T. J.: My 26 Years in Baseball

by Tommy John, Dan Valenti

The major league pitcher whose career began in the 1950s and continued into the 1980s discusses his encounters with the greats, from Mickey Mantle to Jose Canseco, and describes his comeback from a serious arm injury. Reprint.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Biography

372 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1991

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

As baseball season is coming this is an interesting book to grab. John, who is best known for the arm surgery that bears his name, played from 1963 to 1989. That alone is amazing. You don't need to be a Yankee fan to enjoy this book.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

T.J. lived down the street from my grandmother when he was in high school in Terre Haute. In the book, he credits my Uncle Arley with teaching him how to throw a curve ball.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tommy John is perhaps most remembered for the surgery named for him, but he had quite a big league career. In this book, John is pretty open about his experiences in the big leagues - he details his public spats with George Steinbrenner and the owner of the Angels that impacted his career. He is open about his views on some teammates, coaches, and managers. He is one of the few pitchers who does not sing the praises of Johnny Sain as a pitching coach - he doesn't think less of Sain, but his argument is that he worked best with a pitching coach with a different approach than the Sain approach. He weaves his Christian beliefs throughout the book.
John uses his story of trying the make the Yankees late in his career as a frame for the book - it's interesting, but I also felt that he belabored it when he kept going back to the story and kept hammering away at Dallas Green - for the record, John is not a fan.
John also talks about the near tragedy where his son fell out of a window but survived. The discussion of the famous surgery had interesting parts - John discussing the process of learning to pitch again - but I wish he would have discussed the surgery and recovery process more and had less focus on the, as long as there's one chance in a hundred, I'm in!
A nice baseball memoir that will have particular interest for fans of baseball in the 60's, 70's, and 80's.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book with some interesting insight about team chemistry from the many different teams with which Tommy John played. John details the games that did and did not go his way (the later without sounding bitter.) He finished his career just 12 games shy of 300 wins at the age of 46! As this book was published around 1991 it provided a nice refresher on the Steinbrenner years, particularly the scandal that led to his (likely self-selected) exit. Of personal note, this is the second book I've read where a player is effusive in their praise of Tommy Lasorda. It is easy to see why he was such a winner.

[Hanny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saved my life