Review: If These Walls Could Talk: Boston Red Sox (2019)

By Jerry Remy and Nick Cafardo

Jerry Remy has had a busy life in many ways - probably enough to fill a couple of autobiographies. Let's count up some of the aspects of it.

First of all, he had a good-sized career in major league baseball. That alone makes him a rare individual, as he did something millions aspired to do. Remy spent most of his career playing with good teams that had some Hall of Famers.

Then after his first retirement, Remy coached for a year and slid relatively smoothly into the broadcast booth. He's been working of the games of the Boston Red Sox for more than 30 years. Remy has achieved something close to icon status, and he's been a familiar presence on Red Sox broadcasts for a long, long time.

If that weren't enough, Remy has had plenty of off-field incidents - more than anyone deserves. He suffered from depression, to the point where he could barely go to work. Remy has battled cancer a few different times; he blames a cigarette habit for that problem, which has recurred a few times over the years.

The biggest shocker, though, when his name was in the news when his son murdered his fiance. The son will spend the rest of his life in jail, and you can imagine what that did to the family. Considering that Remy is a public figure, the horrible situation certainly became magnified.

There have been lives that have much less full that have been recorded in books close to 400 pages. Therefore, a glance at the relatively thin volume called "If These Walls Could Talk" would make the reader guess that the autobiography is going to be on the superficial side. And he or she would be right.

It's a relatively standard story for a sports figure, except for the fact that Remy is a bit hard on himself at times. He grew up in Massachusetts as a Red Sox fan, and baseball was well above academics when it came to his priorities in school. It eventually paid off with a contract with the then California Angels. Remy was on the small side and had no power, but he could run. The second baseman overcame some obstacles and became a major-league regular.

From there, he was traded to the Red Sox before the 1978 season - which was something of a dream come true. His first season went from dream to nightmare when Boston lost a playoff game that fall to the Yankees to keep the Red Sox out of the postseason. But Remy was surrounded by such players as Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice, Carlton Fisk and Dennis Eckersley - all in the Hall of Fame. Soon after that, Remy started having injury problems that led to his demise as a player. And after a year of coaching in the minors, it was on to the broadcast booth. The play-by-play men have revolved over the years, but Remy has been a constant.

There are some stories about people Remy encountered along the way. He's also come across as a good-natured individual, even if he apparently can be a little introverted in certain situations. There aren't many stories about people encountered along the way that he didn't like, and not many stories that are particularly revelatory. Some of the pages are filled with short recaps of Boston's four championship seasons in this century, although most of the details there will be familiar to fans of the team.

The pages do go by pretty quickly, and Remy comes across quite well on a personal level here. The broadcaster had some help with the book with a newspaper reporter, but there's a tragic part of that story there too. Nick Cafardo was a baseball writer with the Boston Globe who died in spring training of 2019.  That puts a slightly bittersweet tone to the project.

"If These Walls Could Talk" obviously is targeted toward Red Sox fans, and they won't find anything objectionable here. It's just not a book that you'll use as a reference book for a lifetime.

Three stars

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Review: Scotty (2019)

By Ken Dryden

Ken Dryden just might be my favorite author.

Dryden has written seven books over the years, in-between his other projects. Remember that he also was a Hall of Fame hockey goalie, and a member of parliament and a Cabinet minster in Canada. Dryden certainly could write an interesting autobiography if he gets around to it, but he seems content with other subjects of interest.

"The Game" was his first effort, and it is generally considered the best hockey book ever written. Just to show his range, his book "Becoming Canada" has a first chapter that contains the best analysis of Barack Obama's 2008 election that I've read anywhere. He wrote a book about schools, because he needed to know about them for his government job, and he wrote a book about one of his constituents, because he wanted to know what they were thinking.

Dryden is very thorough, and chooses his words and phrases carefully. Every so often, his books contain a piece of insight that make the reader stop and think for a moment, "How come I never thought of that?"

Book number seven is a tough assignment. "Scotty" in some ways is an authorized biography of Scotty Bowman, the Hall of Fame hockey coach. Bowman was never too interested in writing his own life story down on paper, so he did the next best thing. He let Dryden write it. The two teamed up on some great Montreal Canadiens teams in the 1970s.

Bowman's resume is the stuff of legends. He won a record nine Stanley Cup champions as a coach, and was involved in five more titles as an executive. Bowman had a career that still continues at the age of 86; he's an advisor to Chicago Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman. Yes, Stan is Scotty's son. Yes, Stanley Bowman was born right after Scotty claimed his first Stanley Cup in Montreal in 1973.

Dryden and Bowman had a year-long series of conversations about a variety of subjects in this book. It's a rather unlikely story in some ways. Bowman grew up in the Montreal area as a hockey player, only to see his playing career derailed by a high stick to the head at age 18 by Jean-Guy Talbot. (Footnote: Bowman later coached Talbot in the NHL, an amazing example of letting bygones by bygones.) Bowman took whatever work he could get in hockey on the side, but seemed destined to work for a big paint company in Montreal when the Canadiens called to offer him a full-time job. Bowman didn't have to be asked twice.

That started a career that lasts to this day. He still attends NHL games regularly from his two homes in the Buffalo and Tampa areas.

Of special interest to some of my readers, of course, is about the time spent in Buffalo as general manager and sometimes coach of the Sabres. It's really the only place that Bowman ever failed in hockey. He really wasn't cut out to be a GM, and the Sabres were the only team to use him in that role.

The section on Buffalo isn't a long one, but it does have some information of interest. Bowman described Gil Perreault this way: "As a teammate, you couldn't find anyone better. But he had no leadership at all. None. He didn't want that responsibility."

Bowman also was surprised that the Sabres didn't have many players under contract when he arrived in 1979. "When I went to Buffalo that summer after I had signed, and I started looking around, they had 25 professional players under contract. Twenty-five! And the reason was, and I found out later, the Knoxes were rich people, they had money, but they weren't going to spend it."

Bowman also admitted that he never got the administrative part right, shuffling people in an out of the head coaching job but realizing that coaching was what he did best. (Bowman doesn't mention here that he once tried to bring Herb Brooks in as the Sabres' head coach, but couldn't get it to work.) As Dryden writes, "For perhaps the first time in his career, he seemed out of answers." That led to his dismissal in 1986.

Bowman's life is covered nicely enough, but it's the subject of hockey history where the book turns thrilling to those who like that subject. Bowman has been watching the NHL closely for about 70 years, and he's an encyclopedia of what went on and why. Dryden took the unusual step of having Bowman pick the eight best teams in "modern" NHL history (only one team per dynasty was allowed), and squaring them off. Bowman provides analysis of each team and then reveals who he'd think he would win such games. No spoilers here, but it's great fun to read opinions of great players and teams. 

Taken on its own merits, "Scotty" offers some fascinating insights into Bowman's life and the game of hockey that you won't find anywhere else. But there's one aspect of the story that isn't explored.

Scotty has the reputation now as the kindly, wise grandfather type who remains relevant as the years wind down, and the book doesn't change that. But during his prime years, Bowman was considered a genius but not particularly loved by anyone outside of his family. The quote that received the most repetition was that the Canadiens hated Bowman 364 days a year, but loved him the day they all won the Stanley Cup together.  When Rick Martin of the Sabres sued the team and Bowman over the way his knee injury was handled, he said at the time, "People all over the league were coming up to be saying, 'Stick to Scotty.' " Media members in those pre-Internet days wondered why Bowman would lie to them in a private conversation about things like the starting goalie for that night's game. They also noticed that he was one of the few coaches in history that were more talkative and analytical after losses than wins. Scotty did mellow a bit later in life, and perhaps he realized after retiring from coaching that he could relax a bit. Still, it would have been interesting to see that part of his personality explored.

Covering such subjects would make it a different book, of course, but the book we have is absolutely worth reading by hockey fans. Who wouldn't love to hear Dryden and Bowman talk at length about the game they shared and loved? This is the next best thing.

Five stars

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Review: NFL Century (2019)

By Joe Horrigan

The National Football League is in the midst of celebrating its 100th season right now, and it is really good at it. The century mark is an important milestone as these things go, and football fans haven't been able to miss the hoopla surrounding it. The NFL has used a variety of techniques in reviewing its history, including small features on their telecasts..

The subject is a natural for a book with a connection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and that's where Joe Horrigan comes in. He is the former executive director of the Hall, and probably knows more about the history of the game than anyone. That's why he's a good choice to write "NFL Century."

Horrigan makes one good decision right from the start in this publication. The basic question about such a book is - what to include? It's been a busy century, naturally, and someone could write 100 books on what went on - one for each year. That would be rather expensive and time-consuming, of course.

Therefore, it's a smart move to break the history of the NFL into 33 bite-sized chapters. You could argue about what events should be included in such a list, but it's hard to complain very much about Horrigan's choices. He includes, as a sampler, the formation of the league, television milestones, commissioners, battles with rival leagues, and great dynasties such as the Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, and New England Patriots. Put it this way - any larger history of the league certainly would include all of those items.

A book like this also has the problem of trying to draw in as many people as possible regardless of age. In other words, readers have lived through parts of the various eras, and bring some knowledge to their reading. But, the book has to hold the interest of people of all ages. A chapter on the great teams of the 1970s has to give the facts for those below 50, but still be fresh enough so that those above 50 will not only enjoy the memories but learn a few things along the way. Horrigan has added enough information through good research to do that.

Complaints? Well, a few names get mangled and a few facts go unchecked along the way. It happens. You may have a favorite player, team or moment that might be overlooked in the process. That comes with the territory here. The writer can't make everyone happy.

Still, if you want to know what the NFL has been all about for the these past 10 decades, this would seem to be a good starting point. And even if you already know some of those facts, you'll still think of "NFL Century" as a very good retrospective.

Four stars

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Review: The Best American Sports Writing 2019

Edited by Charles P. Pierce

It's never easy to come up with a new way to review a book in an annual series - particularly one that is as consistently good as "The Best American Sports Writing."

This year, though, was easier - thanks to a Tweet.

A sportswriter made a comment on Twitter about the "real world" the other day. He received a reply about how the reader hates it when sports columnists write about something other than sports. In other words, they should stay in their lane, or something like that.

I'd quote the Tweet completely, but after it was pointed out in loud terms (full disclosure: by me, and perhaps others) that sports reflects real life as a whole, he deleted his message. I'm always arguing that as a sports reporter, I can talk about issues involving medicine, marketing, law, immigration, crime, etc. The list is rather endless.

But maybe it would have been easier to tell the guy to read this book.

This has some of the best in sports journalism from the year, and there aren't too many home runs, touchdowns, baskets or goals described along the way.

There is a story about mental illness in the NBA. Sexual abuse in gymnastics. A terrible culture within a college football program. Race relations over the past 50 years. A profile of football player Aaron Hernandez, who had a series of conflict with real-world issues in his too-short life. The murder of a former NBA player.

These aren't the only stories included in this anthology, which runs for more than 300 pages. Profiles of Joel Embiid, Ichiro Suzuki and Becky Harmon are included. There are even a couple of fun entries, like a scavenger hunt in the Super Bowl and the annual Rubik's Cube championship. But Pierce obviously has an eye for bigger things, and most of the choices reflect that.

In fact, if anything Pierce heads a little too far for my tastes (but perhaps not yours) into non-traditional matters. That means there are stories about a round-the-world boat race, mountain climbing, unorganized boxing in Australia, and the lionfish. I had trouble getting through them, but that's probably more my fault than the story's. I did enjoy stories on a prisoner who fixed bicycles and a skier who loved to take risks when it came to locations. Add it up, though, and the number of articles on subjects that didn't draw me in was on the high side.

Therefore, I probably didn't enjoy this book quite as much as other editions of "The Best American Sports Writing" - which I have purchased faithfully since 1991, its inception. Still, those who enjoy mixing sports and "the real world" should not hesitate to pick up a copy of edition No. 19. It's always worth your time and money.

Four stars

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Review: Don't Be Afraid to Win (2019)

By Jim Quinn

There are plenty of things going on off of our sporting fields that affect what happens on the actual playing surface.

Jim Quinn knows all about that.

He's been around at many of the major legal battles concerning collective bargaining agreements concerning sports and their players for many years. Quinn has something of a grand slam in this area, having worked on cases in baseball, football, basketball and hockey. If you want someone who doesn't think a salary cap is something worn on your head, Quinn is your guy.

Quinn started with basketball almost 50 years ago, and has been around for plenty of game-changing moments. Through that time, he's managed to make himself relatively anonymous, since he's always worked on the outside rather than for the respective players associations directly. But make no mistake - his fingerprints have been all over some of the major American sports negotiations in history.

You'd think he'd have some stories to tell after all that, and he does. Quinn has written a book called "Don't Be Afraid to Win." The title comes from football's Gene Upshaw, who said those words to Quinn shortly before Quinn was to make the closing argument in a major legal action involving free agency in professional football. Upshaw was a Hall of Fame player with the Oakland Raiders who went on to a long "second career" with the NFL Players Association.

But Quinn actually got his start with basketball. He had joined a law firm in New York in the early 1970s, and there was a "basketball case" kicking around the office involving the NBA and its players over a possible merger. Quinn became part of the legal team for the players' side, and helped push through the agreement that allowed the 1976 merger between the NBA and the American Basketball Association to take place. That was a crash course in sports law, a very insignificant part of the legal landscape at that point that grew as the business of sports grew.

Quinn starts with some background about the NBA's legal battles, and moves on to something of a play-by-play of his big cases from there. After a while, he became something of a go-to figure for players in all sports, since he developed a large amount of expertise in the field. The sports business exploded economically in the past 60 years or so, which means a lot of money has been coming in. Quinn has been a loud, forceful advocate for the players to make sure the participants received something of a fair share.

It hasn't been easy at times. Two of the great truisms in sports are said to be that "a baseball team never has enough pitching," and that "no owner ever seems to make money." But no matter what you might have thought about player salaries at a given moment, the money is out there. It's not as if ticket prices will go down considerably if the average salary goes down by 50 percent.

It's quite obvious after reading this book that Quinn is smart and knowledgeable. It's easy to see why he has been hired so many times. Yes, there is a little arrogance there, and we could have done without some of the great restaurants' names that are dropped along the way. Quinn also is very loyal to his side in telling the stories about his sports-related cases (he's done plenty of other work in the business world as well). There are a few people on the players' side who don't come off particularly well (hockey's Alan Eagleson, an eventual felon who served jail time, tops the list), but not many.

Most of those on the other side of the table don't come as well, particularly the hard-line owners. NFL Commissioners Pete Rozelle and Roger Goodell aren't two of Quinn's favorites, and NBA Commissioner David Stern only earns a little grudging respect. It's a surprise how hard he comes down on the current head of the Green Bay Packers, Mark Murphy, whom he describes as a 'turncoat" (Murphy formerly worked for the NFLPA) and "obnoxious." Quinn might have made a better case if he hadn't called him "Mike Murphy" in the book. Others do a bit better. For example, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, according to Quinn, was a worthy adversary and a class act. Every story has two sides, and this has one for the most part. That's fine; it's his book. 

The author deserves plenty of credit in one important area, though. This is a relatively easy book to read; you need no legal training to get through it. Quinn makes his points quickly, and the process is relatively simplified.

I'm not going to tell you that collective bargaining is a subject that will keep even the biggest sports fan engrossed. But like it or not, such sessions are part of the sports landscape. "Don't Be Afraid to Win" offers a look behind the curtain behind some of the major moments in sports that didn't involve a game. Therefore, it should work nicely for its target audience.

Four stars

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Review: Rocky Colavito (2019)

By Mark Sommer

Baseball writer Bill James once started a long article on the Cleveland Indians in 1981 by explaining why the trade of Rocky Colavito mattered more than two decades later.

"Across the history of the Cleveland franchise a line is sharply drawn, and by that line the present condition of the Cleveland Indians, uniquely can be dated to that hour. On April 12, 1960, the Indians cesed to be what they had been for thirty-one years and became what they remain now."

The Indians had been good for about 30 years before that day. Then they traded Colavito to Detroit for batting champion Harvey Kuenn. And everything changed.

"For what they traded him is not the point. The point is that the Indians possessed tradition, that Colavito was carrying a torch which had been passed to him from Earl Averill by way of Jeff Heath and Larry Doby, and when he was traded the fire went out. ... The point is that the Indians of 1959 knew they could win because they always had won, and they knew how to go about it. And when the leaders of their offense were gone, the Indians did not know whether they could win or not."

I would argue that the Colavito trade still matters in that sense, even though the Indians have had some good stretches since then (World Series appearances in 1997 and 2016). But interest in the Indians may not have ever recovered from the trade, and that has meant the franchise rarely has been able to maintain winning teams for very long, sinking back into rebuilding mode. And that's why Mark Sommer's book, "Rocky Colavito," should have some relevance for baseball fans today, particularly those in northern Ohio.

Colavito came out of the Bronx to join the Indians in the mid-1950s, and he brought three primary characteristics with him. The outfield had a powerful bat, capable of smacking a home run anytime he was at the plate. He had a throwing arm that was almost legendary, to the point where he probably would have been a full-time pitcher had his bat been a little weaker. And Rocky had flat feet, to the point where he was excused from the military draft, and was relatively slow.

The power was the important part. Once he settled in as a regular, he hit 41 home runs in 1958 and 42 in 1959 to become one of the most feared sluggers in baseball. Colavito loved Cleveland, and Cleveland loved him back - to the point where, as Sommer writes, one movie theater interrupted a film to announce Colavito's trade. From there, the outfielder did some bouncing around - to Detroit, to Kansas City, and back to Cleveland. In 1966 he still hit 30 homers at the age of 33.

Almost in the blink of an eye, though, it ended. The Indians traded him again to the White Sox, and he moved on to the Dodgers and Yankees after that, but he was done after the 1968 season. It's tough to say what happened, but sometimes big sluggers who are slow age quickly. Baseball-reference.com says the most similar player to Colavito was Frank Howard, who was still a feared batter at age 33 but was out of baseball at 36. Colavito also points to an arm injury suffered along the way that hurt his throwing for the rest of his playing days.

Big credit goes to Sommer for being thorough here. He spent dozens and dozens of hours talking Colavito himself, and then tracked down a variety of other sources for information. Sommer really tells the story about what the fuss was about. Colavito's teammates still love him, pointing out what a classy, helpful person he was (and is). Even the founders of fan clubs in Cleveland and Detroit turn up, saying that couldn't have picked a better subject.

Even so, Colavito seemed to have problems with a great many of his bosses - an avenue that really isn't fully explored here. But Rocky says he didn't have a lot of respect for quite a few managers, general managers and owners he encountered along the way. Perhaps he was born 15 years too early, as questioning authority wasn't considered a good idea in baseball at that time.

Sommer exits with a discussion of Colavito's Hall of Fame chances, using modern statistics. I can argue that the outfielder probably played like a guy headed for Cooperstown from 1958 to 1962. But that's only five years, and longevity is a big part of the equation for induction to me. Therefore, I don't think he belongs in baseball's Hall. But, Colavito certainly had an impact on the game during his playing days, especially in Cleveland.

That makes him worth remembering, so it's good to have a full biography on the shelves. "Rocky Colavito" won't take up much room on the bookcase (the type is small and smaller), but it's unusual story. Sommer (a former co-worker of mine) thought a full biography was a worthwhile idea, and he was right.

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Review: Beyond the Xs and Os (2019)

By Mark C. Poloncarz

We're used to seeing politicians come out with a book when they run for higher office - particularly President. Such publications are usually life stories and/or policy statements. They also are often rather boring.

Mark Poloncarz twists that formula a bit with "Beyond the Xs and Os."

The current Erie County Executive, and candidate for another term, has written a book containing the play-by-play of the lease negotiations that kept the Buffalo Bills here. It was climaxed when an agreement between the county, state, and the Bills in 2013. Poloncarz no doubt discovered that it's not easy to squeeze in the writing of a book into your life, especially a life that must be pretty busy as it is.

But here that book is, six years later. What's more, it's a respectable job of telling the story about how the negotiations went - a look into a process that usually more or less stays behind closed doors.

What is striking about the talks from the perspective of 2019 is that there was a basic agreement on the situation - all sides wanted a deal done.  Poloncarz certainly didn't want to see the Bills leave town, particularly while he was County Executive. (Footnote: it's interesting to note that there are plenty of people out there who dislike sports in general and don't find the idea of subsidizing athletic teams a particularly good idea. But few politicians have the nerve to test that, since the pro-sports faction is a loud and enthusiastic one.) The state, which had seen two NFL teams move its home base to New Jersey over the years, certainly didn't want to lose the Bills. As for the team, owner Ralph Wilson had no interest in seeing the Bills move to another city as long as he was alive.

So it should be easy, right? These things are never easy. The first catch is that Wilson, who was in his 90's when the negotiations began, wasn't likely to be alive at the end of a 10- or 15-year lease. The government bodies wanted protection against the team moving in the event of Wilson's death. The problem, of course, was that an NFL franchise was worth more in another city than in Buffalo. That increased the likelihood than an outside group would want to buy the Bills with the intent of moving it to say, Los Angeles (open territory at the time) if there were no legal restrictions. Eventually, a $400 million "poison pill" was agreed upon for an early termination of the deal, which did indeed chill out of town interest.

That was the most difficult obstacle in the negotiations themselves. But the initial roadblock, according to Poloncarz, was surprising. The state had representatives sit in on the early negotiations, but contributed little. The silence of state officials finally ended when the Cuomo Administration apparently realized that time was starting to become a factor, as the TV announcers say during games. It came up with an idea for a new stadium, which went nowhere since no one else wanted a replacement structure (and its accompanying cost) at the time.

As you'd expect, drawing up a document that could fill up a five-page binder isn't easy. Poloncarz points out that sometimes you have to let lawyers go off by themselves and solve some issues with out the emotions that the lead negotiators bring to the bargaining table. But at other times, the lawyers can get too entrenched in position, and those negotiators have to step in and provide a compromising spirit on issues. Both situations took place in these talks, and it was the latter that resulted in the final completion of the deal.

Poloncarz comes off pretty well here. He appears to be smart, thorough and logical, although he doesn't provide much levity along the way. Assistant Rich Tobe might have been an even bigger hero of the negotiations. He had developed an excellent relationship with Bills' lead negotiator Jeff Littman, and that really made the process easier.

A brief aside here - one personal surprise was when it was revealed that there was some anger from the Bills about the fact that The Buffalo News didn't spend any advertising dollars with them. The Bills believed that the team was good for circulation, especially on fall Mondays. It's an interesting point, especially since the newspaper does do some work with the Bisons. It would be nice to hear the other side of the story in that one.

This is not a book that is likely to find a big audience. Football fans probably don't care about such matters as long as the games go on, and there are probably more dramatic negotiations to examine out there. Maybe that's why it hasn't turned up at some local bookstores. But "Beyond the Xs and Os" is still a look behind the curtain, and that always carries some interest. And it's a small enough book that the reader won't get bogged down. Therefore, those with an interest in sports business will find this worth their while.

Three stars

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Review: Taro Lives! (2019)

When I worked for the Sabres' public relations department about 30 years ago, I received a phone call from someone who had the same position as I did at another NHL team.

"I can't talk right now. We're having a meeting to discuss our April Fools' television broadcast," I told him.

My friend from the more straight-laced NHL team laughed and said, "Oh man, I am definitely working for the wrong team. We'd never get away with that."

Therefore, this is not going to be the place for a hard-hitting, critical review of "Taro Lives" - Paul Wieland's review of the hoaxes he pulled off over the years.

Besides, my name is on the dedication page; Wieland calls me "his favorite historian." In the pages of the book, Wieland also describes me as "a statistics hawk with a droll sense of humor and a lightning-quick wit." Who am I to argue with such a distinguished judge of talent?

I spent six years working for the Sabres with Paul, and the best part was the chance to work on the April Fools' Day gags. As mentioned in the book, I did come up with the items for the Sabres Shopping Service, such as the Benoit Hogue-ee Sandwich and Wowie Housley Cola (20 times the normal amounts of sugar and caffeine).

I remember writing the release for "Sabre Meadows" in 1987. The team had brought an old ice rink in Wheatfield for a practice facility and turned it into "Sabreland." The news release said the Sabres had decided to start construction on a 67,000-unit house development, complete with an Olympic-sized ice rink and other frills. When someone from the WBEN news department called to interview me about it, my better angels won the argument and I couldn't let him go on the air with it. So I told the guy, "Did you read the release in full? Did 67,000 seem like a lot of houses? And what day is today, anyway?" I could hear the snickering of his co-workers by the end of the call.

This book, then, was a trip down Memory Lane for me. Luckily, these were jokes that went public in many cases, and therefore everyone who was around in that era shared the fun. Therefore, the book has broader appeal than to those who once worked for Paul.

Even so, it's odd to read something of a memoir by a person who has been a friend for about 40 years. I knew some of the details of his life - growing up in Western New York, working at two newspapers and General Motors before landing with the Sabres in 1970, etc. Still, it's quite interesting to read a book like this that fills in so many gaps in his life's story - the formative years of a hoaxer.Wieland became one of the great characters in the lives of those who knew him, appreciating that he never lost his sense of outrage and whimsy while growing older. That was most obvious in the hoaxes he pulled over in various ways over the years.

The most obvious was the one mentioned in the title. The NHL Draft was dragging on and on in 1974, when the Sabres front office decided to draft a player that didn't exist. Wieland came up with Taro Tsujimoto of the Tokyo Katanas, a name that represented the spirit of a franchise that wasn't afraid to laugh at itself a bit. The joke went on for months, and even the team owners were fooled for a while. Taro's uniform still pops up at Sabre games.

The biggest splash came in 1981, when the Sabres announced that they had been declared "America's Hockey Team" by President Reagan. The elaborate release came with a Time magazine cover and a letter announcing the proclamation from Reagan. The story apparently broke two Federal laws, but were quickly forgotten once the powers that be calmed down a bit.

Eventually the hoaxes moved to television. One time Wieland capitalized on the popularity of call-in polls by having the fans decided the starting goaltender through their phone calls. We also had Mike Robitaille ask Christian Ruuttu questions in English, while Ruuttu answered in Finnish. I asked Ruuttu what he said to Robitaille, and he answered, "Things like, 'That's a good-looking sportcoat, but your hair looks ugly.' "

I remember a few of the details of these stories differently than Paul does, but that's fine. The big picture is what matters here. "Taro Lives!" captures a certain innocence in sports that started to disappear in the late 1980s. As the financial stakes increased in the world of fun and games, companies became less likely to take chances that might offend even a small percentage of their consumers. I could argue that we lost a little something along the way when that happened.

In the meantime, I guarantee you'll laugh a lot at this look back at a more innocent, and more fun age in sports.

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Review: Homegrown (2019)

By Alex Speier

Sometimes a sports championship season looks like almost too simple, as if the plan set a few years in the past comes together just like it was supposed to do on the whipboard.

Such was the case for the 2018 Boston Red Sox, who had gone through a variety of ups and downs in the years leading up to that season. Everything came together nicely as the Red Sox won 108 games in the regular season, and then went 11-3 in the playoffs in a dominating title season. It was, by almost any standard, the best year in Boston's baseball history and one of the most dominating team performances in recent years by any group.

Alex Speier knows that five-year plans aren't everything. The baseball reporter for the Boston Globe had followed the Red Sox' farm system closely for the years leading up to 2018. That makes him well-suited for the task of writing "Homegrown," the story on how the '18 Red Sox came together.

One look at the starting lineup for that team reveals that Boston did a fine job of identifying young talent and helping it reach the majors. Of the non-pitchers, such players as Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Andrew Benitendi, Rafael Devers, Jackie Bradley, and Christian Vazquez all came up through the system. It's a very good young corps, and at some point it's going to be tough to pay all of them. Even so, there's nothing better than good young talent when it comes to getting a head start on the competition.

That's because they are receiving less money than their current worth; the young players get less than they should in the current system, while the older players are overpaid in some cases. In this case, it freed up the Red Sox's ample financial resources to acquire pitchers such as David Price, Chris Sale and Craig Kimbrel.

But it is still a jigsaw puzzle with a lot of parts and no guarantees everything will fit together. Boston's prospects hit some speed bumps along the way, and the front office tried to learn about how to solve those problems on the fly. While Betts and Bogaerts turned out fine, Henry Owens and Blake Swihart failed to live up to their perceived potential for whatever reason.

Speier does an extremely nice job of telling the complete story about how the team was put together. It includes conversations with front office and minor-league staff members, interviews with players, etc. Some didn't survive the process, such as general manager Ben Cherington and manager John Farrell - who had some fingerprints on parts of that title. But contributions came from many sources, particularly when the team traded other young players for major leaguers that could fill gaps.

The story flows along nicely, and there are plenty of nuggets of information that turn up along the way that can still fascinate. For example, the background details about the departure of Farrell at the end of the 2017 - in spite of winning the division that season - have plenty of surprises for most. Speier is thorough and knowledgeable, and it shows.

Reading this book in the summer of 2019 essentially proves Speier's point - that it doesn't always go to plan. The Red Sox of 2019 haven't been able to put the magic back in the bottle for a second straight year, as injuries, free agent losses, etc. have caused problems. Yes, it's not as easy as it looked a year ago.

Admittedly, this is going to be of the greatest interest to those who follow the Red Sox very closely. Those readers will know the names of the players and executives involved, no matter how obscure they are to the outside world. They'll be the ones complaining that this book deserves five stars, and they could be right. Even so, "Homegrown" offers a peek behind the curtain for almost any fan who wants a look at how teams are assembled. That group will like it a lot too.

Four stars

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Review: No Place I Would Rather Be (2019)

By Joe Bonomo

Roger Angell holds a unique place when it comes to baseball and its literature.

It's a sport that celebrates those who follow it with grace - day in, day out. That's part of baseball's charm, of course - a game that is played at least 162 times a year by the best in the business. That makes baseball games more of a companion than an event, and it means that simply showing up, day after day, is the best quality of the chronicler of the game and its seasons.

Angell, though, was different. He was employed by The New Yorker, a magazine that has been setting a variety of literary standards for almost a century. If the publication's story was ever written as a history, Angell would be featured as a veteran fiction editor.

On the other hand, Angell chipped in with some stories on baseball a few times a year, if only to get some sports coverage in the magazine. It was a natural choice, since Angell has been following the game for most of his life. He could make a first-hand comparison between Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds, having seen both play.

Those stories - usually a season-ending wrap-up along with an exploration of some other part of the game - became highlights of the calendar year for some baseball fans. We have Angell's anthologies for reference - must reading, if you haven't explored them yet. Now we have something of a critical analysis of Angell's baseball work. "No Place I Would Rather Be" comes from Joe Bonomo, an English teacher at Northern Illinois University with several credits to his name.

Bonomo quickly says that this is not a book that's anything close to a full biography of Angell, because for the most part he's sticking to the baseball stuff. The author does that, although Angell's early life and final days (he's almost 99 as of this writing) are covering in a more general nature. Mostly, though, we get an analysis of the themes and approach that Angell used in his baseball writing career.

In an era when "inside" coverage is the norm in a sport, Angell was the exception. What he did, particularly in the early days, was to provide an outside perspective of baseball. That means sometimes he sat in the stands like the rest of us, and commented on what we all were watching. Angell did it with art and beauty, and he did it well enough to be named to the Hall of Fame.

It's interesting to see Angell's work evolve over the years. The skills of manipulating the language are still present, but as his fame increased it was apparently more difficult to pull off the disguise as invisible observer. Even so, Angell adjusted his work accordingly to the new circumstances. Home runs are always worth watching whether they are pop flies that hit the foul pole or majestic clouts that are so obviously departing the premises that the batter is only person on the field who needs to move for the succeeding several seconds. 

There is something of a risk to writing a book like this. There are lot of excerpts from Angell's writing on display here, running from a few words to a couple of paragraphs. It's something like eating a salad one ingredient at a time instead of having a variety of tastes arrive in your mouth in different combinations with each bite.

Therefore, "No Place I Would Rather Be" works better for those who have read at least some of Angell's works. If you haven't done so yet, go find "The Summer Game" or "Five Seasons." And if you know Angell's work, this exploration of it should keep you interested through its 174 pages.

Four stars

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Review: Baseball Prospectus 2019

Edited by Patrick Dubuque, Aaron Gleeman and Bret Sayre

The gang from Baseball Prospectus has been hard at work evaluating players and teams for almost a quarter of a century. At some point, the writers probably have looked at some typical player and said, "What am I going to write about this year?"

That's the quandary that a reviewer must face with trying to evaluate a new edition. Luckily, there are a couple of points to be made about "Baseball Prospectus 2019" that are worth discussing - particularly if you are familiar with the book.

Just to review this series for those who need an introduction, Baseball Prospectus is broken into chapters for each of the major league teams. Those chapters have an essay about some aspect about the team (not necessarily a preview by any means), followed by comments on the top players in the organization. I would guess it hits close to almost 70 players per team. The book supplies the traditional stats that are on the scoreboard at the local ballpark, but also some numbers that aren't exactly common. There are explanations of each of those statistics in the book if you care to find them. If not, it won't get in the way. There are a few essays in the back for the deep thinkers in the statistical crowd.

Now let's get to the changes. The first is something of a throwback. A few years ago, BP reduced the point-size of the type of the player comments slightly. This no doubt cut down on the number of pages and thus saved on printing costs. It also was noticed and was the subject of some complaints, which led to a bigger size of type the next year.

But this year, the type is again smaller. And it's tougher to read. After reading some of the player comments in the 2019 edition, I grabbed last year's book for comparison, and the difference is obvious. That may not sound like a big deal, but I found my attention span lessened with the small print. This is not the way to engage a reader, of course. Could some of the players been reduced to one-line comments in the back of each chapter, joining several other fringe prospects in order to create more room? You'd have to think so.

I should mention that both the 2018 and 2019 books are about 596 pages, yet this year's edition checks in at a quarter-inch thinner even though according to the covers it has fewer player profiles. The printing business sure can be complicated.

The second may have something to do with the announcement at the front of the book. In the foreword, Rob Mains reveals that a group from the BP's senior staff has bought the operation - which includes the book, a busy website, and any other projects that come along.

The owners may have put out an order to be a little more professional in the writing, and be a little less, well, snarky. Some of the comments over the years have had a little bite, and the "tone it down" order wouldn't be a shocker. The person who wrote about the Texas Rangers' players still has a "colorful" writing style this year. Otherwise, the comments frequently are written in a non-traditional way, but lack some of the bite that previous descriptions have contained. This may make a reader happy or disappointed, depending on the viewpoint, but the fact that it has happened is worth noting. Me, I miss the old way a bit.

Otherwise, though, this is a solid effort as usual. BP does an excellent job of identifying top prospects before you've heard of them, and offers an impressive dose of realism about where almost everyone on the organizational roster stands entering 2019. It's a great companion piece for watching a game on television (it's a little heavy to carry to the park), and naturally comes out of the bookcase whenever your favorite team makes a six-player trade with someone like Baltimore. (Sorry to pick on the Orioles there, but most of the guys I knew on that roster are gone.) I still wouldn't call it essential for preparing for a fantasy draft - there are better resources in those limited areas - but that's fine.

It's tough to give this a perfect rating under the circumstances, but every serious baseball fan should take a look at this for purchase. The BP staff continues to fill up the front offices of major-league teams, and it's always good to learn from the observations of such smart people.

Four stars

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