Balls [Mass Market Paperback]

Graig Nettles (Author), Peter Golenbock (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1985

Balls

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 293 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (April 15, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067154389X
• ISBN-13: 978-0671543891
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 3.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,402,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nettles is a truthteller about the Yanks, April 27, 2000

By 

Cecilia Tan (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Balls (Hardcover)

Graig Nettles does not come off as a deep man in "Balls," just one who has sen enough tomfoolery and wrongheadedness in his baseball career to be able to tell it like it is. As a result, the book is mostly a long, long listing of the problems the Yankees had in the 70s and 80s -- the number one problem being George Steinbrenner, the number two problem being George Steinbrenner, and the number three problem being... George Steinbrenner. So, sometimes you want to say "Yeah, graig, we all know about George, now tell us about the time when..."

Nettles does inject anecdotes like the Dave Winfield seagull incident, but the real mission of the book was to expose how George let his own emotions, maniacal need for publicity, and ego, ruin the team time and time again. It's very very incisive reading for any Yankee fan who remembers those days, and who can now marvel at how George seems to have calmed down and learned both how to win, and how to lose, over the years.

Nettles was traded because of the book (they say), but the message must have eventually got through. The current Yankee dynasty proves that pretty much everything Nettles criticizes in the book is right on target. Fascinating reading for Yankee fans, and maybe for Yankee haters, but not for the general reader. Compared to "Ball Four" by Jim Bouton, the book has one message and little depth beyond that. But you have to give a lot of respect to Nettles, for coming out and saying what he did.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nettles and his book are flawed... but he was and is my hero, May 21, 2003

By 

Mark Daniels (Anywhere, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Balls (Mass Market Paperback)

I first became a Yankee fan during the "Bronx Zoo" era; during the late-70s Yankee dynasty. Graig Nettles was - and pretty much still is - my favorite player. His remarkable defense at third base during regular season games, and especially during the 1978 World Series, rivaled that of Baltimore's Brooks Robinson. And while he was a right-handed fielder, Graig was a left-handed "power hitter" at the plate... capable of hitting home runs in clutch situations. When you look at his stats during the 1970s, it's hard to understand why he's not in the Hall of Fame. I have a Graig Nettles autographed baseball and I wear Yankees jersey number 9. I'm a big Nettles fan, and I'm glad he wrote a book for me to keep for posterity.

The premise of the book is this: Nettles made an agreement with the publisher wherein he'd write about the dirt behind the crazy "Bronx Zoo"... Steinbrenner, Martin, and Reggie. The prediction was that he'd be playing for a team other than the Yankees by the time the book was published, and thus wouldn't be biting the hand that fed him. But Steinbrenner signed him for an additional year, leaving Nettles with a choice... tone down his comments in the book or write the tell-all tome he promised, despite still being a Yankee. Nettles chose to honor his agreement with the publisher and say what he felt about Steinbrenner and Company... a decision that took "balls" (hence the play-on-words title).

But does Graig actually deliver the goods and give us the dirt? Sorta. He takes a few pot-shots at Steinbrenner and makes a few fat jokes at his expense, and he also has an occassional bad thing to say about Jackson, but that's about it. Billy Martin is made out to be some sort of managerial genius, with Graig giving him nothing but praise. If making a few fat jokes at your boss's expense takes cojones, then Nettles has a big and brassy pair. But beyond that, there's really not anything scandalous here... nothing that would take "balls" to say.

Despite him being my baseball hero to this day, I'm sorry to say that Nettles' book is filled with chest-thumping self-promotion. On only a few occassions does he say he ever performed inadequately on the diamond, and when he does admit to a less-than-stellar performance, he also makes an excuse of some kind. You'd think he won the Gold Glove award in every year he played, batted over .400 every year, and had a one-thousand slugging percentage. Graig also gives nothing but gold stars to relief pitcher Rich "Goose" Gossage, and (surprise surprise) Goose is Graig's friend off the diamond. Personally, I always thought Gossage was an inconsistent pitcher; I always got nervous when he was brought to the mound. But Nettles would have you believe that Goose was the best pitcher in the AL during the late 70s.

I'd also have preferred to hear more about the Pine Tar incident, the rivalry with Boston and with Kansas City, the brawl wherein Graig broke the pitching arm of Red Sox southpaw Bill Lee, the strange-but-true story of wife-swapping Yankee pitchers Kekich and Fitz, etc. In the book, Nettles either neglects to tell these interesting tales or gives them just a quick glancing-over.

One last thing, and I hate to say this about my baseball hero... I get the impression that without co-author Golenbeck, Nettles would come across as nothing but a braindead jock. There already seems to be a degree of that in the book; take ghost writer Golenbeck out of the picture, and I fear it would be even moreso. Oh well... nobody said that ballplayers had to be bookishly intelligent.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great companion to The Bronx Zoo by Yankee Captain Nettles, December 17, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Balls (Mass Market Paperback)

While this is a great companion piece to "The Bronx Zoo" by Peter Golenbock & Graig Nettles, #9's book only gets a 9 out of 10 because there aren't any pictures of the acrobatic kind of fielding Graig gave to NY during his 1973-1983 stay. This is the story of a Hall of Fame caliber 3rd Base Man who set two All Time ML BaseBall Fielding Records in 1971 & proceeded to hit more HR's than any 3B-man in the history of the AL. Despite leading the AL in HR's in 1976, while leading the NY Yankees to their first pennant since 1961, Graig never received the credit that he deserved. This 1985 version includes the fact that, after getting traded to the San Diego Padres,Graig led this previously mediocre NL team to the World Series in 1984, the only year The SD Padres ever made it to the World Series. Finishing 1984 at the age of 40, Nettles led the NL Pennant Winning Padres by hitting 20 HR's. Netlles earned his spot on the 1985 All Star Squad due to his stellar play, which continued into his forties. In 1986, Graig sealed his fate as an all time great by becoming the only Yankee, other than Mickey Mantle, to have 17 consecutive seasons of 15 or more HR's. So, if you are a baseball fan, do yourself a favor - read this book. Non-Yankee Fans may even appreciate The Tar-Wars Saga & Dave Winfield's SeaGull Story - all in all, a great book by a future Hall of Famer. Who knows ? Steinbrenner may even hire him as manager someday because Billy Martin nominated Nettles as his successor to manage The NY Yankees after the 1983 Season. Nettles success in San Diego prevented that then, but now...who knows ? Sayanora ! ! ! !