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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Leo's a Nice Guy, Really, July 4, 2001
Usually considered to be one of the best baseball autobiographies ever written (by that small subset of us who actually consider the quality of such books), "Nice Guys Finish Last" is a terrific window onto 50 years of baseball history. Leo Durocher began his career riding the bench in the shadow of Babe Ruth, and ended it as the manager of the glorious 1973 Houston Astros, led by their star outfielder Cesar Cedeno (and we all know what happened to him...). In between such humble beginnings and endings, however, Durocher was there for just about every pivotal moment in baseball history. Rest assured he has opinions on all of them. And he wants to set the record straight. "Nice Guys Finish Last" is densely packed, full of satisfying venom, and leaves no stone -- or vendetta -- unturned. Whether or not the reader believes all of what Leo is saying is less important than the fact that this is a must read for anyone interested in baseball's previous generations. They don't make managers like Durocher anymore, and, sad to say, there will be very few baseball autobiographies quite like this in the years to come.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
BRASH, October 13, 2003
Leo Durocher has a story to tell you and you'd better listen because he doesn't care to repeat himself. At least that is the tone I got from reading his autobiography. He hits the ground arguing and never lets up. In the process, we get a good look at a career that spans Ty Cobb to Cesar Cedeno with plenty in between. This book is a must for Baseball history buffs. As a matter of fact, I think it helps if you ARE a Baseball history buff because you might know more about a number of the controversies that Durocher talks about. I was not familiar with a lot of the controversies he wrote about. However, that didn't detract from the book but neither did it add to my enjoyment of it. You come to understand early on that it is not coincidental that Durocher encountered so many controversies in his career. These include controversies surrounding his relationships with his players, his general managers, his owners, the umpires, his real or alleged off-field associations, as well as with various Baseball Commissioners. There is even a controvery or two surrounding his wives although, in fairness, it has more to do with their relationships with their former spouses than with him. In that regard, this is not a "kiss and tell" book. It's more a "now that you've heard everybody else's version, here's my side of the story" book. That's the problem with this book. Although Durocher acknowledges occassional short-comings, he seems to always be "set-up" by others to look like the bad guy. After a few dozen of his "corrections of the record" you come away feeling that this man may have had a hard time with the facts. Durocher may be apologetic at times but his brash manner, that he never waivers from, emboldens him to give some surprizing frank observations about some icons of the game. He is polite but critical of Jackie Robinson (didn't work hard enough), Ernie Banks (too slow and too lame to be of much good to the team), and Ron Santo (whom he portrays as a crybaby) to mention a few. He has his heroes such as Willie Mays whom he considered the greatest player he ever saw. He has two people that he puts at a level just a notch under Mays; Pete Reiser whose career was shortened by injuries and Cesar Cedeno whom he (typically) detracts in the same sentence he praises. However, the star of this book is Leo Durocher (fair enough, it's his autobiography). Although it was "co-written" with Ed Linn, the book read like a non-stop monologue by Durocher. The book was copyrighted in 1975 but it has stood the test of time. His comments on the high salaries of the 1970's may sound ridiculous compared to what has happened since then. However, his comments are still valid (when adjusted for inflation). Once I got started on the book, I found it hard to put down. I also found it hard to think I was getting the full story.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
funny, point-blank, opinionated, entertaining, October 26, 2000
This review is from: Nice Guys Finish Last (Paperback)
Leo Durocher was one of those characters people either love or hate. A win-at-all-costs player and manager, he never really developed much tact, and he was definitely a product of his era. But I've never heard anyone say that he, or his teams, were boring. What the Amazon entry for this book doesn't tell you is that it was written with Ed Linn, who sadly passed away not long ago. Linn had the unique gift of preserving the subject's style so perfectly that you'd be hard pressed to tell that there had been a co-author at all. What this means for the reader is that the book is much better than it would otherwise seem: you get treated to Leo's pungent, egotistical and judgmental style as though he was talking to you in person telling old stories. That's what makes it so much fun. If you are a baseball fan, this belongs in your library and is well worth the search.
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