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You're Missin' a Great Game

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Whitey Herzog's book absolutely savaged contemporary baseball. His roadmap for constructing the 1982 Cardinals was a path all too forgotten. Just ask whoever signs Texas Ranger Alex Rodriguez's $250.0 million paycheck.

Whitey's essential theme is that wining baseball begins with complementary chemistry, good defense and the ability to move over and ultimately drive home a run in a close game. All feed into the basic premise that a good quality pitching staff, managed well ensures pennants will fly.

Some of the stories are priceless. Trading Ted Simmons; dealing with Gary Templeton; and, understanding Joaquin Andujar are "geez, I can't put this down" stories. Don't read too fast -- the "Pete Rose moment" in this book is priceless.

The most compelling read, however, is how Whitey destroys the concept of statistics for statistical purposes. Winning baseball and certain good statistical performance from key players, notably home runs, do not always correlate -- a theme that runs through this book over and over again.

While this book should be the bible for gerenal managers and others constructing baseball teams, it gets occasionally carried away in excessive collequialisms. Whitey at times forgets substance is more important than style.

But the style excesses are far overwhelmed by the substance that Whitey offers into the business of baseball. It's a must read, especially if you're a Cub fan trying to understand why your team hasn't won a World Series in nearly a century.

This treatise by Whitey Herzog is like the White Rat himself; straightforward, gruff, and thought-provoking. Herzog criticizes today's homer-centered, steroid-based play, recounts his years as manager and general manager, and analyzes many additional factors. A skilled handler of pitching staffs, Herzog describes his actions here in readable detail. He also offers views on many facets of baseball, including finances, labor relations, franchise competitiveness, trades, the designated hitter, player development, teams he managed in the playoffs (Kansas City) and World Series (St. Louis), etc. Herzog blames the Cardinal loss in the 1985 Series on that famous bad call, but this is only probable, as KC still had two good hitters due up in a one-run game. Herzog also suggests a host of changes for the game, many sensible, others debatable. Readers might not always agree with Herzog or his salty language, but his words should make them think as deeply about the game as he does.

This slightly-dated (1999) book remains a valuable and fast-paced read, but with enough factual errors (Lou Brock stole 118 bases not 114, Bud Grant lost four Super Bowls not three, Marvin Miller became union head in 1966 not the 1970's) that one wonders why publishers seldom assign to their baseball books editors versed in sports trivia. Still, despite minor flaws, this is a thoughtful look by a man who'se love for baseball comes through loud and clear.

What keeps this from being a thoroughly splendid read are the frequent errors. In a reference to football, it has Bud Grant losing three Super Bowls. The actual number is four. It claims G. Templeton is the only player to get 100 hits from each side of the plate in a season. Yet Willie Wilson (one of Herzog's prize pupils) did the same. It has Lou Brock's highest base stealing total for a year at 114, when the real number is 118. And in the craziest of them all, Herzog has St. Louis leading KC 2-1 going into the ninth inning of Game 6 in 1985. It was 1-0; 2-1 was the final score. The Denkinger call is one of the defining moments of Herzog's career and the facts are still wrong!
However, IF one can get past the false information, this is a quick, insightful read. True, Herzog inevitably comes out looking good in his dealings with owners and players. But the main focus of this book is on what's wrong with baseball.
While baseball types have been complaining about the "modern game" since the 1850s, Herzog cites specific examples as to why the game today is hurting. From agents to the gutting of the scouting system to millionaires throwing to the wrong cutoff man, Herzog tells us what's wrong with baseball and how to fix it.

great baseball book without any fluff.

Deals with a number of issues about salary. Gives a good discussion about the "bonus
baby" rule (if a prospect is signed above a certain salary, he has to stay on the big league club for 2 years -- Sandy Koufax was one) -- it turns out, it gives competitive balance since clubs can't throw money at prospects.

Unfortunately he's enamored with Mark McGuire....(but the book was written in 1999, I'd be interested to see Whitey's take on the last decade).

Look, this book is for serious baseball people, not just the occasional fan who thinks Ken Burn's is real history. Sure Whitey can irritate, he's supposed to. I know it's a strange concept today to talk about such things as accountability, a work ethic and responsibility to your employer, but he does. He also tells the absolute truth about the problems in the only great game we have, problems that are killing it. The history is excellent, his knowledge superior, and the book great. As I said, a lot of people won't get it, but that's their problem. For the person who wrote the scathing and adolescent review and said Whitey was a conservative manager, he must not have ever seen those Cardinal teams. That was real baseball, not the silly, amusement park, homerun hitting, steroid nonsense of today. Buy the book and read it once a year to remind you of how good the game once was and can be again.

I just finished reading this book and I will admit that I found it an easy book to read. I remember watching a Game of the Week on NBC about the time Bart Giamati was selected as Baseball Commissioner. I think it was Marv Albert who did a dugout interview with Whitey Herzog and there was much made of the apparent fact that Whitey was on the final list of candidates for Commissioner. Although his Cardinals beat my beloved "Harvey's Wallbangers" in the 1982 World Series, they did it fair and square. I had seen and heard enough about Herzog to look forward to his opinions on the state of Major League Baseball. Whitey does have a lot of good ideas and I wish there was some way that Kennesaw Mountain Selig and his cronies could me made to take them seriously. From the problems with youth baseball in America to the negative flipside of the recent home run explosion, Whitey had me agreeing with all of his insights. There are, however, some short comings to the book. First of all, it should be noted that Mr. Herzog had a co-writer. This seems to be standard fare in sports books written by athletes and the theory is that the co-writer will edit the book into readable form. I'm not sure how this book has been helped by the co-writer, Jonathon Pitts, who really must be the pits. The down home folksy style is way overdone. I challenge any reader to keep score because I think the word "ass" was used more in this book than the word "baseball". Another problem was Whitey's grudges that he obviously can't let go of. His attitude of the KC Royal owner Kaufman comes across like sour grapes. Everyone who watched the 1985 World Series between St. Louis and Kansas City knows that the Cards got robbed. They probably feel sorry for Whitey. They can get over that sympathy by reading this book. Whitey brings it up too often (the Denkinger call for those of you who missed it) and even suggests that it is the sole reason that he's not in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Finally, I expected a better ending. I can't believe the one they came up with. Well, enough said. I'm not from Missouri but you don't have to show me that Whitey Herzog was and is a great man of Baseball. If you don't think so yourself then read his book.

18 people have reviewed this book before me and most of the reviews were favorable. That's just ridiculous. I picked up this book because I thought it might have something to say. Who would even publish this crap? Okay, Whitey Herzog was a big-league manager and he liked to play small ball, that's cool. But that doesn't mean he has any idea what he's talkin about. Anybody that could say, in all truthfulness that bob "pea brain" costas would make a good commissioner has got to be kidding. He spends most of the book demonstrating how ineffective a writer he is and making excuses for coming up short. I would love to go fishing all day and knock the bottom out of a few cold ones, but you have got to be kidding me. I enjoyed the Casey Stengel anecdotes, but there is nothing original coming from this man that does anything for me. Is this guy serious about the midwest being the best place in the world to live? I remember Whitey Herzog being a conservative, unexciting type of manager. It's true about what's happening with the same teams competing every year because they have all the money. But Mr. Herzog doesn't shed any new light for this reader. If you think there is any real character in this book, just refer back to what this guy says about costas. Boring, uninteresting and difficult to keep your eyes opened. SUMBUG, I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS BOOK GOT PUBLISHED, IT STINKS.