Good Yankees books forum

[MunsonNY15]

"The Closer" by Mariano Rivera comes out in a few weeks

The greatest relief pitcher of all time shares his extraordinary story of survival, love, and baseball.

Mariano Rivera, the man who intimidated thousands of batters merely by opening a bullpen door, began his incredible journey as the son of a poor Panamanian fisherman. When first scouted by the Yankees, he didn't even own his own glove. He thought he might make a good mechanic. When discovered, he had never flown in an airplane, had never heard of Babe Ruth, spoke no English, and couldn't imagine Tampa, the city where he was headed to begin a career that would become one of baseball's most iconic. What he did know: that he loved his family and his then girlfriend, Clara, that he could trust in the Lord to guide him, and that he could throw a baseball exactly where he wanted to, every time.

With astonishing candor, Rivera tells the story of the championships, the bosses (including The Boss), the rivalries, and the struggles of being a Latino baseball player in the United States and of maintaining Christian values in professional athletics. The thirteen-time All-Star discusses his drive to win; the secrets behind his legendary composure; the story of how he discovered his cut fastball; the untold, pitch-by-pitch account of the ninth inning of Game 7 in the 2001 World Series; and why the lowest moment of his career became one of his greatest blessings.

In The Closer, Rivera takes readers into the Yankee clubhouse, where his teammates are his brothers. But he also takes us on that jog from the bullpen to the mound, where the game -- or the season -- rests squarely on his shoulders. We come to understand the laserlike focus that is his hallmark, and how his faith and his family kept his feet firmly on the pitching rubber. Many of the tools he used so consistently and gracefully came from what was inside him for a very long time -- his deep passion for life; his enduring commitment to Clara, whom he met in kindergarten; and his innate sense for getting out of a jam.

When Rivera retired, the whole world watched -- and cheered. In The Closer, we come to an even greater appreciation of a legend built from the ground up.


http://www.amazon.com/Closer-Mariano...dp/B00EXTQVKM/

Thanks for the heads up. I wasn't aware Mo had a book coming out.

Heidi

[Tifoso]

I echo Heidi's thank you.

Could you guys please do a review after you've read the book? Thanks!

[kndy]

I recently read Jonathan Eig's The Luckiest Man, a biography of Lou Gehrig. The book was outstanding in terms of its research and style. I also read Pride and Pinstripes, Mel Stottlemyre's autobiography--also worth a read.

Thanks to everyone who recommended this book. Just purchased it!

[mr.roy]

I am sure it's been mentioned but I'll give a thumbs up for "Pinstripe Empire".
The New York Yankees from before the Babe to after the Boss. Flat out fascinating.
Written by Marty Appel also author of "Munson".

[Eldee5]

Various excerpts from Mariano's new book can be read here:
http://parade.condenast.com/282548/p...ng-life-story/

[Eldee5]

I'm about 2/3 of the way through Mariano's autobiography and enjoying it immensely. I'll comment on it when I've finished. In the meantime, I've heard of another Mariano book that sounds interesting and thought I'd add it to our Yankees' book list here.

Facing Mariano Rivera: Players Recall the Greatest Relief Pitcher Who Ever Lived
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/161...VUGRIP4QIOM7PP

Far from a conventional biography, Facing Mariano Rivera offers perspectives and testimonials from opponents and teammates alike, including Rivera’s minor-league roommate and the final batter he faced in the major leagues. Some opponents had uncommon success against “The Sandman,” and they share their secrets for hitting him. Most, however, echo the sentiments of five-time All-Star Mike Sweeney: “When you’re at Yankee Stadium and Mariano Rivera is coming in the game, it feels like a horror movie . . . when you hear the music and you’re scared to death, because you know what’s going to happen.”

Truly dominant pitchers come along only rarely. This book tells the reader what it’s like to battle one of the all-time best, in the words of the players who did just that.

[W.G. Braund]

QUOTE: (Babe Ruth to a reporter) "Sure I could hit doubles to left and hit .400 every year, but there's a lot more jack in it for me in this home run business."

I rather immodestly, since I wrote it, recommend "Babe Ruth & the 1927 Yankees Have the Best Summer Ever" which was released in December. Like my other two historical novels, "King of the Hall of Flakes" (2015) about the incredibly talented and nutty Rube Waddell and "The Only Del" (Spring 2017) about the great Irish star Ed Delahanty, the Babe and the '27 Yankees book is based upon exhaustive research so that every bit of the action is realistic.
It was fact-checked and endorsed by Steve Steinberg ("The Colonel and Hug").

When the Yankees take a train you learn the name of the train (the expensive ones all had names in those days). When the Yankees order at a restaurant it's from their 1927 menu, not the restaurant's 1925 menu. When you go to Chaplin's house what's in the foyer was really there and his pool is the special shape he ordered. (The mansion was called Breakaway House because he'd had temporary set builders from the studio put up some of the walls.)

You learn not just what's inside the Babe's locker, you find out what he kept on top for good luck. You learn what other famous movies were being shot on the sets beside the one where Ruth was filming a six-reeler called Babe Come Home. You learn why he calls Benny Bengough Googles and Earl Combs Iron Ass. You find out why conductors are startled by Waite Hoyt's reading material. You learn why first base coach Charley O'Leary should have given Crazy Hank money and what Miller Huggins sneaks off to do when the team's on the road. You learn why Bob Shawkey, the only Yankee with a tattoo, is worried about his wife, "the Tiger Lady", and how Mattie Pipgras finally got George to touch her breasts in their struggle buggy.
The action includes the Home Run Challenge that captivates America after the mania surrounding Lucky Lindy finally dies down. In April almost superhuman Lou Gehrig is way ahead of the 32-year-old Ruth, who thought he was 33. And you find out a very surprising thing about the Babe's arch enemy the lovable Ty Cobb that becomes a central element in the second half of the book.

"Babe Ruth & the 1927 Yankees have the Best Summer Ever" and the screenplay based on it, "'27: the Best Season Ever" are designed to be a delight for Yankee fans especially after the two dreadful movies that made about the Babe. My aim for the film is for guys to come out of the theater, hop on their phones and after some searching tell their girlfriend, "Wow, Waite Hoyt really did have one in his trunk! or the Tiger Lady really did that! or the Babe really did hang out with Jack Dempsey and Flo Ziegfeld."

[PYanks]

I have just finished reading Bob Klapisch's Inside the Empire, and Brian Hoch's The Baby Bombers. Klapisch gives interesting insight into the inner workings of the organization, and Hoch's is more of a profile of the young players and coverage of the 2017 season, concluding with the hiring of Aaron Boone. They're both decent reads and quick.

[Bauer]

I just reread David Halberstam's The Summer of '49, with its account of the great pennant race that year between Boston and the Yankees. I mention it because it put me in mind of recent tributes to non-HoF guys, with retiring of their numbers and/or placing of plaques in the Monument area. Guys like O'Neill, Bernie, Mattingly, Pettitte, for example are such beneficiaries, and I was a big fan of them all. But when reading Halberstam and his references to Charlie Keller, Tommy Henrich, Vic Raschi, Eddie Lopat, and Allie Reynolds, for example: all of them every bit as valuable to teams of the 1940s and 1950s as those later guys were to their teams. And, equally, every bit as much admired by Yankee fans of those earlier decades as the later guys were by the fans of their more recent era. A certain amount of recent-ism seems to be at work in the selective memorializing



In any case, if you haven't read it, I do recommend the book, written by a guy who was a Yankee fan kid in 1949. He had a pretty good career as a writer, with books on Viet Nam, the Korean war, and other big public events; but he seems to have been damned pleased to have interviewed guys like Vic Raschi and Tommy Henrich.

[HelloNewman]

I just reread David Halberstam's The Summer of '49, with its account of the great pennant race that year between Boston and the Yankees. I mention it because it put me in mind of recent tributes to non-HoF guys, with retiring of their numbers and/or placing of plaques in the Monument area. Guys like O'Neill, Bernie, Mattingly, Pettitte, for example are such beneficiaries, and I was a big fan of them all. But when reading Halberstam and his references to Charlie Keller, Tommy Henrich, Vic Raschi, Eddie Lopat, and Allie Reynolds, for example: all of them every bit as valuable to teams of the 1940s and 1950s as those later guys were to their teams. And, equally, every bit as much admired by Yankee fans of those earlier decades as the later guys were by the fans of their more recent era. A certain amount of recent-ism seems to be at work in the selective memorializing

I suspect that the marketing of nostalgia is more of a "thing" now than it was in the late 1950s and through the 1960s and early 1970s when those Yankees might have been honored. We could have a 10-hour conversation on why that is but I do believe I'm right on that. I agree with you that the old-timers you mention are every bit as deserving of plaques as the more recent players who got them, but of course they won't get them because only baseball geeks like you and I would care, no marketing appeal. (Keller in particular is crazy-underrated, a CLEAR Hall of Famer for 6 or 7 years. The war and injuries condemned him to being forgotten.)

[LongtimeNYYFan]

Not exactly new (2017) but Marty Appel's book, "Casey Stengel, Baseball's Greatest Character" is a great read.

[Bauer]

I suspect that the marketing of nostalgia is more of a "thing" now than it was in the late 1950s and through the 1960s and early 1970s when those Yankees might have been honored. We could have a 10-hour conversation on why that is but I do believe I'm right on that. I agree with you that the old-timers you mention are every bit as deserving of plaques as the more recent players who got them, but of course they won't get them because only baseball geeks like you and I would care, no marketing appeal. (Keller in particular is crazy-underrated, a CLEAR Hall of Famer for 6 or 7 years. The war and injuries condemned him to being forgotten.)

You're probably right about what you wittily call "the marketing of nostalgia." In the 1950s and 60s, about the only examples of that might be the annual "old timers day" game.



I agree entirely about the underrating of Keller.

[Bauer]

Not exactly new (2017) but Marty Appel's book, "Casey Stengel, Baseball's Greatest Character" is a great read.

Indeed it is a great read. Stengel is the first Yankee manager I remember, and he always made me laugh when he was interviewed. A "character" they always called him, and he was. But he was also a terrifically intelligent guy and a fierce competitor. I remember reading--perhaps from an interview with a player--about some game against the hapless Washington Senators. The Yankees were knocking the tar out of them, but Stengel paced up and down in the dugout and pounded a fist into the palm of his other hand and muttered, "Don't let 'em up. Don't let 'em up."

[plumdusty]

Has anyone read Chumps to Champs? Saw it the other day but put off purchasing it. Any thought on the book?

[ace]

Scrolling back a page and saw this from 2014:

"The Closer" by Mariano Rivera comes out in a few weeks

So I went to a book signing Mo had when this book came out. I’ve been to a handful of events like that over the years, and I’ve seen famous people out and about occasionally. I’m not one to be normally be starstruck. Except...for Mo. I shook his hand. I don’t remember if I said anything other than something like “thank you for everything” and got a picture taken. When I got outside the book store I almost threw up in the parking lot.

That’s my Mo story.

[sjb23]

Scrolling back a page and saw this from 2014:



So I went to a book signing Mo had when this book came out. I’ve been to a handful of events like that over the years, and I’ve seen famous people out and about occasionally. I’m not one to be normally be starstruck. Except...for Mo. I shook his hand. I don’t remember if I said anything other than something like “thank you for everything” and got a picture taken. When I got outside the book store I almost threw up in the parking lot.

That’s my Mo story.

A memorable meeting I'm sure. Most of my "almost-threw-up" stories are pretty forgettable.

[YankeeJimBeam]

Has anyone read Chumps to Champs? Saw it the other day but put off purchasing it. Any thought on the book?

Available used on Ebay for $5 including shipping. For that price how wrong can you go?

[Eldee5]

Has anyone read Chumps to Champs? Saw it the other day but put off purchasing it. Any thought on the book?

I haven't read this one but it has 183 ratings on Goodreads and has an overall rating of 4.39 out of 5.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...umps-to-champs

[penguin4]

I didn't see Jane Leavy's The Big Fella on here yet, which is a great book about Babe Ruth for people who think they already know about Babe Ruth. It does a good deal of sleuthing in trying to unpack the broad tropes of his unconventional childhood, and it's a really interesting look about the beginning both of sport marketing and athlete endorsements (there's a whole chapter on the candy bar) and the first modern baseball agent Christy Walsh, as much of it focuses on the post-1927 barnstorming tour he took with Lou Gehrig. I couldn't put it down.

[YankeePride1967]

I haven't read this one but it has 183 ratings on Goodreads and has an overall rating of 4.39 out of 5.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...umps-to-champs

I did. Very good read

[plumdusty]

I’ll have to check out the one on eBay. I am currently reading The Pine Tar Game by Filip Bondy. A buddy of mine sent me a few dozen ebooks that he had purchased so I have a good bit to read but the Chumps to Champs peaked my interest so I’m going to get that one next.

[ymike673]

Available used on Ebay for $5 including shipping. For that price how wrong can you go?

Just bought it on Amazon for a few dollars more. But with my rewards points got it for free.

[YankeeJimBeam]

a nice birthday present indeed