a thin foundation of a single quotation or story supports many of the DeValerias' conclusions.



5. This work is useful for the baseball fan interested in the game's history. An enjoyable read but it falls prey to a critical error in any baseball biography -- it fails to include Wagner's career statistics. Not that you can't find them elsewhere, but most folks reading baseball history (such as myself) will want to leaf through and check out the stats as they read the narrative.

2 comments about The Babe Ruth Story.

1. This is a book about a legend. He more than any other player changed the game and made it America's national pasttime. After being the greatest pitcher of his time for Boston he was traded to the Yankees where he went on to begin making the home run synonymous with his name. In the house that Ruth built' Yankee Stadium along with Lou Gehrig he lead the Yankees of the 1920's to a string of pennants and World Series. Both on and off the field the Babe was outsized, and seemed to be unstoppable. He was the greatest player the game ever had and probably ever will have. He was in some sense a babe all his life, childlike and uncontrollable but he was also famous for acts of kindness, including the famous homerun hit on request by a young fan fatally ill. His love of the game and his love of life are now apart of America's legendary heritage.



2. The book contains 48 photo's of the Babe. First edition printed. 1948 by Dutton Publishing. Hand AUTOGRAPHED by BABE RUTH himself, using a fountain pen. Authentication of signature. How much is this book worth ? It's like new.

1 comments about Joe Dimaggio: The Yankee Clipper.

1. I have an original copy 1943 "lucky to be a Yankee" published and autographed by Joe Dimaggio himself. What in a round about value am i looking at? If you can tell me I'd really apprciate it. thanx!!!

4 comments about They Call Me Sparky.

1. I was very disappointed with this book. I love Sparky but I don't really need a lesson on how to treat people,Mom did a fine job with that. This book tells you very little about his amazing career. Instead Sparky tells you something on how to behave and then the author promptly repeats it. If you are trying to figure out how to raise a kid then by all means buy this book. If you are looking for information about Sparky's baseball career save your money.



2. Although Sparky and I come from totally different backgrounds (I am from the Dominican Republic and Sparky is from South Dakota) but the concept of treating everybody equal is universal but unfortunately not practiced by everyone. Some people talk about it others do it. Sparky does it!*The book is awesome and not just in baseball terms but in the every day life term. After reading this book, there is no doubt why Sparky is the best there ever was.

   *I got the opportunity to watch Sparky work his magic when I was a player in the Detroit organization. I am now a minor league manager and one day I want to be just like Sparky. Close at least! there is only one Sparky and I can only pray to be half of the man that he is. Very smart at his craft!!* Ironically I now live in South Dakota:)

   Sparky is coming to town this week and I cannot wait to get the opportunity to pick his brains...




3. I REALLY WANTED TO LIKE THIS BOOK, BUT IT WASN'T WHAT I EXPECTED OR WANTED TO READ ABOUT. I WANTED TO READ ABOUT HIS GREAT CAREER IN BASBALL, BUT WHAT I GOT WAS OVER 200 PAGES OF WHAT A GREAT GUY SPARKY IS AND A LESSON IN HUMILITY, DIGNITY AND HOW TO TREAT PEOPLE IN GENERAL. SPARKY COMES ACROSS AS TRULY BEING A VERY SINCERE AND HONEST MAN. I BELIEVE HE REALLY IS A GOOD PERSON AND AND A GOOD EXAMPLE OF HOW TO LIVE YOUR LIFE. HE HAS DONE MUCH CHARITY WORK AND IS A VERY GIVING INDIVIDUAL. TO SPEND MUCH OF THE BOOK TELLING ABOUT THIS WAS NOT WHAT I BOUGHT IT FOR. IF YOU TRULY WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT SPARKY THE PERSON THEN THIS IS FOR YOU. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WANT A LOT OF BASEBALL STORIES AND NOSTALGIA THEN YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED.



4. As a lifelong Detroit Tiger fan and Michigan resident, the stories and messages that Sparky conveyed typify what the people of Detroit, Cincinnati, and Thousand Oaks California knew all along. Sparky is truly a class act who "walks the walk." His lessons and stories transcend baseball and touch upon something rare in professional sports: Class and Dignity.

   I can only speak for Detroit when I say that the Sparky that is portrayed in "They Call Me Sparky" is the same Sparky whose efforts with C.A.T.C.H. are still benefitting Children's Hospital.

   Any person who deals with people on a day to day basis can take away from this book many of the same interpersonal lessons taught in a Dale Carnegie course.

No comments about John Fetzer: On a Handshake : The Times and Triumphs of a Tiger Owner.