“Leo Durocher — Baseball’s Prodigal Son” by Paul Dickson (Bloomsbury, 358 pages, $28).
Another baseball season is upon us. As the weather and baseball players’ bats begin to heat up, we can root for our teams and peruse the latest batch of baseball books.
Paul Dickson writes widely about the sport. He wrote “The Hidden Language of Baseball,” “The Unwritten Rules of Baseball,” and “The Dickson Baseball Dictionary.” The author had published over 60 books before he got around to penning his first biography, “Bill Veeck: Baseball’s Greatest Maverick,” in 2012.
Dickson now shifts his biographical lens to another colorful character, Leo Durocher, one of the most famous and infamous baseball personalities of the mid-20th century. Unlike Bill Veeck — who was a beloved figure in places like St. Louis, Cleveland, and Chicago — Durocher was a polarizing character, a hard guy to like.
In “Leo Durocher — Baseball’s Prodigal Son,” we follow the career of a man who lived his life with gusto and at full speed. His lifestyle was extravagant. He experienced huge victories and crushing defeats. He made good friends and bitter enemies. He possessed extraordinary talents and irritating flaws.
Young Duroche rwasa gifted fielder. He played the shortstop position. He was working at a factory when one of his co-workers persuaded him to pursue a career in baseball. The New York Yankees took note. His rise to a starting position with that storied ball club was amazingly quick.
Durocher savore dthe high life of nightclubs, gambling and fancy clothes. He was spending more money than he was earnin g.One of his teammates was the legendary slugger Babe Ruth. The young rookie became Ruth’s roommate on road trips.
Ruth was maki ngastar’s salary. He began noticing thefts were taking place. Ruth marked some hundred dollar bills and used them as bait to lure the culprits. The next day he found the marked money and his watch in Durocher’s luggage.
Durocher didn’t last long with the Yankees. He soon found himself banished to the National League.
With the Brooklyn Dodgers Durocher began making the transition from star player to championship baseball manager. He could have been Jackie Robinson’s first major league manager during that historic yea r when Robinson broke through the major league’s color line. It wasn’t meant to be. Durocher became embroiled in scandal and was suspended for thatseason.
He went on to manage the New York Giants and became the mentor for another young st ar,t he dazzling Willie Mays. Anthony Doerr Ruth Ware Martha Hall Kelly (movie tie-in) Margot Lee Shetterly
Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney L. Ron Hubbard, et al. (movietie-in) Diane Ackerman Baldacci (movie tie-in) W. Bruce Cameron Megan Miranda
(movie tie-in) Wm. Paul Young Fredrik Backman David