Customer Reviews

The Hustler's Handbook (Fireside Sports Classics)

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A hustler gets a free ride and makes it seem as if he's doing you a favor. - Bill Veeck

Hey, you can have your Babe Ruths and Willie Mays and Barry Bonds. Give me Bill Veeck. Veeck's the guy who introduced Bat Day, had the one and only midget pinch-hitter in the history of baseball, put players' names on the back of uniforms, had the first exploding scoreboard and signed the first African-American to play in the American League - Larry Doby. Oh, yeah, and he planted the ivy around the outfield fences at Wrigley Field.
The Hustler's Handbook was written in 1965 with sportswriter Ed Linn. Somehow or other I got the feeling it was written to help pay off a creditor or two. Don't know where I got that idea, but I'll stick with it for now. The book is a product of the time and often deals with what were then current issues - the behind-the-scene story of the '64 World Series, the purchase of the New York Yankees by CBS, a couple of then fresh chapters on baseball executives Horace Stoneman and Branch Rickey. All things considered, we can forgive him his chapter on the cute widdle Metsies. I've been sick of the stories about these "lovable losers" since before Roger Clemens was born, but Veeck doesn't let too much treacle ruin his observations.
This volume of Veeck's observations on the state of the game is a flat out delight. Veeck's observations are pungent and direct.
This is what he had to say about Yogi Berra: "Yogi is a completely manufactured product. He is a case study of this country's unlimited ability to gull itself and be gulled.... It pleased the public to think that this odd-looking little man with the great natural ability had a knack for mouthing humorous truth with the sort of primitive peasant wisdom we rather expect from our sports heroes."
On Leo Durocher and racism: "Leo himself is without any racial consciousness - or even unconsciousness. Leo looks on each human being with the purest of motives; i.e., what can this guy do to make Leo Durocher's passage through life easier, more fun and more profitable?"
Veeck has another chapter on the minor leagues in which he heaps praise on the glorious Mike Kelly, owner of the St. Paul team in the American Association who Veeck credits with delivering "a priceless education in operations, trading, larceny and such other of the applied sciences as came to his nimble mind."
Veeck has a sharp eye and a soft place in his heart for the sharper and the con man. The only character in this book who Veeck treats with anything approaching harshness is Branch Rickey, who Veeck apparently felt was a little too much the pious charlatan for his tastes.
It's a shame that as I write this (June 2004) The Hustler's Handbook is out of print. If I was building a sports library this one would be on the first shelf.
The Fireside Edition was published in 1989, and contains an epilogue (which, oddly enough, is subtitled "Moneyball") written sometime before Veeck's death in 1986. If you think Veeck is a dinosaur, passe and irrelevant to today, consider this from the Epilogue:
"There is... one source of talent that has never been tapped: the female of the species. In 1980, I had a promotion worked out, secretly, with Coca-Cola to conduct a national hunt for the best of the female players, with the winners to be placed in the minor leagues and brought along like anybody else. It was not a stunt. Although the female of the species lacks the upper-body strength to stand much of a chance in the competition for the power positions, young women are more than competitive when it comes to dexterity and agility. If everything had gone according to plan, we would have had a female playing second base in Chicago within three years and, unless I was off the mark, a pitcher with style and control within five."
The Hustler's Handbook will delight baseball fans with a knowledge of the history of the game.

This out-of-print work treats us to the great combination of Bill Veeck's insight and sense of humour as rendered by Ed Linn (recently passed on... rest in peace, and thanks for all the great reading), one of the best authors any baseball figure ever wrote a book 'with'. It is dated about 1966, before the era of free agency, baseball strikes, and Veeck's second stint as owner of the White Sox. It doesn't really live up to the title, it wanders a bit, and at the end it leaves one wondering whether Veeck had a message to convey (beyond, of course, the standard refrain that baseball owners generally shouldn't be trusted any further than one can throw a slider underwater).

The above doesn't detract from my strong recommendation, because even as a dozen-odd independent chapters that relate only marginally to one another, it's still wonderful stuff. Old stories about almost-forgotten figures, commentaries on various owners' catfights, and plenty of gaffs at Ford Frick. One of the most interesting parts is the chapter devoted to the interpretation of the long-mislaid notes of Harry Grabiner. (Who cares?, you might ask? Ever hear of the Black Sox scandal? Well, Harry was in the Chisox front office when that happened. A lot of people should be glad these notes weren't published until 45 years after the fact, and Veeck's commentary on them is most incisive.)

A definite search candidate, and if you dig in it enough, contains a lot of insight into the operation of a ballclub.

Bill Veeck had been out of baseball for four years when The Hustler's Handbook was originally published in 1965 and it appeared to many pundits that he was out of the game for good. "Sport Shirt Bill" had sold his ownership interest in the Chicago White Sox in 1961 due to illness and had been thwarted by the "Lords of the Realm" in pursuing an American League franchise for Los Angeles, though he would return in 1975 as owner of the ChiSox.

And with one book already published - Veeck as in Wreck: The Autobiography of Bill Veeck - the impresario of sports promotion, with co-author Ed Linn, appeared to be giving his farewell to the game through wit, wisdom and a number of brushback pitches on his critics in Major League Baseball. This edition is a September 2009 softcover reprint from Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher.

"As the first assignment, class, we will now all burn our dictionaries and get on to the real definitions, complete with illustrations, gesticulation and grimaces....," writes Veeck, as he tackles the fine art of marketing. "Department stores, automobile agencies and other sportsmen and philanthropists are more than willing to donate gifts in return for the advertising and goodwill."

There is a sailboat presented to Nellie Fox of the White Sox on "Nellie Fox Night" and a grand plan for honoring southpaw fans due to the Milwaukee Braves non-use of left-handed pitching great Warren Spahn, along with mainstays in the Veeck repertoire; Christmas in July, Name's the Same, the Money-Back Guarantee and a gala Mother's Day celebration. One of his ideas became a major winner in ballparks: "Bat Day has become the biggest promotion of late. We started it in St. Louis (the Browns) back in 1952 when a guy who dealt in bankrupt firms came around with a shipload of homeless bats.

"It is a surefire promotion, and it will remain surefire so long as they don't get greedy and try to repeat it on alternate weeks.

"They probably will."

Legends come to life, but oftentimes in ways that could have never been predicted. "Wake up the echoes at the Hall of Fame and you will find that baseball's immortals were a rowdy and raucous group of men who would climb down off their plaques and go rampaging through Cooperstown (New York), taking spoils, like the Third Army busting through Germany," writes Veeck. "Horace Stoneham has only two occupations in life. He owns the (San Francisco) Giants and he drinks.

"Some of the most wicked people I know have taken advantage of him."

The explosive revelations on the 1919 Black Sox Scandal from a journal of a White Sox secretary, an intriguing take on the battle in the Big Apple between the hapless Mets and juggernaut Yankees and insight on how deals are cut in the proverbial smoke-filled room make for a refreshing read, no matter the season.

"Baseball, like loan-sharking, is a humanitarian enterprise," Veeck writes. "When the Supreme Court says baseball isn't run like a business, everybody jumps up and down with joy. When I say the same thing, everybody throws pointy objects at me."

Veeck, famous for such promotions as the pinch-hitting midget and the exploding scoreboard, reveals the methods to his maddness and the subtle brilliance behind every move he made in baseball. This book is essential reading for anyone involved promotions or marketing. It's also loads of fun for baseball fans or anyone who just wants to laugh.

THE HUSTLER'S HANDBOOK offers a hilarious account from one of baseball's long-time characters and blends stories, anecdotes and theories into a book rich with lessons on how to operate as a hustler in modern baseball. The blend of memoir, insider savvy and business insight makes for an outstanding addition to any sports library strong in baseball memoirs.

BILL VEECK WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST PROMOTORS OF BASEBALL EVER. HE AND HAS FATHER WERE THE ONES WHO PUT THE IVY AT WRIGLEY FIELD. HE CAME UP WITH THE MIDGET BATTING IN A REGULAR SEASON GAME. HE CAME UP WITH LADIES DAY, IMPORTED EXOTIC FLOWERS FROM HAWAII, GAVE AWAY NYLONS, STARTED GRANDSTAND MANAGERS NIGHT AND MANY MANY MORE IDEAS TO BRING FANS TO THE BALLPARK BESIDES TO SEE THE GAME. IN THE START OF THIS BOOK, BILL GIVES US SOME OF HIS IDEAS AND TACTICS HE USED TO LURE FANS. HE THEN GOES ON TO WRITE ABOUT THE DECLINE OF THE YANKEES, LEO DUROCER, BLACK SOX AND HISPANIC AND NEGROES IN BASEBALL. BILL WILL ALWAYS BEEN KNOWN FOR A MAJOR INNOVATOR WHO HELP THE INDIANS WIN THE WORLD SERIES IN 1948. HE ALSO HELPED THE WHITE SOX WIN THE 1959 PENNANT. BILL WAS A BLUE COLLAR GUY WHO THE FANS COULD IDENTIFY WITH. HE WOULD ACTUALLY SIT IN THE STANDS WITH FANS AND GET THEIR PERSPECTIVE AND IDEAS ON HOW TO IMPROVE THE TEAM AND WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO BRING THEM BACK TO THE BALLPARK. HE IS A LEGEND IN CLEVELAND AND IN MANY OTHER CITIES. THIS BOOK IS PRETTY GOOD AND I RECOMMEND IT FOR HISTORIANS AND FANS WHO CAN RELATE TO 1940'S 50'S AND 60'S BASEBALL.

Baseball's Bill Veeck covers many bases in this dated (1965) but superb inside look at the business of baseball. This former (and future) maverick owner examines player trades, ballpark promotions, owner politics, and other aspects learned from his years in the business. Among the highlights (or lowlights) are Branch Rickey's shrewd trading tactics, unwarranted franchise shifts (Dongers, Giants, Braves), and the ongoing corporatization of baseball with its attendant staid, colorless players. Veeck is at his best uncovering the often-sordid baseball politics and inequities - or did you think the NY Yankees won all those pennants (1940's-1960's) on a completely level playing field? He is also humble enough to confess his flaws - his trades of young prospects Johnny Callison, Earl Battey, Don Mincher, etc., ended up costing the White Sox franchise. Veeck examines baseball's declining popularity in a TV-age where NFL pro football was gaining fast, and the ultimately-successful attempty by carpet-bagging owners to move the Braves from Milwaukee (where it was well-supported) to Atlanta. Using the diary of his late friend Harry Grabiner (secretary to White Sox owner Charles Comiskey), Veeck provides a surprisingly insightful inside look at the 1919 Black Sox scandal when several under-paid team members participated in a fixed World Series, plus that scandal's sordid aftermath of owner power struggles. In short, this book provides a dated but still-relevant look at baseball politics.

Bill Veeck (1914-1986) owned several baseball teams (Indians, St. Louis Browns, White Sox, plus minor-league Brewers), employing a maverick approach with exploding scoreboards, post-game fireworks, a midget batter (he walked), and other fan-friendly innovations. Here he gives us a rare inside look at baseball politics and controversies circa 1965 - before such later events as free agency, arbitration, strikes, lockouts, steroids, drug abuse, etc. Veeck jumps around a bit as he covers the bases, but provides a superbly readable inside look for fans, sports writers, and other aficionados.