Behind The Book

Norman Ollestad: Crazy for the Storm

I've heard it said that for each one of us there is an event in our past which has made us the people we are.  Perhaps a teacher believed in you when no one else in your life saw your potential, maybe your parents were divorced when you were six, or maybe you scored a touchdown to win the Homecoming game in high school.  While this moment might be the headline story of your life, if pressed you'd probably admit that it wasn't the pep talk or the divorce or the touchdown that changed your life, but the way that you responded to that situation.  So it would seem that the big moment doesn't really define us, rather it gives us an opportunity to define ourselves.    

As proof of this, I offer Norman Ollestad's book, Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival, released in paperback earlier this month by Ecco Press.  At the age of eleven Ollestad was the only survivor of a plane crash that took the life of his father, but this memoir is about much more than that.  While the crash is obviously a pivotal moment in Ollestad's life story (click here for the original television news report on the crash), it's clear that it is just a moment.  In his memoir Ollestad explores his childhood growing up on Topanga Beach, the lessons he learned from his father, his relationship with his mother's boyfriend, and --most interestingly -- his emotional and psychological recovery from the plane crash.

Norman was kind enough to sit down with me and talk about his book, his journey, his theories on parenting, and lots more.  Enjoy...

Mike Vaccaro: The First Fall Classic

 People talk about the electricity of a heavyweight title bout, the spectacle of the Super Bowl, or the madness of the NCAA basketball tournament, but for my money there is no greater championship than baseball’s World Series. In those years when we’re lucky enough to see the game’s two best teams engaged in a closely fought series, we witness a battle which stretches out over more than a week as the Series lives and breathes with context and texture unmatched by any other sport’s championship. Because of this, the greatest of these Series live etched in our memory, and even those which were merely good become the subjects of books.

We all remember the ecstasy and the agony (not to mention the Mystique and Aura) of the 2001 World Series; we know the significance of Burt Hooton, Elias Sosa, and Charlie Hough; we’ve mimicked Carlton Fisk’s frantic waving from 1975; and we’ve seen the grainy newsreel footage of Mazeroski’s clinching home run in 1960. Because we are fans of the Game, we feel like we know all there is to know – or at least all we’re supposed to know.

But what if we don’t? Enter Mike Vaccaro and his latest book, The First Fall Classic: The Red Sox, the Giants and the Cast of Players, Pugs and Politicos Who Re-Invented the World Series in 1912, an engaging look at a World Series you’ve never heard of. As he describes the Hall of Fame players and personalities on both sides, as well as politicians and gamblers lurking on the sidelines, Vaccaro argues that this was the series that gave the World Series its place in our national psyche. He was kind enough to talk with me about it for a bit recently. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did. 

(Note: As I opened the book, I had no idea of how the Series eventually turned out, and I enjoyed this added suspense. In order to preserve this for any readers who might like a similar experience, the author and I did not discuss the outcome. Where indicated, some of the links will give the result.  This interview originally appeared at BronxBanterBlog.com.)

Arnold Hano: A Career Retrospective

 You don’t know Arnold Hano. How could you? You live in a world of bullet points and exclamation points, a place where sports writers aspire either to the pomposity of ESPN’s Sports Reporters or to the cacophony of Around the Horn. Where once a journalist would worry about supporting an argument with keen observations or weighty statistics, all that seems necessary now is a good set of lungs to shout down dissenting opinions.

Arnold Hano is more than this. If you do know him, you’ve probably read A Day In The Bleachers, Hano’s account of the first game of the 1954 World Series, or you might’ve read some of the pieces he wrote for Sport Magazine or Sports Illustrated over the ensuing thirty years. If you’re a television watcher, you might have come across some of his profiles in TV Guide, and if you’re a fan of pulp fiction, you’ve undoubtedly read one of his dime store novels.

I was able to learn all this about Mr. Hano before I met him this past February. In some ways, he was exactly what you would expect from an eighty-six year-old man. He was direct, and to the point, and didn’t bother with unnecessary chitchat. We spoke on the phone twice, and when I asked if he’d consent to an interview, he started out by interviewing me. He asked about my interest and questioned my intentions. He wasn’t suspicious, he was just wondering why I wanted to talk to him and if I would be worth his time. Even when we finally agreed on a date, he offered to give me thirty minutes or so, with an option for more “depending upon my ability.” We ended up talking for close to two hours, the greatest compliment he could’ve given me.

Mr. Hano and his wife live in the tiny town of Laguna Beach, a city best known for its art scene and a television series on MTV. I walked up the steps to the house on a crisp Sunday morning and was greeted by Mrs. Hano, who led me into a small study, one wall of which was packed with books from floor to ceiling. In the corner sat a small, thirteen-inch television set. Mr. Hano pointed towards it, saying, “You can see that we read a lot more than we watch television.” And with that, we were off. 

(This interview originally appeared at BronxBanterBlog.com.)

Jeff Pearlman: The Rocket That Fell to Earth

For Yankee fans, Roger Clemens is a difficult case — even before all his recent steroid trouble. If you’re of my generation, you grew up despising him. Even though he pitched for Boston during an era when we all knew the Red Sox would never win anything, he was still a fearsome enemy. He was the gunslinger who stole your girlfriend before shooting the sheriff right between the eyes on his way out of town. There was some pleasure to be had when his skills began to decline during his twilight years in Boston, but it wasn’t too much of a surprise when he became great again — if irrelevant — during his time in Toronto. And when he came to New York in 1999, if all wasn’t forgotten, at least it was put aside. First of all, the Yanks were adding the best pitcher in the game; second, they were twisting the knife in the heart of Red Sox Nation. It was a win-win.

Roger helped the Yankees to a couple more championships, won his 300th game, endeared himself to the Boss and legions of fans, and said all the right things about wearing a Yankee cap into the Hall of Fame. But then came the defection to Houston, the self-serving Stadium announcement of his return to New York, and, finally, the steroid allegations. There was an embarrassment that we had once embraced him, and the ashes in our mouths were there to remind us that we had gotten exactly what we deserved.

But there is more to Roger Clemens. Sure, he cut corners, but he also worked harder than any of his teammates. Yes, he is hopelessly selfish and egotistical, but he’d be the first player to volunteer for visits to children’s hospitals. Whether you loved him once or never at all, whether you think he deserves a plaque in Cooperstown or a spot in Dante’s Ninth Circle of Hell, you have to admit that Roger Clemens matters. In Jeff Pearlman’s latest book, The Rocket That Fell to Earth: Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality , he does his typically thorough job of cutting through the Roger Clemens mythology and getting to the heart of the man who was once considered one of the five greatest pitchers of all time. A few weeks ago Jeff was generous enough to spend part of his morning talking with me about the book, the steroid era, and a few other topics. Enjoy…

(This interview originally appeared at BronxBanterBlog.com.)

Bob Smiley: Follow the Roar

Imagine that it’s the spring of, say 1931, and you’re starting to think that Babe Ruth just might end up being one of the best players ever to grip a bat. The recent downturn in the economy has left you without a job, so you figure, hey, why not spend the year following the Babe – every game, every at bat, every swing. You drive to places like Boston and Philadelphia, take the train to Washington, and ride busses to Detroit and Chicago. Along the way, you make friends in the bleachers in Cleveland, catch a series with a cousin in St. Louis, and sleep on couches in all corners of the American League. Your bank account feels the bite of your mission, your wife and children become strangers, and close friends question your sanity, but somehow it’s still worth it. I mean, this is Babe Ruth we’re talking about, right? If you could, you’d go back in time and do it in a heartbeat, wouldn’t you?

Now flash forward to 2008 and the Babe Ruth of this generation, Tiger Woods. Writer Bob Smiley shadowed Tiger for every swing of every hole of every tournament in places like San Diego, Augusta, and Dubai, and the result is an extremely engaging book, Follow the Roar: Tailing Tiger for All 604 Holes of His Most Spectacular Season. Last week Bob was kind enough to spend some time talking about his journey. Check it out… 

(This interview originally appeared at BronxBanterBlog.com.)

Jeff Pearlman: Boys Will Be Boys

 I can pinpoint the exact date when I became a Dallas Cowboys fan. On January 15, 1978, I was a young boy living in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, but without any attachment to the Lions when my Aunt Hazel and Uncle Tommy came over to watch Super Bowl XII between the Cowboys and the Denver Broncos. Uncle Tommy had bet money on the Broncos, so each time the Cowboys scored his face would twist into a painful grimace. Since I was an eight-year-old smart aleck, I thought it was hilarious and soon found myself quite naturally rooting for the Cowboys and against my uncle. When Dallas scored its final points, putting the game out of reach for the Broncos, Uncle Tommy actually slid off the couch in disgust, making me laugh out loud until my mother shushed me. My uncle passed away only a few years later, so that night remains my strongest memory of him. I’ll never know how much money he lost that night, but I gained a team.

Perhaps because I took pleasure in my uncle’s pain, the Cowboys rewarded me with a string of painful losses: to the Steelers a year later in Supe XIII (thank you, Jackie Smith); to Montana and Clark; to Riggins and the Hogs. Soon enough they descended into mediocrity and irrelevance, until Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson came to the rescue and rebuilt the franchise.

Any football fan can tell you what happened next. Jerry and Jimmy turned the team upside down, traded Herschel Walker, drafted Aikman and Emmitt, and started winning Super Bowls. Author Jeff Pearlman starts with what we know and goes deeper, talking to everyone who had anything to do with the team during that era, ranging from the players and coaches to the reporters who covered them to the women who slept with them. The result is Boys Will Be Boys: The Glory Days and Party Nights of the Dallas Cowboys Dynasty, a revealing and engaging look at one of the greatest teams in NFL history. Recently Jeff was kind enough to talk with me about the book. Enjoy. 

(This interview originally appeared at BronxBanterBlog.com.)

Harvey Frommer: Remembering Yankee Stadium

 From the moment the Yankees broke ground on the new Stadium across the street from the old, an entire industry has been growing around the public’s need to remember the house that Ruth built. Already you can buy vials of dirt, limited edition lithographs, and pictures with facsimile autographs, and I’m certain that in the months to come we’ll be offered bricks, rivets, and splinters from the bleachers, assuming we’re willing to take out a second mortgage in order to pay for it all. One of the finest products out there, though, is a visually stunning book by Harvey Frommer, Remembering Yankee Stadium: An Oral and Narrative History of "The House That Ruth Built" . Filled with beautiful photographs that span the Stadium’s history, the book tells the story of the past eighty-five years one decade at a time, relying heavily on the voices of the players, writers, and fans who took the field, reported from the press box, and walked through the turnstiles each afternoon from April to October. Last week the author was kind enough to chat with me about the book. Enjoy…

(This interview originally appeared at BronxBanterBlog.com.) 

Richard Bradley: The Greatest Game

 It is certainly the most famous game from the most famous rivalry in baseball history. Any sports fan can tell you that Bucky Dent earned a "special" middle name when he launched an improbable home run on a crisp October afternoon in Boston, and most would also tell you that the story ended with more sorrow for the Red Sox and another World Series championship for the Yankees. Richard Bradley's recent book, The Greatest Game, not only tells the story we know but also digs beneath the service to give us what we don't. (Click here for an excerpt.) Bradley interviewed dozens of players, coaches, and other personnel connected with both teams in order to give a complete picture of the game and all that led up to it.

He reminds us that although the Yankees made an historic comeback, the Red Sox (who won ninety-nine games, afterall) didn't collapse. We meet Bob Lemon, the mild baseball lifer who replaced Billy Martin, the volatile alcoholic who nearly piloted a championship team into the ground. And, of course, we're reintroduced to George Steinbrenner when he was at the peak of his manipulative powers, nothing like the mild patriarch (relatively speaking, at least) that he's become today.

Perhaps most interesting, though, are the players. Bradley intertwines two separate narratives throughout the length of the book, one following the season from spring training to its eventual conclusion, the other detailing each at bat of the playoff game. As he tells these two stories, Bradley includes brief biographical sketches of the key players on both sides. We read about Reggie Jackson's struggles with Martin's caustic, dictatorial style, and Carl Yastrzemski's desperate search for a championship. Jim Rice's MVP season is balanced nicely against Ron Guidry's Cy Young campaign. Most compellingly, Carlton Fisk's polished athleticism stands as a stark contrast against Thurman Munson's scruffy competitiveness.

The Red Sox and the Yankees, it seems, could not have been more different in 1978, and so it makes perfect sense that these two opposites would have come together to produce one of the most memorable games of the past half century. Bradley's book captures the rivalry, the season, and the game perfectly. It appeals to fans of both teams, as well as baseball fans in general, and whether they were born after the game was played or were sitting in the stands that afternoon, readers will revel in the details Bradley uncovers.

Recently Bradley was generous enough to spend part of his morning talking with me about his book. Check it out...

Pat Jordan: The Best Sports Writing of Pat Jordan

A friend of mine introduced me to the writing of Pat Jordan. As a sports fan and avid reader of Sports Illustrated, I'm sure I had read his stuff before without being aware, as he wrote at SI for years in the seventies and early eighties. But after diving into a newly published collection of some of his best work, The Best Sports Writing of Pat Jordan , I couldn't imagine it had taken me so long to find him. Jordan's style is reminiscent of an older generation of journalism. Most journalists today seem intent on using their writing to set bonfires which will further illuminate their own pseudo celebrity. Jordan, however, steers clear of the easy targets and the pieces which fall from the sky already written. Instead, he delves deep into his subjects and produces profiles which, to paraphrase him, give a better picture of his subject that the reader will ever get anywhere else. He succeeds.

Recently Pat was kind enough to spend part of his morning talking to me about a host of subjects including his failed baseball career, an early interview with Roger Clemens, his experience with Ricky Williams, the controversial running back, and lots of other stuff. It's a long and winding road -- enjoy!

Jayson Stark: The Stark Truth

You probably know Jayson Stark from his writing at ESPN.com or his frequent appearances on Baseball Tonight. Recently he found time to write a book, The Stark Truth: The Most Overrated and Underrated Players in Baseball History . Stark's book is essentially an organized listing of the conversation which occurs in bleachers and barrooms on a nightly basis: which players aren't really as good as most people think? Which players are secretly much better than advertised? Some of the names aren't too surprizing (everyone knows Juan Pierre is overrated), but others are shocking (how can Babe Ruth be underrated?). Stark hits every position on the field, always maintaining the sense of humor which will be familiar to frequent readers of his work. Last Friday morning Jayson took the time to talk to me about the book and a few other issues.