Customer Reviews

No More Mr. Nice Guy: A Life of Hardball

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dick Williams writes the way he managed - honest, to the point, and in your face. 'No More Mr. Nice Guy' reads with the passion that he felt for the game and leaves you with a bit of sadness at, not only the way the game has changed, by how the Dick Williams's of the world have gone unappreciated. He took three different teams to the World Series, he perhaps saved the Padres from being sold, he took the Expos (yes the Expos) to winning seasons, he delivered nothing short of a miracle in 1967 with the Red Sox and he even pushed a couple of teams to winning even the players themselves weren't sure if that's what they wanted. This isn't to mention two rings with the Oakland A's.
It's sad the Hall of Fame has overlooked this guy. Not only is it a case of what more do you have to do, in the case of Dick Williams, it's what more could he have possibly done?

I have been a fan of Dick Willams and the San Deigo Padres for a long time.This book has been a favorite of mine! I have always admired Dick Williams for his no nonsense approach and turning losing teams into winners. This book is entertaining and provides the inside thoughts and soul searching straight from the heart.Thank you to Dick and congratulations on the hall of fame.

I have to admit that when I first logged on to write this review, I was tempted to give "No More Mr. Nice Guy" a 4 rating, mostly because Dick Williams really DOESN'T come across as a very nice guy. But you know what? The more I thought about it, the more it became apparent that was the exact reason this book has EARNED a five-star rating.

Whatever words people use to describe Williams, "nice" is rarely one of them. He is old-school all the way, a very direct and blunt individual who tells you what he thinks and damn the consequences. However, even if you disagree with some of what he says, you have to respect his honesty. There is absolutely no BS about the guy.

Williams could have taken the easy way out and told a rosy story about what a misunderstood guy he really is and how loveable he really is, but he doesn't. He knows he has a bad temper and a short fuse with people (including his long-suffering wife, Norma), and freely admits it. He speaks his mind and spares nobody with his criticisms. He is not a politician, and if there are things he's bitter about, he doesn't hide them. He is who he is.

I'd strongly recommend this for baseball fans who want to read an unvarnished autobiography of a Hall of Famer who has done it his way all his life and is unapologetic about that. A great read about a great manager.

NO MORE MR NICE GUY IS A VERY GOOD READ FROM FORMER MLB MANAGER DICK WILLIAMS. I REMEMBER DICK WITH HIS CREW CUT AND TOUGH LOVE ATTITUDE WITH THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM 1967 RED SOX. HE HAS DONE A GREAT JOB EVERYWHERE HE WENT EXCEPT WITH THE ANGELS WHICH WAS MISSION IMPOSSIBLE. HIS BOOK IS JUST A FASCINATING AND ENTERTAINING READ. DICK DIDN'T CARE WHO HE TOLD OFF OR FEELINGS HE HURT. HE GOES BACK TO THE OLD SCHOOL WAY OF THIS IS THE WAY IT IS AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT THEN DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU IN THE BOOTY. I REALLY ENJOYED HIS TALES ABOUT GARVEY, GOSSAGE, YAZ AND ALL THE REST. DICK WILLIAMS CERTAINLY EARNED HIS RIGHT TO BE IN COOPERSTOWN AS ONE OF THE BEST BUT MOT LIKED MANAGERS EVER.

honestly, my favorite baseball book of all time. chock full of anectdotes, and written in a snarly style. i hunted this down after Dick Williams got his due call to the Hall, and I am glad I did. This is a long tome too, no shirking here. very enjoyable, worth a grab.

Williams wanted in the worst way to win, and this is how he did so while running rough-shod over players who stood in his way. If that's the way he was, fine, but I, in the end, got tired of his self-serving, act. He was named to the Hall of Fame in 2008, as he should have been, and thankfully before his death in 2011. Too many guys never get to experience the election and he was able to stand and thank the people who helped him get there. I was glad to find that Garry Templeton was a better person than he was made out to be in the press. That is one thing I give Williams credit for, he doesn't care what the reputation of any of the players were, if they were good, he gave them credit.

Buy this book for some insights into baseball in the last third of the 20th century.

I love this book. I read it every couple of years during baseball season. It's maybe the best book on baseball, not told in some romantic fashion, but by a brass balls bull of a manager who doesn't play any games. A true character and one of the greatest baseball managers of all time, Williams takes no hostages as he gets to the facts why baseball isn't the game it once was. Jackie Robinson was his friend, and mentored him as a rookie on the Brooklyn Dodgers. We get insight on what it was like to be on the bench with the legendary Brooklyn Bums,once again without the romantic staging.

like Billy Martin, Williams was a true winner and innovator who belonged to a different era. When he bumps up against the coming wave of me-me-me type players he bites back. Some of his stories are flat out hilarious,with some real insight into the mindset that made him such a turnaround expert, who demanded the best from his players and coaches. The arrogance of the Boston Red Sox ownership, the screwball Ray Kroc and the Padres, and of course tales of those crazy World Champion Oakland A's. Williams loves the game, but he doesn't love the modern style of management, and the spoiled players. Concur, dear sir, you were right and they were wrong.