5 comments about Between the Lines: Nine Principles to Live By.

1. Orel Hersheiser's book is excellent on giving advice for life.
   
   Unlike most athletes, Orel does not give a biography. Instead he picks nine principles he sees for a successful life, and then gives anecdotes, almost exclusively from his own life, to support those points.
   
   Orel does not come across as "Look at me! I have a Cy Young award, two league championship MVPs, and a World Series ring and MVP award, to go along with having the record for most consecutive scoreless innings." Instead, you have a normal person who managed to accomplish a lot, and a desire to encourage others to accomplish a lot in their lives.
   
   This book is very readable. In the introduction Orel paints the picture of the book being like a conversation in a diner. It is fun reading stories about Tommy LaSorda, especially when he is in the ear of his former pitcher before the 5th game of the '95 series.
   
   I would recommend for every parent to get this book for their son or daughter, and then read it with them so they can discuss the issues. One, this will help your child apply the lessons, and two, we oldies can use the advice as well.



2. I had always been amazed by Orel Hershiser's record
   of pitching 59 consecutive scoreless innings in
   1988 . . . even typing that number now, I find it
   hard to believe that a pitcher could manage to
   keep opposing batters from scoring for so long.
   
   Thus when I had the chance to listen to
   his book, BETWEEN THE LINES (written
   with Robert Wogemuth), I was interested to see
   if he would talk about how he was able to accomplish
   this goal . . . he did, sprinkling in interesting tidbits
   about his personal philosophy toward both the game and life.
   
   This is not a tell-all book . . . Hershiser rarely
   speaks bad about any player, coach, manager,
   or even umpire . . . in fact, he even points out
   that he rarely ever argued about any ball or strike call.
   
   What he does well is emphasize the claim he
   makes in the book's subtitle: NINE THINGS BASEBALL
   TAUGHT ME ABOUT LIFE.
   
   There's nothing breathtakingly new here, but it still
   is the perfect book for any athlete at virtually any
   stage of his or her career . . . non-players will
   like it too.
   
   And anybody who reads it will come across convinced
   that it is the little things in life that can really make
   a difference . . . for example, Hershiser rarely varied from
   his everyday routine--no matter what was happening around him.
   
   He also seems to be one of the rare professional
   athletes who always placed his family over even
   his baseball career.



3. Orel Hershiser might seem to be one of those people who "had it all given to him" but after reading the struggles he had to overcome you'll discover that perception is wrong. He had to work hard and overcome numerous obstacles before reaching the top of his profession. The principles that led to success in his arena apply in all areas of live as he points out so clearly in this excellent book (with Robert Wolgemuth).
   
   One theme is to focus on what you can control and don't expend energy on the rest. He emphasizes how important the preparation process is because it's all about focus. That is what one can control. If one continually prepares, success is inevitable. He talks about building a mind-set where everyday counted. Excellence mattered to him. He wasn't trying to please his coaches, he was seeking excellence for its own reward.
   
   As a Christian he talks about how he came to know the Lord Jesus. I bought the book because I knew he was a Bowling Green man. It turns out he's a class act all the way around. His advice is solid.



4. Orel Hershiser was one of the most dominant pitchers during the 1980's and 1990's. He won over 200 games, he posted season ERAs of 2.66. 2.03, 2.26, and 2.31, he has 13 double-digit victory seasons and he helped the Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series in 1988. During that magical season he won the CY Young Award, the NLCS MVP and the World Series MVP. So it is safe to say that he is qualified to write a book on how to be successful in life.
   In his second book Between the Lines: The Nine Things Baseball Taught Me About Life, co-authored by Robert Wolgemuth, Hershiser writes about how his experiences in baseball taught him about perseverance in life. Although Hershiser stared in the Majors, his rise was not an easy one. He had to overcome many obstacles early on in his career. He was stuck in the minor leagues for four years and he had to come back from serious shoulder surgery in the prime of his career. Hershiser also talks about personal miseries with him dropping out of college after getting cut from the baseball team and then later in life dealing with the death of his good friend and agent Robert Fraley. The book was an easy read and Hershiser offers some very good advice about life or at least on how he became successful. The book is not organized chronologically but instead Hershiser and Wolgemuth headline each chapter with his principles of life. Readers looking for play by play analysis of his career will be disappointed with Between the Lines because Hershiser takes a more personal account of his life in and out of baseball. But overall the book taught me things about life and inspired me to strife for my goals not only in sports but in life.



5. Here's a book that in simple terms tells the reader about how overcoming the challenges in baseball are similar to those that average people encounter in life. I think that this would be a good book for young people who may be in team sports. It can help them see the greater benefit of playing sports rather than being caught up in winning and losing. Being from Los Angeles, I have a little more awe for Orel Hershier, who for a period of time was the best pitcher in the game of baseball. I hope that other mature athletes in football and basketball do books like this so that our youth can gain the full benefit of being in sports. I hope that parents buy this book for a Christmas present for the young athlete in the family.

5 comments about 1939: Baseball's Tipping Point.

1. I've been a baseball fan for over 50 years and I have a library full of baseball books. I've even done some free-lance baseball writng of my own. So I don't give out praise lightly. This is a wonderful book and I would have to rank it on my list of Top 10 All-Time Favorites. It is more than just a baseball book...it covers a slice of Americana that all students of American history should find of interest.
   
   The author has done a compelling job developing his premise that 1939 was a extremely important year in the history of baseball and in the history of the United States. The book is actually a collection of twelve essays covering pivotal events and dominant personalities from the baseball world of 1939. Other reviewers have covered these topics, which include notables such as Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Lou Gerhig, Leo Durocher, and the great broadcaster Red Barber. I found each essay to be well written and highly informative. Mr Boston has certainly done his research on the selected subjects and he writes in an engaging, highly enjoyable style that kept me turning the pages.
   
   Even though most of the material was familiar territory to an old basball fan like me, I found that I learned something from each essay. Leo Durocher is my favorite character in baseball, and I've studied him intently. And yet I found the chapter devoted to him to be delightful and contained a lot of information that I was not familiar with. Likewise, the chapter on the Reds' great manager Bill McKechnie - one of the lesser known personalities that the author covers - was actually my favorite; and Mr.Boston has convinced me that Bill McKechnie is one of the most underrated managers in the history of the game. Other essays, such as the ones on the Negro Leagues, the founding of Cooperstown, and the advent of televison in baseball were also well done.
   
   If you are a baseball fan as I am - or just a fan of American history - do yourself a favor and read "1939: Baseball's Tipping Point." Trust me...you won't regret it.



2. Assemble baseball historians over their favorite adult beverages with the topic "most important," "most pivotal," "most famous" baseball season and the conversation heatedly rolls.
   Strong cases can be made for several seasons from baseball's past. In my pomposity I always insisted 1947 the most pivotal because of Branch Rickey's breaking of the game's color code with Jackie Robinson. There's no argument, 1947 was a strong and very important year for the game and for society.
   My friend and Dallas-lawyer-baseball historian-writer Talmage Boston has changed my mind with his work "1939 Baseball's Tippping Point." So much import was packed that year into a six month baseball season.
   Over two years before U.S. involvement in World War II, young up and coming stars outfielder Ted Williams and pitcher Bob Feller had begun showing the stuff that would lead to the Hall of Fame. That year, neither had become jaundiced due to what both thought was an excessive amount of career time lost due to the war effort. Yankees outfielder Joe DiMaggio began defining his career as elite that year.
   In 1939 Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Larry McPhail began dragging a lowly franchise out of the doldrums. By hiring fiery Leo Durocher to manage the club, McPhail served notice to his players and other clubs that wins were expected in Brooklyn. By wisely breaking a very silly, sophomoric ban on radio broadcasts, McPhail with the hiring of southerner Red Barber to call Dodgers games, took soap operas away from New York women and gave them the game. In doing so, the Dodgers created a completely new, educated genre of fan--females. That year, Barber also broadcast baseball's first televised game.
   If 1947 marked the official end to appartheid in baseball, 1939 represented the time when newspaper editors both black and white began screaming for social change. Bigotry stories abounded. One of the most famous was a Daughters of American Revolution attempted ban on black singer Marion Anderson's appearance on the steps of the Lincoln Monument. Press coverage beat the ban.
   While the Baseball Hall of Fame opened its doors in 1939 to its first class including Babe Ruth and Walter Johnson, in Cooperstown,New York, historians began refuting claims that native Cooperstown son Abner Doubleday invented the game.
   Little League Baseball began operations in 1939, giving youngsters ages 8-12 their first shot at an organized style of play.
   But perhaps the most famous historical item coming out of '39 was Yankees slugger Lou Gehrig's demise. Gehrig that year had been diagnosed with Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis, a form of polio, now known as Lou Gehrig's disease. As Gehrig stepped out of the playing field limelight, he gave his famous, "Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth," speech to a sold out Yankee Stadium.
   To me, "1939 Baseball's Tipping Point," went one step further. It is a missive that should be read and re-read by baseball fans as one more poignant reminder how this grand game became that way.



3. This is an excellent baseball book -- about the unique baseball happenings in 1939. Each chapter is devoted to a special story ... Ted Williams rookie season with the Bosox, the Yankee team after Gehrig retired and other interesting stories. There is a lot of great background regarding each story -- and is very well written.
   
   This would be a great gift for Christmas or birthday
   
   Greg Langdon



4. I have read this book....TWICE. You need to read it because it is different from any book on baseball you have ever read. Instead of it being about a team or a player, it identifies a YEAR, a time period that, basically, changed baseball in all areas FOREVER: the first televised game, the first games at night, the founding of Little League was in 1939, the passing of Lou Gehrig but the rookie year of Ted Williams, etc. I learned things I had never known about baseball and WHY this was such a pivotal year for the game. I've read a ton of books on baseball and donated them and gave them away. This one is mine to keep.



5. 1939: Baseball's Tipping Point is simply one of the best historical baseball books that I have ever read. It covers a remarkably wide range of baseball topics, with the common denominators being informative, insightful writing and relevance to both then and now.
   
   If you thought you knew quite a bit about the particular event or story line, Talmage will teach you more. He will show you new ways of looking at it and what it has meant to the ensuing 66 years. If you are unfamiliar with the event, you will be brought up to speed quickly and enjoyably. If your goal is to be entertained, not educated, this book is the right choice as well. It also provides the flexibility of sitting down for an extended read through the entire book or, when time is short, pick a chapter that sounds particularly appealing at that moment.
   
   You can gain unique additional perspectives on Gehrig, DiMaggio, Williams and Feller and other personalities that made an impact. But the even better stuff, is when Talmage analyzes the evolution and future implications of broader institutions - radio and TV broadcasting (with the key role of Red Barber), the development of Baseball's Hall of Fame and Museum at Cooperstown, the path to crossing the color line and the invention and development of the Little League.
   
   A bonus is a memorable introduction by John Grisham. But, I would venture to say that John might tell you that he would be hard pressed to top the research and writing style found in the remainder of the book.
   
   I almost never reread a book. This one I did. I enjoyed it every bit as much and learned all the more the second time around. Once again, everything old was new again.

5 comments about Ted Williams: My Life in Pictures.

1. The definitive book on the complete life of Ted Williams. This is not simply a re-hashing of every picture of Ted that you see time after time. It's a fresh look through his own words and some magnificent photos that must have been sitting in his attic. You really get the feeling that you are sitting around Ted's kitchen table going through an old photo album as he comments on everything from the biggest fish he caught to what a "[bad] haircut" he had.



2. Best Book written to date on my Father.



3. I am co-author (with Jim Prime) of TED WILLIAMS: A TRIBUTE (1997), which was another large-format book on Ted with a lot of photographs. There are quite a few books on Ted. When I heard this book was in the works, I wondered what more there was to show and what more there was to say.

   I was pleased to be able to proofread this book in its advance state and I hope I helped correct a very few minor errors. I hadn't seen the photographs or layout at that stage. When I saw the final book, I was blown away.

   This is a wonderful new addition, and Ted's voice comes through loud and clear here. David Pietrusza has done a wonderful job here and this is a book I will myself treasure.

   --Bill Nowlin, Cambridge MA




4. This book will be ideal for those who know relatively little about Ted Williams, yet are Red Sox fans. The combination of over 250 photographs and recent reminiscences make you feel like you are sitting around the kitchen table with Mr. Williams swapping stories about his life while you enjoy a cool beverage. The anecdotes have a crisp conversational tone that seems to have often emerged with little editing from a tape recorder. That makes the book more spontaneous than if it were dressed up to be a formal autobiography.

   Some of my favorite stories in the book include:

   Choosing not to sit out the doubleheader at the end of the 1941 season when he already had batted .400. He went 6 for 8 that day, and increased his average to the league-leading .407.

   His frequent heroics in All-Star games (including hitting the eephus pitch for a home run while going 4/4 in 1946).

   Crash landing his plane after being hit by small arms fire and starting to burn while flying a mission over North Korea during the Korean War.

   His many accidents and injuries.

   His batting performance after other teams began using the shift on him.

   Hitting a home run in his last at-bat in Fenway Park.

   The strength of the book comes in the photographs. Surprisingly, many of these are very blurred and don't quite meet the standard that you will expect in a pictoral autobiography. The first photograph with Bobby Doerr when both were just starting with the Red Sox is an example.

   People who are interested in his swing will enjoy the sequence with his shirt off that appeared in Life magazine. "The key was the right swing, studying the pitchers, studying the situations, waiting to get your pitch, and just plain working like hell at it."

   The book isn't only about baseball. You will also learn about his mother's hard work on behalf of the Salvation Army, his hunting and fishing, and meeting sports and political celebrities.

   Mr. Williams had a reputation as a player for being uncooperative with the press and the fans. To his credit, he shares his side of these events pretty candidly. The famous spitting incident is well covered.

   One of the most telling exhibits is an advertisement for cigarettes. Mr. Williams was not a smoker, and clearly admits to having done it for the money. He always intended to make a donation for cancer research to return the money, but indicates that he never did. I admired him for including this event, which he clearly now views as a mistake.

   He also is candid about not being excited about serving in both World War II and the Korean War. This service cost him 5 major league seasons during his prime years. He was only one of two major leaguers to do this.

   After you finish enjoying this book, think about how Mr. Williams turned his talent to other areas outside of baseball. Have you turned your hand to as many other areas as you would benefit from trying? After all, we only have so many days on Earth to make our contribution. Make the most of them!




5. I found the above negative review of this book far more disturbing than anything about the book itself.

   What's the writer's problem with "ghostwriting"? It's no secret. It's not as if David Pietrusza (the co-author) isn't listed. It's obviously a book of pictures with comments from Ted, edited into decent copy by Pietrusza. That's what a co-author on a celebrity book does.

   It's very much Ted Williams in the comments -- maybe even to an uncomfortable extent. He rambles on about the press, about politics, and about hunting and fishing, and none of his views are what could even be possibly construed as "politically correct." But I find it interesting that after all this time, he's still his own man -- frustrating and inspiring at the same time.

   The photos are largely terrific. The layout is good. The text is interesting. And it's the best photo book on Ted Williams out there. That sounds like a recommendation to me.

3 comments about After the Black Sox: The Swede Risberg Story.

1. After the Black Sox: The Swede Risberg StoryI HAVE READ AND RE-READ THE SWEDE RISBERG STORY. I AM VERY IMPRESSED WITH THE AMOUNT AND THE THOROUGHNESS OF THE INFORMATION THE AUTHOR WAS ABLE TO FIND. UPON READING THE BOOK I WAS ENGULFED IN THE NOSTALGIA OF THE TIME. BASEBALL WAS INDEED A PART OF THIS NATIONS GROWTH, ESPECIALLY IN RURAL AMERICA. MY FAMILY WAS A PART OF THAT TIME AND INTEREST IN THE GAME STILL PERSISTS. THIS BOOK WAS JUST EXACTLY THE KIND OF INFORMATION I NEED.



2. This book surprised me, and greatly disappointed me. Having read the online provided "Book Description", which also matches the back of the book verbatim, one would never anticipate that the book itself could not deliver as promised. To call this a book would be reasonably unfair; rather it might be viewed as an essay or series of articles comprising a paper. The preface of writing a book based on partial to missing information, as was identified by the author, would lend itself to some author entitlement to fill in some of the blanks. Alan Muchlinski chose not to do so and the result is an effort that is, in my opinion, incomplete and devoid of character and substance. An interesting subject that should be Swede Risberg is often reduced to only a name in this book. Anyone that has even a passing interest in the after-life of the Black Sox Eight should look to find it elsewhere as there honestly is very little of value to be found inside the pages that represent this piece. Moreso, simply mentioning that you found boxscores with the names "Risberg" and "Felsch" on them is not reason enough to write a book, let alone an article in a magazine or journal...You need so much more than is presented here.
   
   Expect nothing and you will never be disappointed. According to the "Book Description" editorial we should have indeed expected something. To that end, nothing was and is delivered. I wanted to really like this book, but in the end I have felt cheated on two fronts; There is little to no historical value presented, and I am out the cost of the book. It does not get much more disappointing than this for me. I am at a loss as to how a publisher could even consider it?



3. This book is of interest to those true baseball fans who understand that the interest in baseball in the 20's was so much different than it is today. Men played for the love of the game, even in sand lot leagues. Towns fielded their own teams, and locals went to see the games. This is a book that will show that deep interest that towns had for these teams.
   
   It doesn't dwell on the scandal, but more on the itinerant life of a ball player of that time.My personal interest comes from living in the town where Swede passed away, although i never knew him. I did visit another town where he lived and talked to oldtimers who knew him well -- what an amazing history to be able to revisit. One of the greatest sports books ever written is " The Glory of Their Times" by Lawrence (sp.?) Ritter- I read this when I was about 12 years old - I loved the spirit of the oldtime ball players. This book is a great history of the early days of baseball !

5 comments about Mickey Mantle: America's Prodigal Son.

1. Don't bother sports fans. If you want to read a good sports biography or if you are a great baseball fan, a Yankees fan or a fan of Mickey Mantle, you will be wasting your time with this book. I agree with one other reviewer that Castro attempts to psychoanalyze Mantle from a severe distance. In his epilogue Castro talks about how he started out wanting to write a biography of Dimaggio and wiggled his way in close to Joe D. and then realized that he could never get Joe D. to reveal anything of himself so he decided to write a biography of Mickey. Then he reveals that Mickey never would open up and honestly talk about himself either. What you get instead of insights into Mickey Mantle is a very poorly written book that gives us such "wonderful" insights as that of a young man who is hired as the Yankee organist and at his first game thinks Mantle is running around the bases the wrong way after he hits a home run. Oh, and we are given the fascinating story that Joe Dimaggion cut his hot dogs up and ate them with a fork and threw the buns away. What a bunch of nonsense. I suppose I should have known in the very beginning what pap this was going to be when Castro described the terrible plight of the Mantle family in the Great Depression by talking about all the woes of the country being caused by the "maldistribution of wealth." And near the end of the book he digresses again into social criticism of the 1960s which reveals his latent socialism. This is not a sports book and is at the very best a horrible attempt at a biography which Castro tries to pull off by tearing apart a fragile human being who was a hero to many of us who grew up in the 50s and 60s. Don't waste your money or your time on this book.



2. 
   It results a common place to state the New York Yankees captured along the past Century (and still does) the absolute attention of the great audiences inside and overseas to become a true epic legend. Every five years new and emblematic names inscribed his names with golden letters to enhance still more this living legend.
   
   But Mickey Mantle' s charisma literally surpassed all the possible epithets; his powerful wrists at the moment to make that magic swing so imitated for many sluggers, constituted by himself a justified motive to assist the Yankee Stadium.
   
   That' s why the simple fact of spelling his name was immediately an attraction motive; because that generation of sluggers was compensated for an impressive generation of formidable pitchers; this admirable conjunction of fortunate events made even, much more emotive and mesmerizing the homerun considered as the maxim climax; the definitive feat. And this distinction was proportionally rated according the pitcher' s status.
   
   The Big Mickey was a true mass media`s idol. Perhaps there has not been another baseball player (with the notable exceptions of Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig) with such astonishing ability to inflame multitudes with that emotion level. The admirable dimensions of his homeruns are part of the collective memory, but the most aspect worthy to remark was precisely mantle was not an ultra developed musculature, or a febrile consumer of supplementary hormones. You should to take into account in those times, the numbers of hours you spent in an airplane made still, more tiring the daily effort, the number of hours of rest was considerably minor respect those actual times.
   
   This sensational biography contains abundant information, graphical and zealously descriptive around the greatest moments in the Big Show, his personal records in the Stars Game and World Series.
   
   For those generations who had the chance to see him, for all those who knew about him in his historic moment, but specially for this newcomer generations, for whom his name is simply synonymous of a legend, it would be very advisable to acquire this invaluable testimony of one of the most emotive, passionate and committed Baseball players in any time.
   
   Farewell Mickey, because your Promethean effort has been compensated for the myth force to become a everlasting legend and motive of continuous, renovated and future references about your tenacity and discipline in the infield.



3. Well, sorry to be the only one in disagreement, but this is a trivial and sophomoric book with absolutely nothing original in it. First off, I did live during Mickey's time, and I knew him casually. There are a lot of books describing Mickey's faults, all of which he admitted to himself. The pop psychology, done from a distance, with just the right amount of politically correct sociology really gets old in sports books. The Author contradicts himself several times and does not understand at all the mentality of managers or players in the late 40's and 50's. He gets off on the strangest tangents, and I can't for the life of me figure out what he was driving at. It's a pointless book that reminds me of an article in a checkout stand tabloid. Skip this, get Golenbock's "Dynasty" or "Wild, High and Tight".



4. if this is your first interest in a book about "the mick", castro's work is a great place to start. i wish this one was available before i read the other three in my collection. what sets this book apart, is the journalistic integrity that is apparent with it, and the avoidance of sensationalism just for the sake of it. it is complete with dozens of anecdotes told by those that knew mantle - a feature that undoubtedly serves to make it more interesting than standard biographical non fiction. it is obvious that the author, seeking to be impartial, had a love for the player and the person. if you are looking for a mantle biography that is an honest portrayal of mantle as a ballplayer with the dynastic yankees, and as a man with weaknesses, look no further. if you are a american history buff, you will also enjoy how santos weaves events of the day and the flavor of the time into the flow of his book. all and all a great read. i highly recommend it, especially to those who, like myself, grew up "worshipping" the yankees of the 50's and 60's and, of course, their centerpiece center fielder from oklahoma.



5. I wanted to learn more about Mickey Mantle after seeing Billy Crystal's HBO movie 61*. Since Mantle's career had long ended before I was born, my only knowledge of Mantle was his name and that he was a famous baseball player. I didn't even know why he was a famous baseball player. If I ever thought about it, which I did not, I would've guessed he broke some kind of baseball record. Well, it's obvious to me now that before I read Tony Castro's book "Mickey Mantle:America's Prodigal Son," I had absolutely no idea of what I was missing. And, I wish I found out sooner, while Mantle was still alive!!!

   This book opened my eyes to a lot about Mickey Mantle, the time in which he played ball, the legacy of the New York Yankees, and baseball, in general. In regards to Mantle, I never knew what a powerhouse he really was with the ability to hit a baseball over 500ft numerous times. Add to that the fact that he could hit from both sides of the plate and the kind of speed he had to get around the bases. His athletic ability alone was astonishing to me. I really wish I were born earlier so that I could have seen him play.

   But, this book is not just a lengthy form of the back of a baseball card containing statistics about Mickey Mantle. It is much more. It allows you to live in the times that Mantle did by explaining the goings on in the country and baseball's role in the country at each stage of his life. I think it was great the way Castro did this because you could get a sense of the emotion surrounding Mantle and the incredible greatness of the Yankees at that time. Dare I say, I got caught up in the story almost as if I was watching it or living through it. (Although, I know I could never really know what it was like to live at that time and experience even seeing Mantle play ball on TV.) For example, while reading about Mantle, learning to play ball from his father and grandfather, as he was growing up, you get a real feel for how much Mickey and his father loved baseball. You also see how even at a very young age, Mantle gave his all for the game. You understand that for Mickey playing ball and playing hard was not only about living out a dream, but also about giving back to his father all he felt his father gave to him. It was a labor of love and you feel that reading this book, especially as Mickey begins to realize his potentials by breaking all kinds of records.

   But despite all this glory, the story turns dark early with the death of Mickey's father very, very early in his major league career. It continues to stay dark as Mickey's drinking slowly destroys his body, even as he plays. Yet, even through the drinking and injuries, you are uplifted by knowing that Mickey gets out there everyday to play the game and play it better than great.

   Finally, though, Mickey must retire and his life goes downward because his drinking gets so much worse. It is at this point that the clouds really darken for Mickey. It is sad, and lasts for the rest of his life. And yet, at the very end, Mickey steps up to the plate one last time to correct the mistakes he's made by drinking. He does this by sharing his darker story with the country as an example of how not to handle the difficult times and, in his mind, waste one's talents. He begins a "don't drink and don't do drugs" campaign to save others from his kind of problems.

   "Mickey Mantle:America's Prodigal Son" is really a great book. There is so much more to this story that hasn't even been mentioned here. It is a small history lesson in the goings on in baseball and the country through the 1950s until the 1990s in addition to Mickey's story. It explains why the game is the way it is today with money at the center and no real grooming of players, for any team, as the Yankees did for so long, which led to their famously long winning streak. You don't have to be a baseball guru, or even a baseball lover to appreciate Mickey's heartwarming story with its greatness, disappointment, and true heroics.

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.

5 comments about Koufax.

1. Although there are parts of all of Sandy's life in the book, it seemed to revolve too much around the 1965 World Series. I'm still waiting for a good biography on Sandy.



2. "Koufax", as written by Ed Gruver, is a highly focused book that covers the life and times of this most private man with flair and tact.

   The strength of this book is the combination of the author's narrative with the insightful quotes from interviews he conducted with Sandy's friends and former teammates.

   Gruver covers Koufax's life and career through the spectrum of one game - Game 7 of the 1965 World Series. It's an interesting approach, and it works here since this game is regarded as the defining game in Koufax's great career. (Interesting that Jane Levy's book, published one year later, uses the same format, though with a different game).

   "Koufax" is a wide-ranging story of the life and career of the man many consider the greatest left-handed pitcher in history. It's filled with interesting anecdotes and brings to life a highly private individual.

   Overall, I found it an accurate portrayal of one of sports' most enigmatic figures.




3. Sandy Koufax is frequently described as a shy, introverted, and very private man. Perhaps because of this truth, it's hard to really get to know the real man... and even a biographer has trouble shedding any light on Sandy.

   Gruver's book doesn't offer any new insight into Sandy's personality or private life. And the book frequently repeats several phrases over and over again! His pitching motion is described at least five times using the same description, and everyone interviewed for the book chimes in with the same description of his private side. Very repetitive! Lacking any real depth or anything new to say about Sandy Koufax, I guess the author decided to pad the book with repeated phrases. Sandy threw a great curve because of his "long fingers and overhead delivery." Sandy's lack of a good curve in the World Series forced him to "rely almost entirely on his fastfall." I can't tell you how many times I read this same information within the space of this short book.

   Taking up the rest of the book is a pitch-by-pitch retelling of Game 7 of the 1965 World Series. Koufax was amazing to see pitch, and his dominance over other players was exciting to watch. But retold by Gruver in minute detail doesn't recreate the drama, it only puts us to sleep. Football fans have long said that "baseball is boring," and Gruver helps prove them right.

   The author attempts to frame Koufax's story on the aforementioned 1965 World Series game 7, and jumps forward and backward between that game and the rest of Koufax's life and career. It's a literary device that doesn't work; I found myself confused about what year it was and what important game was being played. Also, Gruver's segue phrases between the 1965 World Series and moments earlier in Koufax's career are forced... moving from the eighth inning of Game 7 to an earlier Koufax pitching start, Gruver might say, "It was just like that time in San Francisco in 1962," and - BOOM - now he's recounting the details of a game played three years earlier. And then back to the 1965 World Series for the bottom of the eighth. And so on.

   Hopefully, that newer Koufax biography ("Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy") is better and more exciting than this one. I don't think I've ever read a more boring baseball book, and certainly never one as monotonous as this one.




4. Koufax was the greatest, he deserves a better book. I suspect that some of the more positive reviews posted are more a reflection of the reviewers' feelings about Koufax, rather than the book. This book is poorly written and incredibly boring. How any writer could make the subject of Sandy's brilliant career boring is beyond me. But Gruver finds a way. The writing is dry and disorganized, there is little flow to the material, too many meaningless quotes from others are included without sufficent editing, and a plethora of unimportant details not only overwhelm the narative but are frequently repeated, sometimes three or four times. I've just ordered Jane Leavy's book, it's got to be better.



5. Sandy Koufax, Pedro Martinez, and Walter Johnson are the three greatest pitchers in history. This book makes a strong case for Koufax as THE greatest. Certainly others -- Cy Young,Christy Mathewson,Lefty Grove, Bob Feller,Warren Spahn,Tom Seaver,and today's Maddux and Clemens,among others -- have had greater lifetime careers than Sandy,but has anyone been as good as he at their peak years? Maybe Martinez, maybe the two Johnsons,Walter and Randy.It's probably a flat-out dead heat. However, Koufax finished most of his games,something even the great Pedro and Randy seldom do. Also, Koufax frequently went extra innings -- 11,12,13 innings,something Pedro and Randy NEVER do.Koufax pitched for one of the weakest hitting championship teams of all time. From the time he matured into greatness, he became the sole deciding factor as to whether the Dodgers won the pennant or not;in 1962, with the Dodgers on top, Koufax goes out with a circulatory ailment sometime around midsummer and misses most of the rest of the season and the Dodgers lose the pennant.In '63, with a healthy Koufax all year, they win it.In '64, he goes out again in mid-summer with an arthritic arm, and again the Dodgers lose the pennant. In '65, a healthy Koufax leads them to another pennant. In '66, once again with a healthy Koufax, the Dodgers win the pennant. Do you start to see a pattern here? If the greatest measure of an athlete is how he helps his team win, then surely Koufax has to be at the top of anyone's list. If he'd been able to continue pitching,like Nolan Ryan he'd no doubt have been able to pitch at a master level til he was past 40 due to his work ethic and commitment to conditioning. With that scenario, how many games might he have won? How many pennants for the Dodgers? How many no-hitters? Let's see, at a conservatve estimate of 24 wins a year for 10 more years, that would give him 405 lifetime wins, more than anyone except Walter Johnson and Cy Young, both DEAD BALL pitchers. He pitched 4 no-hitters in his last 5 years.At that rate, he'd have pitched 8 more over the next ten years, for a total of 12, obliterating Ryan's mark of 7. He was the greatest clutch pitcher of all time. His World Series lifetime E.R.A. of 0.95 is the best ever for starting pitchers,eclipsing even the Dead Ball guys! When he retired, he was unbelievably still getting BETTER! He had just reached his all-time personal high in wins(27) and his personal best E.R.A.(1.73). In the last 26 days of his career, he started seven times, threw five complete-game wins, and had an E.R.A. of 1.07! Bill James's all-time favorite pitcher,Lefty Grove, can't match up with Koufax, Martinez, or either of the Johnsons; sorry, Bill. The all-time dream game: Koufax vs. Martinez in the seventh game of the Series. Result? The Dodgers in 13 innings,1-0.
   More even than all this, Sandy Koufax is one of the most modest,unassuming athletes ever, a true gentleman. It's a shame today's kids don't have such role models.

5 comments about Bat Boy: My True Life Adventures Coming of Age with the New York Yankees.

1. The purpose of a book, in my opinion, is to take the reader away and allow him to experience what the author writes about. McGough has done an excellent job of doing this in his debut.
   
   As a kid, I was obsessed with baseball. It was a rite of passage in our country for young boys to collect baseball cards and idolize the players on their faces. McGough was able to gain access to this world, which is a privilege most of us would have died for. He preserves that childlike wonder throughout this book. Rather than becoming annoying, this tone allows the reader to empathize with McGough's struggles and cheer at his triumphs.
   
   The book also gives a fresh new look at the inner workings of a baseball team. Most sports books are written by players or journalists. Both groups have a certain detachment from society as a whole. McGough is an average kid from New York city with an average kid's problems. He writes about how his grades suffer, struggling to talk to girls, and other situations an adolescent male would find himself in. The difference is that most kids don't have millionaire pals who will lend a helping hand in impressing a young lady. McGough's description of his interactions with the players is very humanizing. In a way, McGough takes these players off the pedestal society has placed them on and shows the reader they are average guys.
   
   This book is my favorite baseball book by far, even surpassing Jim Bouton's Ball Four. If you have a baseball fan in the family, get this book for them. You won't be sorry.



2. You don't need to be a Yankee fan or a baseball fan to enjoy this book. As a diehard Red Sox fan, I feel guilty that I've taken a liking to a Yankee's team written about in this book. Mr. Mcgough does an incredible job of making you feel that you're part of the locker room, in the dugout, and on the field with the team.



3. This was an amazing book and probably one of the best autobiographys I've ever read. Growing up in California I've been a hard core Oakland a's and San Fransico Giants fan. Reading this book makes you love the Yankees. Mr.Mcough's writing gives you the feeling that you're actually at the baseball game. Matt gives you a full on description of everything he does and if he does something bad or gets in trouble it makes you relate when something like that happened to you. It's great description and humor this definitely a must read for anyone.



4. I can't recommend this book enough for any Yankee fan who suffered through the '80's and early '90's. Perfect read for a day at the beach or a plane ride.



5. If you are a Yankee fan who remembers the team of the mid-80's era, this book is a nice walk down memory lane. It's a quick, easy read written in an enjoyable narrative style, and it provides the reader with an inside glimpse that most of us Yankee fans would have given our left foot to experience.

2 comments about Heroes of the Hall : Baseball's Greatest Players.

1. If you know a baseball fan who you would be looking to purchase a gift for a birthday present or just as a pleasant surprise, you will not go wrong with this book. This is a book that would be appreciated by both youngsters 12 and up and adults. The book is illustrated with beautiful colored pictures of the Hall of Famers in addition to providing text that covers their career. The price is worth it. I have bought multiple copies as gifts, and they have been much appreciated. This is a book that will be treasured by the lucky recipient for a lifetime.



2. This is a great book for the baseball aficionado. Especially for those who appreciate the great players of years gone by.

   Dozens of Hall-of-Famers are featured, with beautiful photographs of each individual. You'll find basic statistics and the accomplishments of each personality, as well as a commentary on their contributions to the game. A nice bonus is a small photograph of their hall-of-fame plaque.

   As a collector of older baseball cards I found this book especially useful to my further appreciation of the players and the history of this greatest of past-times.

   I highly recommend it!

5 comments about The Only Way I Know.

1. Thought this would be interesting as a peek into the life of someone in "the show". Fairly so, though the level of detail (which could just as easily been a positive) was a bit much at times. Or perhaps the details that were revealed weren't that interesting.
   
   Ripken definitely isn't a deep person, or if he is he works to hide it in this book; though I'm not sure why anyone would look to a pro athlete for anything deep.
   
   The life he presented basically boils down to - "I played every day because I could, not as an attempt to break a record. I played hard because that is how I was raised."
   
   Nothing wrong with any of that, just a bit pedestrian. Again, why would you expect more out of a book about a baseball player though?
   
   Good insight into someone doing their best on a consistent basis. Don't expect anything magical though. It's along the lines of the saying "90% of success is showing up".



2. I love Cal Ripken Jr. He's been one of my favorite players since I was 9 years old. I was really looking forward to this book. I wanted to be able to rate it higher. I really did. However, the books is very dry and doesn't have a lot of really good stories in it. It's mostly about stats for different years and how he broke out of his slumps. There's not a lot about his childhood growing up in the shadow of the big leagues with his dad being in the Baltimore organization. There were very flat stories of how they drove to spring training as kids with their mother organizing. I just thought Cal would have so many good stories about his life and the different people he met along the way. I know he is a very private person but he didn't really open up and let you get to know the real him. This book also stops after the record is broken and doesn't go any further in his career or his after baseball life. I was a little disappointed, but would recommend it to the true Cal fans.



3. If you are a fan of Cal Ripken Jr., "The Only Way I Know" is the book for you. In this autobiography Cal shares information with us on how he got to where he is today and what it is like being a profesional baseball player. He overcame a lot during his brilliant career as a Baltimore Oriole. In Ripken's illustrious 20 year career with the Baltimore Orioles he broke several records and appeared in several all-star games. Having is dad pass away and battling to stay healthy, Ripken was a hero off the field as well as on the field. He participated in several diffent charities throughtout his career. That is what makes him not only a great athlete, but a wonderful person. This book is 326 pages and it took me about three weeks to read. I am a big fan of Cal Ripken Jr. so I really enjoyed this book. Everyone who is a sports fan should have a fun time reading this book because there is plenty of information and it makes you want to keep reading because there is so much information that people do not know about Cal Ripken. Ripken is one of the most recognized profesional athletes ever, so you can only imagine how good this book really is. As you all know Ripken broke the record of consecutive games by playing 2,132 consecutive games; he is known as the iron man. There are also many pictures in the book from different points in Ripken's career. I hope you enjoy this book.
   Also recommended: Cal Ripken Jr.: My Story
   Cal Ripken Jr.: Play Ball



4. If you are a fan of Cal Ripken Jr., "The Only Way I Know" is the book for you. In this autobiography Cal shares information with us on how he got to where he is today and what it is like being a profesional baseball player. He overcame a lot during his brilliant career as a Baltimore Oriole. In Ripken's illustrious 20 year career with the Baltimore Orioles he broke several records and appeared in several all-star games. Having is dad pass away and battling to stay healthy, Ripken was a hero off the field as well as on the field. He participated in several diffent charities throughtout his career. That is what makes him not only a great athlete, but a wonderful person. This book is 326 pages and it took me about three weeks to read. I am a big fan of Cal Ripken Jr. so I really enjoyed this book. Everyone who is a sports fan should have a fun time reading this book because there is plenty of information and it makes you want to keep reading because there is so much information that people do not know about Cal Ripken. Ripken is one of the most recognized profesional athletes ever, so you can only imagine how good this book really is. As you all know Ripken broke the record of consecutive games by playing 2,132 consecutive games; he is known as the iron man. There are also many pictures in the book from different points in Ripken's career. I hope you enjoy this book.
   Also recommended: Cal Ripken Jr.: My Story
   Cal Ripken Jr.: Play Ball



5. If you are a fan of Cal Ripken Jr., "The Only Way I Know" is the book for you. In this autobiography Cal shares information with us on how he got to where he is today and what it is like being a profesional baseball player. He overcame a lot during his brilliant career as a Baltimore Oriole. In Ripken's illustrious 20 year career with the Baltimore Orioles he broke several records and appeared in several all-star games. This book is 326 pages and took me about three weeks to read. I am a big fan of Cal Ripken Jr. so I really enjoyed this book. Ripken is one of the most recognized profesional athletes ever, so you can only imagine how good this book really is. As you all know Ripken broke the record of consecutive games by playing 2,132 consecutive games; he is known as the iron man. There are also many pictures in the book from different points in Ripken's career. I hope you enjoy this book.