Tagged: Derek Jeter
Spring has Sprung !!!!
Well, it’s that time of year again. Opportunity abounds for all, the realization of a life long dream may be in the offing and as it is always said, hope springs eternal. The new baseball season offers hope to every baseball fan that this is finally going to be their year and their hopes of a championship will be realized. For those involved in the game, players are hoping to get their big break while others are hoping to hang one for just one more year. If you take a good hard look at a baseball team, all of these hopes and dreams of just about everyone lay in the hands of just one person, the General Manager. A position of amazing power, it is also one of great sacrifice and fortitude to attain it and one that comes with some unfair criticism at times. Today’s book takes a look at arguably one of the modern eras greatest GM’s and what it took to reach the pinnacle.
Ned Colletti can easily be described as a baseball lifer. Landing stints for the Cubs, Giants and finally the Dodgers, he got to contribute to three of the most storied franchises in the history of the game. Now his new book shows what it took to reach his goals as both a person and a professional General Manager.
Ned walks us through his childhood and its a compelling story about an average American kid. Next he shows us how barely making ends meet he gets his job with the Chicago Cubs and his professional journey truly begins. It shows the reader how with great sacrifice and perseverance great things can be accomplished. Next we stop with Colletti in San Francisco and see how the building blocks of a transformation were laid. Finally we travel to the Dodgers and see what its like dealing with a meddling mess of an owner while trying to build a contender. His professional story is a fascinating one and his accolades well-earned, but its his personal story that also resonates throughout this book.
You get to see the personal side of a highly respected General Manager and quite honestly we don’t always see that in these books. His anecdotes may be about baseball, but you get a good feel of his personality when he is telling these stories. I enjoy books like this that I walk away getting the sense that the subject seems like a pretty decent guy in real life. The Baseball books afford us to get closer details and some inside information about events that take place, but not always closer to the people involved.
If you have an interest in getting to know a real guy and the inner workings of the front office then this is a book you should check out. It will be time well spent to get a new perspective on the inner workings of the game and a glimpse at someone who comes off as a pretty decent guy as well.
You can get this book from the nice folks at G.P. Putnum & Sons
Happy Reading
Gregg
Babe’s Place-The Lives of Yankee Stadium
I am not a Yankee fan in any sense of the word, but I will acknowledge their achievements throughout history and the contributions they have made to both the game and its storied history. The original Yankee Stadium was witness to many of the games greatest players and scores of historical moments. With its closing a few years back, baseball lost one of its historical palaces, but I have found a book that chronicles its entire history and gives the stadium the true respect that it was due.
By:Michael Wagner-2015
There have been a few books in the past that have made me go wow, but this one beats them all. Author Michael Wagner starts from the stadium’s original construction and provides all sorts of details about building a stadium in the 20’s. It covers stories about building delays, internal political struggles, how many bricks that were used and monetary costs to build the palace. I am using that brick number to dazzle my friends when we start asking each other obscure baseball trivia. It obviously does cover the great moments that happened there during its original incarnation and gives the reader a good feel of what the stadium was like during that early era of baseball.
Next the book takes another in-depth look at the remodeling of the stadium in the mid 1970’s. The deconstruction and remodeling details are plentiful in this book and gives an inside look at what really went on behind the scenes during this remodeling phase. Many of these things you will find hard to believe when you hear the lengths they went to preserving its original heritage. This portion of the book also covers the great moments that happened at Yankee Stadium during this second phase of its life. This is the phase many of us are most familiar with so it was nice to relive some of those memories.
This book provides an enormous array of pictures. From the original building of the stadium to its remodeling. Many are from the authors private collection, and they are a unique insight to the process and how large of an undertaking it was to remodel this stadium.
Finally, one aspect I found interesting was the personal correspondence of the author attempting to get memories from those who played there. He had success to varying degrees, but it was a fun way to see what players thought about the old girl during her prime.
It doesn’t matter if you are a New York Yankee fan or not this is a book worth checking out. The original Yankee Stadium has given way to progress, but I personally think it should have remained and been revered in such ways that Wrigley Field and Fenway Park are today. Old Yankee Stadium had a large historical value and this book has done a wonderful job on preserving some of the details and memories for generations to come.
You can contact Author Michael Wagner directly via email for information on how to order this great book for all baseball fans.
yankeeswinws@yahoo.com
Happy Reading
Gregg
Jackie Robinson In Quotes
Jackie Robinson’s legacy is well known, so there is no need for me to lay it out there for everyone. Perhaps he has had the single greatest social impact on the game during his life and after it as well. Regardless of his legacy, Jackie Robinson has had a serious amount of articles and books written about him. Danny Peary has put together a book that is a compilation of Jackie Robinson quotes. It introduces a new and interesting way to see the profound impact Robinson made on the game.
By:Danny Peary-2016
Danny Peary’s book follows a unique path as far as a book goes. The format falls in line with his other book Derek Jeter In Quotes. Both of the books paint an interesting picture of their subjects. The Jackie Robinson volume draws from books, player and manager interviews, newspaper articles, historians and some quotes from Jackie himself. It allows the author to show a more intimate portrait of Robinson that a simple one dimension biography is unable to display.
Danny Peary’s books are always enjoyable to read and this one is no exception. The other books he has collaborated on are thoroughly researched and the subjects are accurately portrayed to the reader. This book is no exception to his past works and the new format he has with the quotes make it a very enjoyable read. You get both a feel for Robinson as well as the person making the quote. So in essence you are getting more than one perspective in this format.
I said it about the Derek Jeter In Quotes book and it carries true on the Jackie Robinson volume as well, this is a welcome change from the standard baseball player autobiography. Quite honestly when you read several different books in a year, you embrace a change and really enjoy something out of the ordinary. Fans should check this out because I can almost guarantee if you think you know everything about Jackie Robinson, you don’t. This book will surely give you some new information to add to your Jackie Robinson arsenal. Check it out I do not think you will be disappointed.
Happy Reading
Gregg
The Journey Home-My Life in Pinstripes
Recently a Facebook friend of mine asked the question, which baseball players deserve to have a book written about them. It poses an interesting question as to what is the criteria we use to choose a subject of these books. As you would expect everyone had their own opinion as to what made a player worthy of their own book. Everyone from one hit wonders to Hall of Famers were mentioned. For me it made me wonder why we even need the books of some of those people, even those players that were popular does not automatically give credence to any of the books they write. Today’s book makes me question if we really needed this one.
By: Jorge Posada-2015
I am really not in any way a New York Yankees fan. So I did not go into this book partaking in the drinking of the Yankees cool-aid. While I think Jorge Posada had a decent career I honestly thought if you had placed him on another team, perhaps the Royals or the Twins during the same era, this book probably never would have been published. So I really wasn’t expecting much from this book. Unfortunately I can say I wasn’t disappointed.
I appreciate the effort both authors put forth in this book, I don’t think anyone sets out to write an average book. But that is what the reader gets in this one. Its a story that is not very riveting in any way and drags on at certain points. It does make it hard to get through certain spots, but with some diligence you can get through it. The major appeal that this book has to the general public is that it is another Yankees book. That alone will help peak interest in the book, but for me it just isn’t enough to justify it. I have always felt that if a publisher sees some merit in publishing a book, maybe it is worth taking a look at. Most of those books have some redeeming qualities to them, but I am not finding very many here.
Yankees fans may be a better audience for this one, because non-Yankees fans will not be able to get through the slow portions of the book.
You can get this book from the nice folks at Harper Collins
http://www.harpercollins.com/9780062379627/the-journey-home
Happy Reading
Gregg
The Hall – A Celebration of Baseball’s Greats
Choosing the best of the best can really ignite some serious debates. Who belongs, who doesn’t, who should be eligible and who should not even be there always makes for good conversations among friends. The Baseball Hall of Fame, which is nestled in that sleepy little town in upstate New York, is the mecca of baseball junkies. You can walk among some of the greatest artifacts throughout the history of the game as well as visiting the memorials to all the games brightest stars. If you are not lucky enough to be located within a reasonable distance of the Hall like I am (2 hours), then you may not be able to get there as often as you would like or even at all for that matter. I found a book, if you are one of the unlucky few that may never get there that will help you experience some of the magical aura that is The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
The Official 75th Anniversary Book 2014
The Baseball Hall of Fame has really published a first-rate book with this one. The quality of the book alone is incredible. From the paper stock, to the printing this is a really nice book. Quality of the book is something I really never comment on, but this one is really that good.
The Hall has compiled all its members, including managers, executives and umpires and given the reader in-depth overviews of every single person. Each player section is broken down by position into its own chapter and then sorted by induction year. It has dedicated two pages to each personality and gives a nice biography of their career as well as a brief snippet of that persons unique personality. It is a nice feature for each person that you don’t always get in these types of books, because it is usually more focused on the career numbers. Each person’s Hall of Fame plaque also heads their individual page so you are able to read exactly what is hanging on the wall in Cooperstown.
The other nice feature is a several page essay at the beginning of each chapter. A player from that chapter has written about his own experiences during his career that led him to The Hall of Fame. It is something you don’t normally see in a Hall of Fame coffee table book and adds a real human touch to this book. I think the Hall of Fame sometimes lacks a human touch when speaking about its members, so this brings it back to a very personal and fan friendly level.
This book covers all the players that were enshrined as of the publication date. The only down side to these types of books is that they are not accurate for very long. Once the next July rolls around someone is missing. But honestly this book is done so well it should belong in every fan’s library. You may be familiar with some of the names, but there are others that are a real learning experience for fans young and old.
You can get this book from the nice folks at Little Brown and Company
Happy Reading
Gregg
Yankee Doodles – Inside the Locker Room with Mickey, Yogi, Reggie and Derek
When you do the same job for several decades it can get stale. You get to the point that nothing new ever really happens and you just start phoning in your job. You do the bare minimum just to skate by until you wind up retiring. Now this is true for most of us, but if you are lucky enough to have a job that no two days are ever the same, it’s totally different. You can’t wait to get to work and enjoy all the ups and downs of your job. Now most of us obviously fall into the former description, but if you are the New York Yankees beat writer like Phil Pepe was for several decades, you have a ton of great stories filed away in the memory bank just waiting to be shared. Todays book does just that.
By:Phil Pepe-2015
This would probably be a dream job to most Yankee fans. Following the team day in and day out, mingling among the legends and almost becoming an extension of the team itself. While I am sure it is not a walk in the park every single day, I can think of a few professions that this would highly rank above.
Phil Pepe takes the reader on a journey with this book through several decades of Yankee stories. It is personal, first hand interactions with the team and stories he has witnessed in his years covering the team. He takes us from Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio all the way up through Derek Jeter. In between those two icons the book is filled with stories about other Yankee legends that donned the pinstripes while he was their beat writer. If you look at it from a historical standpoint this was a great time to be covering the team, because the baseball history he has witnessed is amazing.
This is a typical Pepe book in the style in which it is written. I have always found his books to be engaging and able to pull the reader into the story and make them feel like they were there as well. Phil Pepe has a real knack for getting the reader into a story and holding onto them until the very end. Perhaps I am a little biased because the other books he has written have ranked up there among my favorites. I am not sure if this was Pepe’s swan song for his distinguished career, but if it was he goes out on the top of his field. He shows his skill and dedication to his craft and does not use it as any sort of retribution towards people in the stories he tells. He tells stories that the everyday fan would never have known about if not told in this book. I found these stories in no way to be malicious or scandalous in any way, it was just more of a fun reflection on his career covering the Yankees.
Baseball fans and Yankee fans especially will enjoy this one. Its just a lot of fun stories from a raunchy locker room that is not always visible to the public. Readers should give this one a shot, I don’t think they will be dissapointed.
You can get this book from the nice folks at Sports Publishing
http://www.sportspubbooks.com/book/?gcoi=58261109512610
Happy Reading
Gregg
Core Four – The Heart and Soul of the Yankees Dynasty
Lets face it. The New York Yankees have always been the prettiest girl at the dance, the prom queen and grandma’s favorite at Thanksgiving dinner. They get all the ink in the press, they get all the big impact free agents, and have a seemingly endless supply of money. These reasons above have given fans plenty of reasons to hate the Bronx Bombers. In the course of winning 27 World Championships the Yankees have had the occasion to create more than one dynasty in New York. Today’s book takes at the most recent dynasty assembled in the Big Apple, down to its very core.
By:Phil Pepe – 2013 Triumph Books
The last thing I want to do when I find time to read a book, is partake in the Yankees propaganda machine. After the 2014 grand retirement extravaganza that was Derek Jeter, I as a fan was tired. I more wanted to find a book that would make me enjoy the good old days of the recent Yankees without finding out why Derek Jeter was the best player ever. Even though Jeter is part of today’s book, it thankfully wasn’t dominated by Derek.
Core Four takes a look at the roads traveled by the four main players that were members of the Yankees new millennium dynasty. While that dynasty actually started in 1996, it carried over into the 21st century, so I figured that was the easiest way to categorize it. The book looks at Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and of course Derek Jeter. It shows the journey each of them made in their private lives to get to professional baseball, their minor league journeys, as well as their pecking orders in the Yankees minor league system. Finally our core four move to the majors and you review each of their individual accomplishments.
The part of the book I found most interesting was the way that these four players were present for a substantial period of success in Yankees history. Six pennants and four World Series over the course of eight seasons while these four called each other teammates. That in itself is nothing to sneeze at. But you also see how as some of these pieces moved on to other teams how the Yankees suffered. It is a really interesting look at how the foundation of that dynasty was assembled and how it functioned.
Some people enjoy Phil Pepe’s writings, and I am one of them. He is obviously New York biased which is fine if you accept that fact before you start reading the book. This is another stellar effort on his part in the telling of the Yankees dynasty and New York fans should really enjoy it.
You can get this book from the nice folks at Triumph Books
Happy Reading
Gregg
Derek Jeter – Thanks for the Memories
It’s the highly anticipated Hall of Fame announcement day. A day when our retired heroes earn their way into the hallowed halls of Cooperstown. I figured this would be the best time to take a look at this book since exactly five years from now we will all be celebrating this players enshrinement in the sleepy little village in upstate New York.
Derek Jeter – Thanks for the Memories
By:David Fischer – 2014 Sports Publishing
Derek Jeter was without question one of the all time greats that ever wore the pinstripes. He was the epitome of style, grace and dedication that screamed he was a part of the New York Yankees. A player who throughout his career demonstrated to fans that hard work does pay off. Remember, Derek Jeter is part of the steroids era in baseball and not once has anyone brought up his name in connection to that mess. He was this generations good guy on the field, when the guys in the white hats were getting hard to find.
David Fischer has created a book among a sea of Jeter tributes. Some can even say the Jeter farewell was overblown and saturated the market with Jeterness. All that aside, Fischer has created a complete and endearing picture of the little shortstop who could. I will warn readers that this is more of a coffee table book with lots of pictures, versus a biography.
It covers Jeters start in Kalamazoo, Michigan and shows his struggles to reach the greatest stage on earth in the Bronx. His career through various World Series triumphs and personal accolades are showcased in the pages of this book and give a complete picture of the player you saw on the field. If you lived outside the Yankees market you will really gain something from this book, because it may fill in some of the missing pieces you may have about Jeters career.
The pictures in this book are incredible and show some great action shots. The quotes from former teammates seem genuine and are endearing to the player. As I said above, if you are outside the New York market you will enjoy this book as it gives some more insight as to why all the hype during last seasons farewell tour. Yankee fans will treasure this and if they have not already, add it to your piles of Jeter memories.
You can get this book from the nice folks at Sports Publishing
Happy Reading
Gregg
Gregg's Baseball Bookcase 