Nice Guys Finish Last Paperback – Illustrated, September 15, 2009

Every year to start the season, I buy a book or two about our (former, it seems) national pastime. I almost didn't get this one due to a bad review I read in the afterword of one of my other baseball books...maybe The Natural, (which I really did not care for). On the contrary, this is one of the best I've ever read. It's like sitting on the front porch listening to Leo himself just reminiscing about his life and the game itself. Priceless.

I was always fascinated by the antics of Leo Durocher so when I saw this book listed I ordered it quickly. It was a good move on my part and for this reason. I always thought that when Leo said nice guys finish last that he meant you could not be a nice guy to players and get the best out of them. The book verifies that he was a great motivator of players. He wasn't such a nice guy to umpires and even baseball management. I had the same impression of Vince Lombardi in that he wasn't nice to his players. A book about him explains that too was not the case. When Lombardi died his former players flew in from around the country to pay their respects. I think both of these coaches understood the importance of a quote from Socrates. He said, "A life without confrontation is meaningless." These two great coaches understood how to criticize players in a way that the player accepted it and became better. I'm glad I read the book because it clearly clarifies the type of person Leo Durocher really was and not what the public thought it was. If you enjoy going behind the scenes into the lives of famous people then you will enjoy this book. I recommend it highly.Dr. Norman Jones author of Growing Up in Indiana: The Culture & Hoosier Hysteria Revisited.

Read this book years ago, lent it to a friend, never got it back. Wanted to read it again and that gave me an excuse to buy a Kindle too. It's a great baseball history from the point of view of one of baseball's greatest managers. Lots of anecdotes about many of baseball's greatest players, from Babe Ruth to Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays. Durocher knew them all.But the Kindle version is festoonated wit mAny Typos of a11 kindz. Amusing, at first, then annoying. Nobody looked at the text after the printed pages were scanned. After 50-60 pages, I started reporting typos to Amazon, but I quit when it became apparent that if I took the time to report every one of them I might never finish reading the book. But... for an inside look at baseball the way it was when most players earned $30K or less, this book is for you.

Over a third of a century has passed since Leo Durocher's book was first published in 1975 soon after he retired from baseball. This new edition offers an opportunity to relive the life of Leo The Lip for those of us old enough to remember him and a chance for later day baseball fans to get to know one of the game's most influential managers.I began following baseball in 1951, the year Durocher's New York Giants stormed from 13 1/2 games out to force the playoff with the Brooklyn Dodgers for the National League pennant in which Bobby Thomson settled it with the shot heard round the world. It also was the year Willie Mays broke into the major leagues and Durocher stood by him when he struggled to live up to expectations. Durocher already had more than a quarter of a century in baseball before I walked in. This book provided me with a good look at his early life, his career as an ordinary player whose never quit style compensated for his lack of talent, and the great years as the manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, a team he took from chronic loser status to one of baseball's most successful franchises before moving north of the Brooklyn Bridge.I contend Leo really was a nice guy because it is clear he recognized Mays' greatness and his need for a mentor like Leo to bring out the stardom in him. He also was a nice guy because he told the truth even when it hurt like when he made it clear to Giants brass that the team wasn't nearly as great as they thought it was. They chose to ignore him and went rapidly downhill after the wonderful 1954 World Series where they swept the heavily favored Cleveland Indians.Durocher stood up to two commissioners and he details his experiences with them here. Leo recognized that Happy Chandler was a buffoon unfit to be baseball's czar and he writes about their differences. Then there was the time Leo and his wife double teamed Bowie Kuhn and challenged efforts to set Durocher up. Bet Bowie never issued another breakfast invitation to Lynne Walker Goldblatt Durocher!This is a well written, easy reading story. If you don't read it you'll finish last whether of not you're a nice guy.

Being a die hard baseball fan who came of age far after Leo Durocher's years in the majors, I didn't know what to expect from the book. However, it kept me entertained for every part except the last couple of chapters. His life and times in baseball covered some of the most interesting characters and events one man could've hoped to experience: ranging from playing with Babe Ruth, Louh Gehrig, the Gas House Gang, managing the Dodgers, managing Jackie Robinson, managing the Giants during Bobby Thomson's famed home run, managing Willie Mays to so many other events. This man truly had an entertaining ride through his baseball career. I do echo another commenter who said having prior baseball historical knowledge would help your enjoyment of the book. I thoroughly enjoyed the chapters that covered persons or events that I was familiar with, but some that have lost significance over time (culturally speaking) were not as easily accessible to me. Causing me to enjoy those portions less.My only critique is the last couple of chapters devolve into the rantings of any old person crying about how things used to be so much better back in his day. He complains about overpaid athletes, poor umpiring, Marvin Miller, etc. I felt like the only thing that had to be added in was him yelling at kids to get off his lawn.However, regardless of that critique, the first 400 or so odd pages of the book are great. I recommend this highly.

I like the fact that baseball was entirely different in to past.

Jumps all over the place. Didn't even bother finishing the back half of the book,