Review: "Wherever I Wind Up" by R.A. Dickey

"No one grows up wanting to be a knuckleball pitcher," is a quote from the memoir of New York Mets starting pitcher R.A. Dickey. Wherever I Wind Up (Penguin/Blue Rider Press) is a book about personal strength, redemption, and the discovery of one's faith. Dickey was an English Literature major at the University of Tennessee and wrote the book with the help of New York Daily News  reporter Wayne Coffey.

Wherever I Wind Up starts off with the story of how his signing bonus of $810k was taken away after an evaluation found that he didn't have an ulna collateral ligament. The doctors were baffled that he could even turn a doorknob without being in pain. The signing bonus was reduced to 75k and was sent to low-level minor league affiliate of the Texas Rangers. This was one the first obstacles that Dickey had to overcome. The book goes from self-deprecating humor to some dark moments of his life.

You could be asking yourself, "Why would a journeyman pitcher get a book deal?" It would be easy to dismiss a book written by a journeyman baseball pitcher. Would this book be a copy of Jim Bouton's Ball Four? Bouton was also a knuckleball pitcher, but Dickey didn't name many names of his fellow teammates. Wherever I Wind Up is about a personal struggle to succeed. You could take the baseball out of this book and the message would still be the same. It would be a perfect book to give a recent high school or college graduate.

Dickey was raised by an alcoholic mother and an absent father. He nearly had his hopes of becoming a pitcher destroyed after being picked in the first-round in the amateur draft. He spent a large portion of his career in the minor leagues and changed to a knuckleball after losing velocity on his fastball. He had a forkball in his arsenal and was told that it was just a "fast knuckleball." He started to perfect a knuckleball pitch and was only throwing it for less than a year when he was called up by the Texas Rangers. He found out that his new pitch was not ready for the Majors. He gave up six home runs in his first three innings, tying a record of 'most home runs given up in pitching debut,' he shares this with fellow knuckleballer, Tim Wakefield. He spent the next few years in the Rangers' minor-league system. It was around this time that Dickey started to have suicidal thoughts.

He is extremely candid about being sexually abused as an eight-year old and once again when he was in the fourth grade. It was a demon that started to slowly destroy himself from the inside-out. He found his faith at this time and started to heal his demons with the Bible.

Dickey struggled with his identity and eventually hit his stride in 2007. He was named the Pacific Coast League's 'Pitcher of the Year' in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. He started to get a few starts in the Majors with the Minnesota Twins and Seattle Mariners. It wasn't until he was signed by the Mets that he stuck with a team and had success at the highest level.

The 37-year old is currently an entrenched starter on the New York Mets. His knuckleball is moving and by further perfecting that pitch, he could add up to ten years onto his professional career. He admits that he still feels a lot of pressure to pitch his best. A bad start could be one step closer to either being sent back to the minors or hanging up his cleats.

Dickey has come to grips that he will never lead the league in strikeouts or end up in The Baseball Hall of Fame, but he is in a good place right now and that is all that matters.


Wherever I Wind Up is a telling tale of redemption. Dickey is living proof of a person living his dream...even if he has to throw an ugly knuckleball to make his dream come true.

Review - "Baseball Fantography" by Andy Strasberg

Are you tired of baseball books with the same boring stock photos? You will not get that with Baseball Fantography by Andy Strasberg. This is a collection of photographs from fans that capture the intimate and personal lives of your favorite baseball players from the past and present. Strasberg began this project when he found an old picture of him with Roger Maris at Yankee Stadium in 1966. He hadn't seen the photo in decades and a nostalgic feeling came over him. He knew that there were other people who had old baseball photos that would have a similar feeling. This is a timeless record of the fans' baseball experience...by the fans, for the fans.

It has been a long off-season for me. I'm a Chicago Cubs fan and having to endure the St. Louis Cardinals winning the World Series, was quite taxing. I put up a wall between MLB news and myself. Saying all of that, as soon as I opened Baseball Fantography, I fell back in love with the game.

My knowledge of baseball would rival men decades older than me. I would always read as much about the game as possible, buy baseball cards from the 50's & 60's as often as I could find them, and I have watched the Ken Burns Baseball series more than I should be allowed. We have all seen the same footage and read the same stories about baseball players, but this group of candid photos reaches you in a different way. This book helps show a personal side of players like: Sandy Koufax, Mickey Mantle, Derek Jeter, and Roberto Clemente.

The one thing that sets Baseball Fantography apart from other baseball photo collections is the back-story behind every picture. Every picture has a description or a small caveat about what was taking place during the picture. The lone picture that stands out is the candid photo of Eddie Mathews drying off with a towel while he's still in the shower. The oddest chapter is called "Graves," that was dedicated to fans' pictures of the headstones of the sports' greatest players.

You get iconic, absurd, and thought-provoking photos in this collection. It is worth the $19.99 price and I suggest that you head to your local bookstore (if those still exist) or go to Amazon and buy this book.

Strasberg was a San Diego Padres executive from 1975-1996 and now offers marketing expertise to baseball personalities, teams, leagues, and the Baseball Hall of Fame. He is the coauthor of Baseball's Greatest Hit and was a technical consultant for the HBO film 61*.


For more information about Baseball Fantography, go to Fantography.com. You can even submit your photo to be a part of the collection.

For other book reviews that we have done, please click here.


Feel free to "Like" my blog on Facebook or click the Facebook box located within the sidebar.

Review - "Baseball Americana" by Harry Katz

Harper Collins has published a great coffee table book entitled "Baseball Americana." It's by Harry Katz, Frank Ceresi, Phil Michel, Wilson McBee, and Susan Reyburn, it's a lot of people's names, but it's a big book. There are so many great pictures and information in this book from the Library of Congress. There's even a panoramic picture of the first Black World Series in 1924. Here is my review of "Baseball Americana"...

I'm a huge baseball fan and when I can read a book about the historical past of baseball, I jump at the opportunity. Some of the things in "Baseball Americana" are things that aren't shown in any other book. Some of the material that this books includes are a picture baseball being played in 1787, the first ever baseball card, a rare color photograph of Satchel Paige, and even a lithograph of the first ever professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1869.

The book goes in a chronological order that is easy to follow. If you are more interested in the period of 1900-1920, it's easy to find all of the information and pictures that go along with that time period. One of my favorite things in the book are old rate advertisements that the baseball players were in. There's even one of Jackie Robinson endorsing Chesterfield cigarettes, I doubt that would go over well these days. No matter what team you follow, you will find something in "Baseball Americana" that you will enjoy.

This huge coffee table book is a conversation piece and a great book to pick up and instantly start thumbing through. I sat down and read the entire book in about a day, but when you start looking at the magnificent photography, it could last you weeks.

If you are a fan of baseball, you will find things in this book that aren't even in Baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. It's an amazing collection of pictures, stories, old cartoons depicting baseball, and much more. It's a must read and at $29.99, it's a steal. Here is a Youtube video with some of the pictures from the book.

Review - Chuck Klosterman "Eating The Dinosaur"

Thanks to the great people over at Scribner, I was able to get a review copy of the much-anticipated new book from Chuck Klosterman. I have been very vocal about my love for his writing on this site and "Walk The Dinosaur" definitely quenched my thirst for some new material from him. Here is my book review for "Eating The Dinosaur" by Chuck Klosterman.

This book is in the vein of "Sex, Drugs, & Cocoa Puffs," more so than any of his previous books. It's all new material, so it's not like Chuck Klosterman IV, which was a collection of mostly previously published material.

In "Eating The Dinosaur," he tries to get a grip on his celebrity. He spends the entire first chapter trying to wrap his head around the fact that he has given more interviews than he has conducted. He is in a new phase in his life. His previous books may have been for a demographic that would span people in their twenties. "Eating The Dinosaur" skews a little higher in age, just because he talks about things in the same time period as his previous books. Where else are you going to find in-depth opinionated banter about Nirvana, Guns N Roses, Ralph Sampson, and even Abba? Chuck Klosterman gives you all that and more in this book.

If a person that has never read anything by Klosterman, if you told them that he can incorporate Garth Brooks, The Beatles, and Third Eye Blind in coherent essay that makes complete sense, they would think that you're an idiot. You have to read his work to really get his thought process. An outsider may think that he is scatter-brained, but he uses intelligent-design to sculpt his thoughts into a well-written piece.

I have read every book that Klosterman has written, even his novel, "Downtown Owl." I believe that "Eating The Dinosaur" is great and I'm not saying that just because I am a fan of his work. No author can reach every demographic, but if you want to read a book about how Abba took over the world, the history of the Ohio State/Michigan rivalry, and a breakdown of the TV show, "Friends," then "Eating the Dinosaur" is for you.

Review - Doc's Sports 2009 Football Journal

Doc's Sports sent over their 2009 Complete Football Journal which has the complete schedule of college and NFL football and much more. I looked through this publication from cover to cover and there are is a ton of information that anyone who is in a fantasy football league, casual or avid sports betters, or even just a casual fan that is in a pool at their workplace can use. Check out this review and see where you can get a copy of your own.

Doc's Sports, which has been in the sports betting business for 38 years, has issued their 38th annual guide for the hardcore football fan. The information that is compiled in this book is extremely useful. You have the scores from the entire 2008 college football season, 2008 trends from the NFL season, and some tidbits for each week of the season for college and NFL games.

As this book is about 70% NFL and 30% information, it will help you out in either one. The NFL information is very handy, since it has roster changes, 2008 rankings, and past trends. There is even a breakdown of betting lines against teams within their own division. This is extremely useful since some of the hardest games to bet are when teams play their division, since they know each other very well. This book breaks down teams that do well against the spread after the bye weeks, if a team does well in a certain month, and even a team that does well if they are underdogs in a betting line.

Lastly, the Doc's Sports Football Journal is very handy. The way that it is put together and compact, it can even fit in someone's back pocket. It's taller than it is wide, almost like a Zagat restaurant guide, if anyone is familiar with them.

If anyone is interested in purchasing Doc's Sports 2009 Football Journal, you can either go to DocSports.com or call 1-800-356-9182. You can get them for $10 bucks a piece, or if you buy them in bulk, you'll get an even better deal. They are good guys and have your best interest in mind. They have researched a lot of things to help you win your games each weekend and check out their website for up-to-date betting lines from the best online sports books.

Review: "Munson" by Marty Appel

Thuman Munson was a great catcher and team captain for the New York Yankees. He was tragically killed in a plane crash during the prime of his career. He had a great rivalry with Boston Red Sox catcher, Carlton Fisk, it even got personal a few times. Marty Appel has written a book about Munson and I decided that my brother, a big Red Sox fan should read it and write a review. It's a great book and I knew that he couldn't say anything bad about it. It proves that Munson's greatness can unite people, even if they bleed Red Sox crimson.

I am a Red Sox Fan.

I usually run away from anything having to do with George Steinbrenner and his hated "Evil Empire" in New York. However, as painful as it is to admit, I liked Marty Appel's Munson published by Doubleday. My reasons for liking this book had nothing to do with Munson's career as a Yankee. I could have cared less about his "American League Rookie of the Year" honors in 1970, his seven All-Star Game appearances, three Gold Gloves awards, 1976 American League Most Valuable Player Award or anything even slightly associated with the pin-stripe wearing Yankee captain. My reasons for loving this book had nothing to do with baseball at all. I liked it because of Appel's insight on Thurmon Munson the husband, father, friend and man.

Red Sox Nation may frown upon this but I have to be honest with myself about this book. This was a great read, and I enjoyed the insight and anecdotes that have never been told since the Yankee captain perished over 30 years ago. This book could not have been written by anyone else, and could only have been told by Appel who was a friend and biographer for Munson, and former Yankee PR director. Who better to give an inside look at the man, than someone who was there with him and who had direct access to his family, friends and teammates?

After reading Munson I have to admit that while I don't want to see another Yankee enter the Baseball Hall of Fame, but I do feel that the Hall needs more Thurmon Munson's in it. His love of family, friends and community kept pulling him home to Canton, Ohio, and in the end he died far to short in the town he loved so much. His whole reason for taking up flying was to allow him more time at home with his family and friends that he loved so much. Why did I pick this book up and read it? As a Red Sox fan I am not sure, but I am glad I did. I came away from it with a huge respect for him as a man, husband and father. I just wish number 15 had not worn the pin stripes for those years and had made his wish for playing with the Indians become a reality. Maybe that would have made reading this book about a Yankee captain a little easier for this Red Sox fan, and the world may still have this beloved captain.

-Gran Roberts

Review: The Class Of Football by Adam Shefter

NFL Hall of Fame speeches are great to listen to and everyone can take something from them. Former NFL Network, and currently ESPN football analyst, Adam Shefter knew this and he compiled a book of some of the best excerpts from speeches given in Canton, OH at the NFL Hall of Fame inductions throughout the years. Inductees always talk about the principles of life and lessons learned while playing the game and growing up within it. Check out the review of the book, "The Class of Football" edited by Adam Shefter, published by Harper Collins.

Listening to a Hall of Fame speech in any sport is great theater. They have spent hours, days, and weeks prepared his Hall of Fame speech and he knows that what he says at that podium will resonate with their fans. They talk about their mentors, their childhood, the history of the game, family, and teamwork. It's as if each inductee has a checklist that every speech must have to ensure a great moment. They always dream of this very moment and is probably one of the first foe (nervousness) could get the very best of them.

"The Class of Football" is such a great book to have if you love the history of the NFL. All of the players that you grew up watching is in this book, in their own words, describing some of the principles of life and the game of football.

Mike Singletary's speech was one of the best. He spoke about growing up poor in Houston, TX. Two of his brothers passed away and his mother sat him down and told him that "there was a greatness in him." He ended up going back to his room and wrote down a set of goals. He described that that day, his life began. Harry Carson took the stage and pleaded for the NFL to take care of the players on the field, after their careers were over. John Mackey took the stage to tell people and players to make sure that you have "your feet on the ground." Bill Walsh's speech was about how not only does teamwork bring players together, but could help unite the city in times of need. Each of these speeches read like a "Bartlett's Book of Quotations for NFL fans." It's a great book for fans of the NFL or any sport and is a go-to book for those who coach teams and need to get a few lessons through to your players.

You should go out and buy this book. Even if you aren't an avid reader, it reads very fast, since most of the speech excerpts are just a few pages long. Shefter had a great idea with this book and carried out his plan with perfection. He just started at ESPN and I'm sure he will help the company with great ideas like "The Class of Football."

For more exclusive audio and video of these speeches, go to ClassOfFootball.com.

Review: Major League Baseball Players of 1916 by Paul Batesel

I know what you're thinking, it's a long title for this post, but I didn't want to cut the author short by cutting off his name. "Major League Baseball Players of 1916" is a great book for fans who loves the early days of baseball. It lists all of the players that played in 1916 and breaks down their careers while playing baseball and what most of them did after they retired from baseball.

McFarland Publishing is known for more in-depth books about single topic. They take something as broad as baseball and breaks down the game into tiny molecules, like a biographical dictionary of baseball player of 1916.

Some of the players of 1916 are Cy Young, Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth, Dutch Leonard, Walter Johnson, Rube Foster, Ty Cobb, Mordecai Brown, Cheif Bender, and many more. Paul Batesel has a keen eye for intriguing facts that even the most knowledgeable fans didn't know. I like the emphasis on the players careers after baseball. Not many people knew that Christy Mathewson died as the President of the Braves or that "Shoeless" Joe Jackson operated a liquor store before he died.

The "dead ball" era was full of characters that you know or you may not even have heard of. "Major League Baseball Players of 1916" is a nice introduction for some of these players. If you are a jaded baseball fan, this book may help you remember when it was just a game a lot of these players had other jobs.

There are many stories that you will never know unless you go out and purchase this book. You can order the book from McFarland Publishing or calling 1-800-253-2187.