Review of "Mickey & Billy"

Ending February with a slew of books - this one being an audio book.  Was surprised that on NetGalley it was only offered as an audiobook after publication, but no matter - I enjoyed listening to this one.  Here is my review of "Mickey & Billy". 

 

Title/Author:

“Mickey & Billy: The Glory and Tragedy of a Yankee Friendship” by Tony Castro, narrated by Matt Godfrey

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

Mickey Mantle and Billy Martin were teammates on the New York Yankees during the team’s great run of success in the 1950’s.  They played hard together both on and off the field. While some of their stories have been known for year, this book by Tony Castro does bring some fresh material to their stories, especially that of Mantle.

Mr. Castro is a noted historian of Mantle’s career, having previously published several books on the Yankee legend and at the beginning of this one, he acknowledges his personal relationship with Mantle as well. Given that, it isn’t surprising that the bulk of the book is about Mantle, but there’s good information on Martin as well, especially about his upbringing with his mother.

Without going into too much detail on the stories, as many of them are either well known or as Mr. Castro noted, they are gained from his personal relationship with Mantle. I did appreciate some of the stories from Holly Brooke, a woman with whom Mantle had a relationship even while he was married to his high school sweetheart Merlyn.  I also did enjoy the description of how much Mickey wanted to please his father and how his father’s death in 1951 soon after Mickey’s rookie season was completed affected Mickey so greatly.  Even to the point of marrying Merlyn because he felt his father would not approve of not doing so.

The narration by Mr. Godfrey is also very good and kept me engaged in the book, even if I had found the information elsewhere.  Whether that was from previous books by Mr. Castro or other books I have read on both ballplayers, I found this one to be very enjoyable to listen to and recommend it for any Yankee fan.

I wish to thank Dreamscape Media for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.

Link: Amazon.com: Mickey & Billy: The Glory and Tragedy of a Yankee Friendship (Audible Audio Edition): Tony Castro, Matt Godfrey, Dreamscape Media: Books

Review of "The Search for the Next Mickey Mantle"

 This book was unexpectedly offered to me for a review, although having read a book by this author previously, I wanted to see how he would write on a different sport.  It turned out to be a good choice.  Here is my review of Barry Sparks' book "The Search for the Next Mickey Mantle." 

Title/Author:

“The Search for the Next Mickey Mantle: From Tom Tresh to Bryce Harper” by Barry Sparks

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

Mickey Mantle is a transcendent figure in the history of baseball. Despite injuries and a lifestyle that included plenty of nightlife and drinking, he was one of the best and most beloved players on the most successful franchise, the New York Yankees.  When his skills started diminishing, even before his retirement in 1968, the search was on for finding the next player that could captivate fans and the media.  This search, which is still going on today, is chronicled in this book by Barry Sparks.

In the book, Sparks portrays 16 players who all shared one thing in common: they were tagged by someone as the next Mickey Mantle. This could have been by managers or coaches who saw the player at any level of baseball, from high school to the Major Leagues.  The label may have been started by the media.  Or the praise from another player may have included a comparison to Mantle.  No matter how that happened, Sparks portrays the player in an honest manner, not judgmental. If there are opinions expressed, it is by the person quoted by Sparks.

Many times, those quotes come from the players themselves and that is one of the aspects that make the book very interesting to read.  A player did not have to be signed by the Yankees or start his professional career when or just after Mantle retired in order to be portrayed in the book.  The player also does not necessarily need to have a poor or average career to be considered for the book. The last two players Sparks writes about, Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, are two of the best players in the game today and may eventually end up in the Hall of Fame like Mantle did.  But as Sparks explains in the beginning of the book, one didn’t have to struggle to be included in the book.

Each portrait contains details on the player’s baseball career, including when he was touted to be the next Mantle due to observations of either his performance on the field or projections from scouting reports.  No matter how the player was tagged, this book is a very good telling of what happens to players who are burdened with a heavy weight of expectations.

I wish to thank Mr. Sparks for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.  The opinions expressed are strictly mine.

Link: The Search for the Next Mickey Mantle: From Tom Tresh to Bryce Harper: Sparks, Barry: 9781620069554: Amazon.com: Books

 

Review of "Messi vs. Ronaldo"

 While this book had admittedly been on my TBR pile for a few months, it turned out to be perfect timing when I picked it up.  With one of the subjects playing in the World Cup final, what better time to post a review of "Messi vs. Ronaldo"?

Title/Author:

“Messi vs. Ronaldo: One Rivalry, Two GOATs and the Era that Remade the World’s Game” by Jonathan Clegg and Joshua Robinson

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:  Discussions and debates about the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) of a particular sport are common today and in international soccer circles, that discussion today revolves around two players – Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo.  Strong cases can be made for both players and this book, while very interesting, does not help someone make a case for one or the other to be considered better.

The first bit of advice for reading this book comes early – the authors state that this is not intended to be a dual biography of the two legends but instead a thorough look at their careers from playing the game early in life through their rise to their professional teams by examining the business side of international soccer and how it affected them. There is in-depth information on the two clubs that both players spent the bulk of their careers, and it is no coincidence that they are two of the most famous clubs in European soccer – Real Madrid (Ronaldo) and FC Barcelona (Messi).  Because of both the celebrity of the players and the name recognition of their clubs, Messi and Ronaldo’s rise in fame also helped bring a revolution in the business of international soccer.

Of course, the authors write about other factors that brought this about such as social media and the influx of money, especially American money, that changed the economics for many of the “super clubs” forever, but no matter what business topic is discussed, the text will circle back to one of these two players.  A reader who follows soccer leagues such as the Premier League (both players spent time with clubs in that circuit) or La Liga will find the business discussion quite interesting.  One who may not follow this subject as closely may not be as engrossed but will still learn some very interesting facts on international soccer. 

I will give an example of one that I learned about the Premier League.  Its status as one of the most profitable leagues in the world started when it signed a lucrative television contract with a similarly struggling network at the time, Sky Sports, owned by Rupert Murdoch.  Around the same time in the United States, another struggling Murdoch network, Fox, engaged in a similar contract with the National Football League.  Both leagues and both networks were never the same again.

This is not to say there is no text on the accomplishments on the field by Messi and Ronaldo – there is a good amount of that as well.  There certainly was jealousy between the two in competition for individual awards. Even the most casual of sports fans do realize the greatness of these two as their names are as recognizable as ones like Pele and Beckenbauer for previous generations of soccer fans.  If one wants to learn more about either the business of international soccer or a little more on the two players, this is a good source. 

I wish to thank Mariner Books for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Link: Amazon.com: Messi vs. Ronaldo: One Rivalry, Two GOATs, and the Era That Remade the World's Game eBook : Clegg, Jonathan, Robinson, Joshua: Kindle Store

Review of "The Blood and Guts"

I started this book on the Thanksgiving holiday, when football is on the mind of most sports fans who celebrate the holiday, and while it took a little time to complete, this was probably one of the more interesting and fun books I have read on the sport.  Here is my review of a book on tight ends, "The Blood and Guts"

Title/Author:

“The Blood and Guts: How Tight Ends Save Football” by Tyler Dunn

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:

The position of tight end in football is one of the most challenging positions. For a player to excel in this position, he must have the strength to block defensive linemen who may weigh over 300 pounds, be smart enough to read pass coverage by linebackers and safeties, and also be quick enough to outrun 180-pound cornerbacks. But as any football fan knows, there are many who have not only played this position but have done so at a very high level.  Some of these exceptional tight ends are profiled in this entertaining book by Tyler Dunn.

It should be noted that this is not a ranking of the best players to play the position and it is not meant to be taken that just because a player is not profiled that he would not be considered one of the best to have suited up at tight end.  It starts with Mike Ditka, who began the change of strategy in the use of tight ends to be effective pass receivers as well as blockers.  Dunn interviews and shares the stories of 15 tight ends from Ditka to George Kittle and in between, there are so many interesting stories, on-field recaps and very personal memories.

Of the memories and stories, I felt the most emotional ones were for Dallas Clark (who lost his mother to a heart attack) and for Jimmy Graham, who was literally dropped off by his mother at a group home with his clothes in a garbage bag.  Those two stories both resulted in producing great tight ends who would stop at nothing to succeed.  The circumstances are very different and their paths were certainly not identical, but they both made for compelling reading.

That isn’t to say that every player profiled in this book had tragic or hard stories. Some were out of fear (hard to believe Tony Gonzalez didn’t want to play football because he was afraid of the hard contact), some were just from the “boys being boys” category (Jeremy Shockey’s battles with his siblings) and some were just fun (Rob Gronkowski is probably the most notable party animal). But they, along with all the other tight ends profiled, had in common an unquenchable appetite for success and an incredible work ethic to make sure he did his best to achieve that success.

It should also be noted that while the actual game text is not plentiful in this book, the plays and games that are covered are recapped in an excellent manner.  The most compelling of these is one of the most incredible individual performances in NFL history – Kellen Winslow’s performance in the 1982 playoffs for the San Diego Charges in their memorable win over the Miami Dolphins.  That is just one example of the in-game coverage that is very good when it is presented in the context of that player’s story.

Football fans who remember many of the great tight ends since the era of Ditka and John Mackey will love reading about these players, their stories and their performances.  For me, this book was much like Gronkowski’s early NFL career – just a lot of fun to read.

I wish to thank Twelve Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

 

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Guts-Tight-Ends-Football/dp/1538723743/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=