A popular sportswriter chronicles the explosive and extraordinary career of high-living baseball legend Billy Martin, a controversial and tormented figure blessed with many talents but cursed with psychological demons. 50,000 first printing.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Martin (1928-1989) grew up poor in Berkeley, Calif. A high school drop-out, he tried out for the Oakland baseball team of the Pacific Coast League; the manager was Casey Stengel, who took Martin to New York when he became manager of the Yankees. There Martin played a key role on several championship teams. But a drunken fistfight--which seems to be Martin's favorite recreation--at a nightclub ended his Yankee career. The other central figure in this book is Yankee owner George Steinbrenner. In alternating chapters Golenbock shows how the lives of Martin and Steinbrenner paralleled each other, which, ironically, highlights Martin's achievements and magnifies Steinbrenner's ineptitude. Golenbock ( The Bronx Zoo ) looks into Martin's womanizing, his prodigious drinking and his death in a car accident. Although his friend, Bill Reedy, was charged with driving while impaired, Golenbock maintains that Martin was the drunk driver. This is an extremely thorough and comprehensive biography of one of baseball's most controversial figures. Photos. Major ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
As portrayed by the author, former baseball player/manager Martin's life was a triangle of baseball, alcohol, and sex, each of which he embraced with a fervor and all of which ultimately consumed him. Symptomatic of Martin's psyche were his many feuds with managers, players, wives, girlfriends, and owners, including his celebrated tiffs with George Steinbrenner, whom the author considers Martin's equal as a manipulator. Considerable attention is given to the manner of Martin's death in a car wreck. Golenbock argues that, contrary to official findings, it was Martin and not a companion who was driving at the time of the accident. As in his controversial work on college basketball, Personal Fouls (LJ 8/ 89), the author does not always cite specific sources. Nonetheless, this raw treatment of a most controversial characters is sure to generate heavy demand.
--William H. Hoffman, Ft. Myers-Lee Cty. P.L., Fla.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--William H. Hoffman, Ft. Myers-Lee Cty. P.L., Fla.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
self-destruction on parade,
By
This review is from: Wild, High and Tight: The Life and Death of Billy Martin (Hardcover)
This was a very interesting book about a very interesting man. Interesting is about the nicest thing I can think to say about Billy Martin. Although his exploits have been legendary, the stuff in this book takes it too a new level. According to the author, Pete Golenbock, Martin has several women going in different cities at the same time. He was supporting an underage girl and her family on the West Coast and engaged on the East Coast. His life, as portrayed in this book, was more out of control than you suspected. Golenbeck caters to our interest in these areas and with life on the field, in the club house and in the owners office. You have to catch your breath periodically when reading about the life of Billy Martin.On the negative side, the book turns into a defense of the person traveling with Martin the day of his fatal accident. You'll recall that Christmas Day story that told how his friend from Detroit was behind the wheel when it happened. You may recall later on (after consulting with his lawyer, no doubt) the driver suddenly became the passenger. Strangely, the lone eyewitness decided he was actually sitting elswhere in the vehicle after he had time to think about it. Along comes Golenbock to the rescue with photos, medical reports and diagrams showing how Billy was actually the driver. Sorry, I'm not that interested. Let the courts decide that one. The book should have been shorter than it was. I came away with the idea that intimate information was shared with the author in return for his public defense of Martin's passenger/chaffeur. It was a disjointed way to end the otherwise interesting book. But then, Martin's death was a disjointed way to end an otherwise interesting life.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Between The Lines,
By
This review is from: Wild, High and Tight: The Life and Death of Billy Martin (Hardcover)
Billy Martin's life can be summed up quickly. Brilliance and tragedy. Which is a good recipe for a biography.
Billy Martin could be the best manager in history to bring a sorry, downtrodden franchise and bring it to contention. Mike Schropshire chronicles this in the hilarious story of the 1972 Texas Rangers "Seasons in Hell". He later did it with the 1980 Oakland A's, who had no pitching, defense, or offence to speak of. Billy Martin may have been one of the most astute judges of talent, and sharpest baseball practishoners to ever patrol a dugout. But it was with the New York Yankees that he made his reputation. Put into a cambustible situation with George Steinbrenner as his boss, in front of the most shark-like media in the country, Billy Martin's weaknesses became more glaring, and his brilliance more reported on, than any other coaching job in the country. Make no mistake, Billy Martin was great copy. He was funny, irreverent and original. But it was his weaknesses that destroyed him. Alcohol, women, and a dependence on George Steinbrenner he could not break. This is all well documented, in an entertaining read by Peter Golenbock. The only unfortunate part of the book is that it was written in the early 1990's, before the Billy Martin story really ended. There were still law suits that had not been settled, and other stories to come out of the Billy Martin legend. Billy Martin is a very colorful subject, and this is an excellent chronicle of the man, his life and times.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
.................Best Biography Ever,
This review is from: Wild, High and Tight: The Life and Death of Billy Martin (Hardcover)
Ever want to get to know someone famous that you have haven't met? This is absolutely the best of the many biographies I have ever read. I feel like I know Billy Martin and understand where he was coming from with his sometimes erratic behavior. The George Steinbrenner relationship is very vividly explained and the impact of his personality on Martin's life. It is also some of the best writing you will ever see. Peter Golenbock has the ability to write whatever he wants to. You don't have to be a baseball fan to enjoy this one. Mike Murphy
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