The Man in the Dugout: Fifteen Big League Managers Speak Their Minds [Paperback]

Donald Honig (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 28, 1995

The fifteen major-league managers interviewed in The Man in the Dugout represent six decades of baseball—men like Joe McCarthy of the New York Yankees and Walter Alston of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Each oral history, steeped in nostalgia and confidentiality, is a record of the triumphs and defeats of the man carrying the prime responsibility of a multimillion-dollar franchise. Here the manager is revealed as a strategist, tactician, peacemaker, politician, ego-soother, and builder of self-confidence. He holds the toughest, most gratifying, and most insecure job in baseball.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"With every . . . baseball book, Don Honig heaps delight on top of pleasure. . . . [He] has worked the vein with skill and taste and enthusiasm enough to enrich all of us fans."-Red Smith (Red Smith )

"Honig has proven himself to be one of baseball's best and most important chroniclers. . . . This is baseball history at its best. Fans will treasure it."-Library Journal (Library Journal )

"We are given a new dimension-we are made to discover not only what happens on the ballfield, but how it happens."-Newsday (Newsday )

"Honig shows his knack for getting the most out of former players and managers with an ability to report his interviews entertainingly, informatively, and amusingly."-St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis Post-Dispatch )

"A winning lineup of assorted baseball managers with good memories for good stories about people and baseball."-Philadelphia Bulletin (Philadelphia Bulletin )

About the Author

Donald Honig, a professional ballplayer turned writer, is also the author of Baseball When the Grass Was Real and Baseball between the Lines, both reprinted as Bison Books.

Product Details

• Paperback: 343 pages
• Publisher: Bison Books (March 28, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803272707
• ISBN-13: 978-0803272705
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,488,502 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Honig Classic, August 8, 2003

By 

Patrick - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Man in the Dugout: Fifteen Big League Managers Speak Their Minds (Paperback)

This is one more Donald Honig masterpiece that you should add to your baseball library. In this edition, Honig interviews player-managers Ossie Bluege, Roger Peckinpaugh, and Hall of Famers Burleigh Grimes and Al Lopez, among others. This time, you read the stories of a manager's point of view as well, which is very interesting.

This book is about a rookie third baseman coming up the line to tag out a lumbering Ty Cobb. About Early Wynn just walking into a tryout camp and announcing himself. About how the Chicago White Sox didn't always play to win in 1919-20.

One of the more memorable parts is Roger Peckinpaugh reflecting on how the illiterate Shoeless Joe Jackson had to listen to what his teammates ordered for dinner first because he could not read the menu. Jackson, by the way, was one of the greatest natural hitters of all time, showing how things were in those days and how they have changed so much.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Educational, Valuable, Readable, March 27, 2008

By 

K.A.Goldberg (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Man in the Dugout: Fifteen Big League Managers Speak Their Minds (Paperback)

This is an excellent oral history about the art of baseball managing. In the 1970's author Donald Honig interviewed 15 former baseball managers (many long retired), including Joe McCarthy, Al Lopez, Walt Alston, Billy Herman, Dick Williams, etc. We hear them speak passionately about their days as team skipper, and often as player too. These men differ somewhat on their recipes for success, but nearly all agreed that good managers handle players effectively, get their respect, and get them to hustle. Eddie Sawyer insisted that catchers and outfielders take infield practice to increase their skills - a valuable idea he attributed to Joe McCarthy. Paul Richards and certain others emphasized practice and preparation on every aspect of the game. Others promoted not becoming buddies with your players, basic fundamentals, and watching opposing players practice to learn their tendencies. Many of these ex-managers were elderly (Joe McCarthy was nearly 90), but each spoke clearly and from the heart.

This book is valuable reading for today's coaches/managers at both the amateur and professional ranks - wish I'd read it before becoming assistant coach in high school. Readers should also consider BASEBALL WHEN THE GRASS WAS REAL (also by Honig) and GLORY OF THEIR TIMES (by Lawrence Ritter), two excellent oral histories of baseball from long ago.