This often rambling and convoluted memoir is Rizzuto's tribute to the 12 men who played with the New York Yankees in each of the team's championship years from 1949 to 1953. Besides Rizzuto, the October 12 were: Yogi Berra, Charley Silvera, Bobby Brown, Jerry Coleman, Johnny Mize, Joe Collins, Vic Raschi, Allie Reynolds, Eddie Lopat, Gene Woodling, and Hank Bauer. While there are several reminiscences from ``the 12'' (including Bauer's being consoled by Senator John F. Kennedy over a brawl at the Copacabana), the majority of anecdotes belong to Rizzuto. He initially failed a tryout with the Brooklyn Dodgers when Casey Stengel ``told me to get a shoe shine box, which was unnecessary.'' Rizzuto considers Joe McCarthy ``the best manager I ever had''; still remembers with hostility Eddie Stanky kicking the ball out of his glove in the '51 World Series; and manages to gush about the generosity of George Steinbrenner. Rizzuto criticizes modern ballplayers for the money they make but can state, more than 40 years later, how much he made in the World Series between 1949 and 1951 ($17,811). He also takes David Halberstam to task, saying of his book Summer of '49, ``I can tell you that a number of his anecdotes are just plain untrue.'' But Rizzuto recalls Johnny Mize playing for the Cincinnati Reds, which never happened, and when talking about the 1941 World Series he says, ``We won the first and then they beat us four straight.'' Unfortunately, Rizzuto is referring to the 1942 Series against the Cardinals (which the Yankees lost), not the 1941 Series against the Dodgers (which they won). The chapters on the individual series read like play-by-play accounts, offering little insight. The concept behind this book was excellent. It's a shame that the Scooter and Horton (Yogi: It Ain't Over, not reviewed) have executed it in such a haphazard manner. This is strictly for the die-hard fan.
Pub Date: May 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-312-85621-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Forge
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1994
Exquisite photographs and 97 essays, ranging from dubious to exemplary in quality and relevance, trace the 125-year history of professional baseball. Major League Baseball lends its logo to the fan's ultimate coffee-table book. By having unmatched access to various baseball archives, including those belonging to Major League Baseball, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and the New York Public Library's Spalding Collection, Wallace has compiled a powerful visual account of the sport. Photographs of legendary players—including Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth, Frank Robinson, and, in one especially riveting still, Yankees' catcher Thurman Munson bracing for a collision at the plate—beautifully, almost eerily, preserve these heroes at the height of their youthful powers. Other effects, including uniforms, endorsements, cartoons, and trading cards, forcefully yet subtly demonstrate baseball's far-reaching cultural impact. While Wallace (The American Museum of Natural History's Book of Dinosaurs and Other Ancient Creatures, p. 1116) intends to show the game from all angles, the text occasionally struggles to meet the estimable standards set by the illustrated sections. Laudable is Wallace's inclusion of reports from the Reach and Spalding baseball annuals of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Other noteworthy items are a 1955 scouting report on Brooks Robinson, who later became one of the greatest infielders ever, and Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey's explanation of his choice of Jackie Robinson as major league baseball's first black player in over 60 years. But the impact of such documentation is somewhat mitigated by the inclusion of ghostwritten autobiographies and ``flack'' pieces of questionable objectivity, and by Wallace's own introductory passages, which, with their boosterish tone, gloss over some of the game's less obvious undercurrents. But above all, baseball is a fan's game, and this book, compiled lovingly by a fan, deserves notice as a beautiful and enjoyable baseball time capsule.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-8109-3135-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
With the capable help of sportswriter Levine (Life on the Rim, 1990), the smallest man ever to play in the NBA tells his story with warmth and humor. At 53'' Muggsy Bogues is an unlikely basketball star, but the Charlotte Hornets' pesky point guard is annually among the leaders in assists and steals, and he averages 10 points per game. Raised in the projects of East Baltimore, Bogues describes a tough life that included being shot when he was 5 years old and, at 12, watching his father go to prison for armed robbery. But there was always basketball, even if no one would take him seriously. He led his Dunbar High School team to 59 straight victories and national prominence in 1981 and '82 and was sought after by college coaches who were sharp enough to overlook his height. At Wake Forest, he averaged 14.8 points per game, collected 275 steals, and amassed an Atlantic Coast Conference record of 781 assists. He was drafted in the first round by the Washington Bullets in 1987 and became great friends with 76'' teammate Manute Bol (much to the delight of photographers). When Washington didn't protect him in the 1989 expansion draft, Bogues was thrilled to be selected by the Hornets. His career hit its stride when coach Gene Littles instituted ``an up-tempo offense'' with Bogues at the point. Later, with the additions of $84 million power forward Larry Johnson and, in 1992, center Alonzo Mourning, Bogues sparked the Hornets to a first-ever playoff appearance. Asked how he can play against men as much as a foot-and-a-half taller, he simply notes that ``the ball's on the floor more than it's in the air. And down there is Muggsland.'' A refreshingly good-natured sports biography by a man who's proud of his achievements but not an egomaniac. As he says, he's ``one happy little fella.'' (20 b&w photos, not seen)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-316-10173-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1994
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