Customer Reviews

Balls

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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 ! ! ! !

I'm a huge Yankee fan and read a lot of books about the Yanks. I loved Graig Nettles as a player, but this book was a bit annoying for me. He complains and complains, non-stop. Everything is always an issue. He's not getting enough respect. He's better than this player or that player. He should be paid more. He can't stand George. He put all his thoughts out there in this book, which took a lot of guts... but reading his list of complaints gets boring and I came away from this book with a little less love for Nettles. Apparently so did the Yankees. He was no longer wearing pinstripes shortly after this book came out. I hate to say it, but he did it to himself. He comes across as a pretty selfish and self absorbed guy in this book. 3 out of 5 stars... He's still a great Yankee, but less great to me after reading his laundry list of complaints.

This book was supposed to be like new,but was very old and worn with some pages falling out. I am very disappointed with this purchase.

This book is written by the same author who did "The Bronx Zoo" with Sparky Lyle detailing the 1978 season. While that book had alot more humorous antedotes and background stories to it, Graig Nettles in "Balls" detailing the 1983 season with the NY Yankees just doesnt have the same "WOW" factor as Lyle's did with the 78 club. Nettles in "The Bronx Zoo" came across as a great supporting character and had alot of great quotes and whatnot, but there just seems to be something missing in this book that Lyle was able to capture much more effectively. Perhaps the 78 squad with its cast of characters and the fact that the team had as much turmoil as any in sports history and was able to effect a miracle comeback in late 1978 may have given Lyle alot more to work with. However, even that notwithstanding, Lyle's reminiscing of his past and collegues on earlier Yankee clubs is much more entertaining than Nettles account of it. Nettles comes across as an all-around good guy, but in his attempt at trying to match "The Bronx Zoo", he comes up well short. However, a good read for those who want to reminsice on the 1983 season.

THIS IS A VERY INTERESTING STORY OF THE BRONX ZOO THROUGH THE EYES OF GRAIG NETTLES. I REMEMBER WHEN HE WAS CLEVELAND INDIAN, A REAL SMOOTH SWING AND A GOOD LEATHER MAN. I WAS VERY MAD WHEN THEY TRADED HIM FOR SOME (GOOD?) PROSPECTS. A TYPICAL GABE PAUL MOVE TO TRADE A GOOD PLAYER FOR GARBAGE. HE WENT ON TO BECOME AN EXCELLENT FIELDER AND HOME RUN THREAT. HIS FIELDING WAS THE SHOWCASE OF THE 1978 WORLD SERIES. THIS BOOK TELLS IT LIKE IT IS. HIS FEELINGS TOWARDS HIS FELLOW PLAYERS, MANAGERS AND GEORGE ARE EXTREMELY INTERESTING. A MUST READ FOR NEW AND OLD YANKEE FANS.
VERY RECOMMENDED.

I rarely read jock books. They usually lack depth and intellectual stimulation. This one is no different. Nettles doesn't come off as deep or thoughtful in "Balls." I decided to give it a try because this book essentially got Nettles traded and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Nettles goes into great (and I mean great) length on how he feels about George Steinbrenner. He feels Steinbrenner should just sign the checks and stay out of the way.

This book, which focuses on the 1983 season and most of its text is probably taken from a journal that Nettles kept during the season, could've been released by Nettles' PR firm. He says he should be one the highest paid Yankees because he has been there longer and has done more for the team. He gives lavish praise to Goose Gossage (his best friend on the team) and Billy Martin. As mentioned in Mark Daniels' review, Nettles makes Martin out to some kind of managerial genius. He even suggests that Martin should be in control of personnel decisions. He ignores how Martin would wear out his welcome quickly with his inability to deal with authority. His only complaint about Martin (one that Martin's A's pitchers would certainly agree with) is that he leaves his starting pitchers in too long. Nettles also says players should never second-guess the manager and that if he was a manager, he'd tell the second-guessing players to shut up or get out.

While the Pine Tar fiasco and the Dave Winfield vs. seagull debacle are expounded upon, Nettles barely mentions (or doesn't mention at all) the Bill Lee incident, the Peterson-Kekich wife swap, or his one-liners. What there is plenty of is him griping about Steinbrenner. And yet despite all his problems with George, he still wanted to play for the Yankees. Golenbock adds a brief afterword to the paperback release praising Nettles and saying people who critized the book didn't get the point.

I thought "Balls" was worse than Sparky Lyle's and Golenbock's "The Bronx Zoo", and I didn't think much of that book either. Unless you're a huge Graig Nettles fan, it isn't worth a read.

I enjoyed this book by Yankee great Graig Nettles. It takes you back to the great Yankee teams of the late 70s. "Balls" seems quite tame today, but it was hard hitting when it was released in the mid 80s. Not quite on the same level as "Ball Four" or "The Bronx Zoo" but still a must for any Yankee fan. GO YANKS!!