Birdie : Confessions of a Baseball Nomad [Hardcover]

Birdie Tebbetts (Author), James Morrison (Author), Reggie Jackson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Red Sox great Ted Williams called his late former teammate Birdie Tebbetts "one of the greatest guys I ever met," and Tebbetts, a meticulous diarist during a nearly 50-year career as a player and manager, is undeniably a class act. The "confessions," however, are few and far between; the squeaky-clean Tebbetts shares scores of anecdotes, but his workman-like narrative is not always riveting and sometimes seems a little musty (as when Tebbetts delivers a polemic about the effect of modern catcher's mitts on players' skills). Nonetheless, there are some engrossing tales here, such as the one about playing in an impromptu ballgame after a bloody battle at Iwo Jima, or being sold for a dollar by one drunk owner to another. Perhaps most revealing of Tebbetts's character is his recollection of an umpire who suffered dizzy spells following his return from the war. Afraid of losing his job, the ump asked Tebbetts, the catcher, to help calling balls and strikes, and Tebbetts tipped him off with hand signals following each pitch. Tebbetts is also depicted as a warm, open-hearted family man in the amusing sidebars, written by relatives, which are interspersed throughout the book. All in all, Tebbetts fans will be charmed, and many baseball enthusiasts will find enough lore to hold their interest.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In this delightful romp, Tebbetts discusses his six-decade-long career in professional baseball. A starting catcher with the 1940 pennant-winning Detroit Tigers, Tebbetts freely shares his impressions about such teammates as Hank Greenberg and Hal Newhouser. While he reveres Greenberg, who urged him to adopt a hard-nosed approach to contractual negotiations, Tebbetts dismisses Newhouser as a World War II phenomenon who "got into the Hall of Fame by begging to get in." Later a member of the Boston Red Sox, Tebbetts also greatly admired Ted Williams, but he does complain that the Splendid Splinter ineptly tried to tell him how to call pitches. A moderately successful manager, Tebbetts later became a longtime scout for the Mets, Yankees, Orioles, and Marlins. Recommended for general libraries.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Triumph Books (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572434554
• ISBN-13: 978-1572434554
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #903,031 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't agree more, May 11, 2002

By 

"sportfan44" (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Birdie : Confessions of a Baseball Nomad (Hardcover)

...I knew Birdie well and know a lot of people who also knew Birdie well and none of us believe that Birdie authored this book. The man we all knew is not represented by the words on these pages. For example, Birdie wrote an article titled, "I'd Rather Catch". This was written by Birdie himself and Birdie spoke about it many times. In the article he praised Newhouser. Having known the man, I never heard him ever criticize another player. On the contrary, he was one of baseball's biggest fans. And he most certainly did not talk like the blue collar, swaggering, swearing person represented on these pages. This is a book published many years after his death. I would keep that in mind as the pages are turned.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not the Birdie I knew, March 30, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Birdie : Confessions of a Baseball Nomad (Hardcover)

Birdie was a great storyteller. This book was not written with Birdie's sense of humor,intelligence, or respect for the people in the baseball industry. I knew him well and do not believe that he wrote it. Unfortunately, since he died three years before he supposedly wrote this book, we can't hear his side of the story. This book is just not worth the paper it's printed on.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Catch this Birdie, July 29, 2002

By 

Jonathan Brookner (Fairfield, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Birdie : Confessions of a Baseball Nomad (Hardcover)

Unlike a couple of other reviewers (....), I never knew Birdie, and cannot attest whether these pages seem written by the real man. What does stand out, however, is that any fan of baseball before the present - swing for the fences, no strategy needed - era will enjoy this book. James Morrison has culled many, many delicious stories from Birdie's diaries. Some stories are not brand new to baseball literature, but Birdie's viewpoint on them is worthwhile. Except for some quotes using swear words, I cannot see what Birdie's friends can object to here. The player-manager-scout's humanity and delightful humor ring out on every page. Perhaps the best chapter reviews player-umpire relations in the "old days," but the anecdotes throughout make it hard not to read out loud to others.

My only regret is that short space was given to Birdie's managing years. I suspect he was too busy then to post lengthy diary entries. Perhaps Birdie would have edited the finished product differently, had he lived, but this book will stand out with that of his Tiger teammate, Elden Auker's, as one of the best books on baseball from the '30s through the 50s.