Yankees, Typewriters, Scandals and Cooperstown: A Baseball Memoir

Summary

This freewheeling memoir of baseball, journalism, and New York spans more than 50 years of America’s pastime. With verve and candor, Hall of Fame scribe and bestselling author Bill Madden reflects on five decades of triumphs, misadventures, and unforgettable characters. As a New York Yankees beat writer for the New York Daily News, he got closer than anyone to George Steinbrenner, leading to a roller-coaster relationship with The Boss. He helped launch Donruss baseball cards, broke news of the steroids scandal, and informed New York Mets icon Tom Seaver he was once again going to have to leave New York because of a colossal blunder on the Mets’ part, leading to a longtime friendship with Tom Terrific.

Winner of the Hall of Fame’s J.G. Taylor Spink Award, Madden shares revealing and amusing behind-the-scenes stories of those enshrined legends, including Tommy Lasorda and Ted Williams arguing about pitchers and hitters, Johnny Bench singing Western songs, Kirby Puckett impersonating Louis Armstrong, Paul Molitor giving a rousing rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s hits, and Stan Musial smiling while playing the harmonica. Madden even rode shotgun to Cooperstown, New York, as Joe DiMaggio regaled him with anecdotes from his playing days in the ’30s and ’40s before the Yankee clipper and Yankee reporter stopped at a Dairy Queen.

Madden has covered dozens of World Series and has written about countless hirings, firings, superstars, and scandals. That Hall of Fame career is detailed in this clear-eyed memoir. From Jackie Robinson to Aaron Judge, from newsrooms filled with hundreds of teletype machines droning like an army of cicadas to the sleek yet ruthless digital age, keen baseball fans will devour these tales against the backdrop of a rapidly changing media and cultural landscape.

“Bill Madden has long been one of the most respected and trusted baseball writers in America. This book of his 50 years covering the game is one terrific read!”—Lou Piniella, Three-time MLB Manager of the Year