Chronicles the career of the controversial baseball manager whose energetic success was usually terminated by his exaggerated antics and combative behavior. 40,000 first printing. National ad/promo. Tour.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
So Glad I Found This One:
I just read this book this summer. I had been a huge Billy Martin fan and, with the ESPN show "The Bronx Is Burning," my interest was renewed. I went to the library and discovered this book. I own most of the ones written in the late 70s and early 80s, including Billy's own book, "Number One," but I found this one to be the best. Falkner begins the book with information on Billy's family as it existed when he was born and takes it to some of the turmoil that followed his death. Wonderfully comprehensive... more info
Slow read:
This book, all be it very informative, is very slow. Most of the information comes from people who "knew" Billy and not from the man himself. Several parts are very conflicting in their stories and the author is not exactly sure who to believe. If toy want to know abput the factual life of Billy in baseball this is for you. If want to here stories about Billy as a Yankee and a hot tempered manager try something else.
Excellent:
I also am sorry this book is out of print, because it was an excellent read. Let me say at once, I don't consider it as complete as Peter Golenbock's "Wild, High and Tight", but then I am very biased and consider Golenbock the best sport's writer alive. In any event, I was very surprised at how well this book was put together, an outstanding awareness by Mr. Falkner of Billy's psychodynamics and his acute alcoholism. There is no judgement from the author, just the facts and some very profound insights. If... more info
Publisher Should Re-issue This Gem:
It's a shame this book is out-of-print. It took Amazon.com a few weeks to find it and ship it to me, but it was well worth the wait. Billy Martin is the type of subject who causes a potential biographer to salivate. He was one of the most remarkable characters the game has ever produced and it's amazing that there aren't more books about his turbulent life. Given his limited talents as a ballplayer, Martin overachieved on the diamond and made a name for himself in the 50s as the scrappy second baseman of... more info
Privacy policy: we don't collect information
about visitors except for the standard technical server logs. We don't send unsolicited emails. We don't
sell the information that we don't collect about you to anyone. When you follow
links to other sites, their privacy policies apply. Thanks for visiting!
