Synopsis
A veteran sportswriter provides a close-up look at some of the most influential managers of modern baseball, tracing the influence of baseball legends Branch Rickey, Connie Mack, and John McGraw on modern managers, and sharing entertaining anecdotes about the game. 25,000 first printing.
Reviews
The theory espoused by Koppett, a former New York Times sports columnist, is that all modern managers are descended from three seminal figures: John McGraw, who established the principle that the manager is the unquestioned boss of his team; Branch Rickey, who organized the teaching fundamentals; and Connie Mack, whose concentration on finding talented players enabled him to build two dynasties decades apart. Koppett's genealogy, for example, traces the influence of McGraw through Frankie Frisch and Leo Durocher to Bill Rigney. This otherwise splendid and original book overemphasizes New York managers, however. Among the 19 in-depth portraits, 11 are of men who led the Yankees, Giants, Dodgers or Mets. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Veteran sports journalist Koppett (Sports Illusion, Sports Reality, 1981, etc.) breaks new ground with this massive study of baseball managers from the 1840's to the present. The first manager, says Koppett, was Harry Wright, a former cricket star who founded the first professional baseball team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings. But the real history of managing begins in the early 20th century with three founding fathers: Connie Mack, John McGraw, and Branch Rickey. Mack was quiet and dignified, a brilliant tactician in a stiff-collared suit who was still managing in 1950 at the age of 88. McGraw, by contrast, was a brawler and a bully, a tyrant obsessed with winning. Rickey, a genius at organization, developed the farm system and the widely imitated Dodger approach to baseball, emphasizing speed, pitching, and intense practice. From these seminal figures, Koppett traces lines of descent--Rickey to Sparky Anderson, McGraw to Chuck Tanner, etc. In each case, the sage teaches his tricks firsthand to the prot‚g‚, who then improves (or tries to) upon the master. Numerous giants pass under Koppett's gaze: Casey Stengel, ever the clown, with his hunches, platooning, and flamboyant double-talk; loudmouth Leo Durocher, always looking for an edge; gentle Al Rosen; Walter Alston, who had ``absolutely no charisma''; upbeat Ralph Houk; Billy Martin (``more victim than culprit''); Earl Weaver; Tommy Lasorda, and more. Drawing on decades of baseball experience (including personal acquaintance, and often friendship, with most of the managers discussed here), Koppett delivers lively portraits packed with baseball lore and dimmed, if at all, only by his unwillingness to criticize (many figures widely held to be mediocre, like John McNamara and Bill Virdon, he describes as ``underrated''). A first-rate resource from which even lifelong fans will learn something new. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
In December 1992, Koppett was selected for the writer's wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame, in recognition of over 40 years of high-quality baseball writing for the Sporting News , the New York Times , and many other publications. He is also an entertaining and insightful author best known for A Thinking Man's Guide to Baseball ( LJ 8/67). This book provides an anecdotal analysis of the various qualities of the most successful and influential managers of this century. Koppett examines their backgrounds, skills, and weaknesses, and then traces their lineage to three seminal figures: John McGraw, Connie Mack, and Branch Rickey. An appendix lists the managers for teams that finished in first place since 1960, along with the managerial lines to which they belong. This title will be an excellent addition to any sports collection.
- John Maxymuk, Rutgers Univ. Lib., Camden, N.J.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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