The Man In Dugout [Hardcover]

Leonard Koppett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2000

Baseball fans love to second-guess managers' strategies and speculate about their styles of managing and Leonard Koppett is no exception. Koppett brings 52 years as a working baseball writer to his understanding of these men in the dugout. His analysis is based on personal interaction with all of the managers active since 1950 and their descriptions and judgments of the generation of men who preceded them. Every manager inherits his method from some influential manager he played for. Three seminal figures John McGraw, Connie Mack, and Branch Rickey form the trunk of a genealogical tree whose branches have eventually intertwined, but whose key characteristics remain identifiable nearly a century later in the style of current headliners like Joe Torre, Jim Leyland, Tony LaRussa, Dusty Baker, and Bobby Cox.This highly acclaimed study, first published in 1993, has been updated to the year 2000 and now includes some recent winning managers and completes the careers of others. Author note: Leonard Koppett has been writing about baseball since the 1940s (his earliest memories include seeing Babe Ruth hit and John McGraw manage) for the New York City newspapers, the San Francisco Bay Area newspapers, and "The Sporting News". He is author of half a dozen baseball books including "Koppett's Concise History of Major League Baseball" (Temple). He is the winner of the J. G. Taylor Spink Award from the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Koppett is the only sportswriter named to the writers' wing of both baseball and basketball Halls of Fame.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The theory espoused by Koppett, a former New York Times sports columnist, is that all modern managers are descended from three seminal figures: John McGraw, who established the principle that the manager is the unquestioned boss of his team; Branch Rickey, who organized the teaching fundamentals; and Connie Mack, whose concentration on finding talented players enabled him to build two dynasties decades apart. Koppett's genealogy, for example, traces the influence of McGraw through Frankie Frisch and Leo Durocher to Bill Rigney. This otherwise splendid and original book overemphasizes New York managers, however. Among the 19 in-depth portraits, 11 are of men who led the Yankees, Giants, Dodgers or Mets. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

In December 1992, Koppett was selected for the writer's wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame, in recognition of over 40 years of high-quality baseball writing for the Sporting News , the New York Times , and many other publications. He is also an entertaining and insightful author best known for A Thinking Man's Guide to Baseball ( LJ 8/67). This book provides an anecdotal analysis of the various qualities of the most successful and influential managers of this century. Koppett examines their backgrounds, skills, and weaknesses, and then traces their lineage to three seminal figures: John McGraw, Connie Mack, and Branch Rickey. An appendix lists the managers for teams that finished in first place since 1960, along with the managerial lines to which they belong. This title will be an excellent addition to any sports collection.
- John Maxymuk, Rutgers Univ. Lib., Camden, N.J.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 424 pages
• Publisher: Temple University Press; Exp Sub edition (August 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566397456
• ISBN-13: 978-1566397452
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,634,002 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strategy galore!, October 23, 2000

By 

Ryan Schroer (Columbus, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Man In Dugout (Hardcover)

Book has in-depth views of each hall-of-fame manager, and some other lesser known and modern managers that have made their mark on the game.

Unlike The Bill James guide to Baseball, this book focuses on the man and his managerial career, and his stategy. James seems to have written a book on how baseball was generally managed in certain eras. He doesn't focus much on indivual men, as this book does.

For a diehard like me, this book is money well spent. If you are only a causual man, save your money.

5.0 out of 5 stars A good book if you are interested in managers, January 9, 2010

By 

Jim J. Carroll - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Man In Dugout (Hardcover)

This was a book I was very eager to read as being a manger as been a fantasy for me. This book basically crushed that dream as it tells how they became mangers.They were all professional ballplayers that knew someone, as I am neither a player nor do I know someone, likely as not I won't be the next manager of a baseball team. But it was a fun read nonetheless.