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Nice Guys Finish Last
“I believe in rules. Sure I do. If there weren't any rules, how could you break them?”The history of baseball is rife with colorful characters. But for sheer cantankerousness, fighting moxie, and will to win, very few have come close to Leo “the Lip” Durocher. Following a five-decade career as a player and manager for baseball’s most storied franchises, Durocher teamed up with veteran sportswriter Ed Linn to tell the story of his life in the game. The resulting book, Nice Guys Finish Last, is baseball at its best, brimming with personality and full of all the fights and feuds, triumphs and tricks that made Durocher such a success—and an outsized celebrity.Durocher began his career inauspiciously, riding the bench for the powerhouse 1928 Yankees and hitting so poorly that Babe Ruth nicknamed him “the All-American Out.” But soon Durocher hit his traded to St. Louis, he found his headlong play and never-say-die attitude a perfect fit with the rambunctious “Gashouse Gang” Cardinals. In 1939, he was named player-manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers—and almost instantly transformed the underachieving Bums into perennial contenders. He went on to manage the New York Giants, sharing the glory of one of the most famous moments in baseball history, Bobby Thomson’s “shot heard ’round the world,” which won the Giants the 1951 pennant. Durocher would later learn how it felt to be on the other side of such an unforgettable moment, as his 1969 Cubs, after holding first place for 105 days, blew a seemingly insurmountable 8-1/2-game lead to the Miracle Mets.All the while, Durocher made as much noise off the field as on it. His perpetual feuds with players, owners, and league officials—not to mention his public associations with gamblers, riffraff, and Hollywood stars like George Raft and Larraine Day—kept his name in the headlines and spread his fame far beyond the confines of the diamond.A no-holds-barred account of a singular figure, Nice Guys Finish Last brings the personalities and play-by-play of baseball’s greatest era to vivid life, earning a place on every baseball fan’s bookshelf.
449 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 9, 1975
49 people are currently reading
302 people want to read
About the author
Leo Durocher
9 books1 followerLeo Ernest Durocher (French spelling Léo Ernest Durocher) (/dəˈroʊ.ʃər/; July 27, 1905 – October 7, 1991), nicknamed "Leo the Lip" and "Lippy", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as an infielder. Upon his retirement, he ranked fifth all-time among managers with 2,008 career victories, second only to John McGraw in National League history. Durocher still ranks twelfth in career wins by a manager. A controversial and outspoken character, Durocher's half-century in baseball was dogged by clashes with authority, the baseball commissioner, the press, and umpires; his 100 career ejections as a manager trailed only McGraw when he retired, and he still ranks third on the all-time list.[1] He won three National League pennants and one world championship.
Durocher was posthumously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.
-Wikipedia
Durocher was posthumously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.
-Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
March 8, 2020
Leo Durocher’s Nice Guys Finish Last made my list of baseball's best memoirs. Major league baseball from the Twenties through the Fifties boasted a captivating array of distinctive personalities – and Leo knew them all. Baseball’s characters included Babe Ruth, Frankie Frisch, Bill Klem, Fatty Fothergill, Branch Rickey, Dusty Rhodes and, of course, Leo himself. Leo’s baseball life was a history of the sport in the 20th century. He played with Ruth and Gehrig on the legendary New York Yankees teams of the Twenties, fielded grounders alongside Dizzy Dean and Ducky Medwick with “Gas House Gang” in St. Louis in 1934, conducted the celebrated Mess Hall Meeting in Panama that squelched the incipient player protest against Jackie Robinson joining the Brooklyn Dodgers, mentored Willie Mays to a career of baseball glory – and guided two different teams to National League pennants and one World Championship. While sometimes clichéd and often self-serving, “Leo the Lip’s” memoir has to be considered a model of the genre. Just the story of Van Lingle Mungo in Havana makes the whole book worthwhile.
May 31, 2017
This is one of the most entertaining autobiographies of a celebrity I have ever read. It's no wonder. The man played all-star shortstop, was a teammate of Babe Ruth(undoubtedly stole his watch), learned his craft from Miller Huggins, was a player manager for one of the most exciting teams of all times; namely the St. Louis Cardinals Gas House Gang, hung out and lived with George Raft, married a movie star, was close friends with Frank Sinatra, and managed a World Series team as well as won three pennants. The chapter on the Gas House Gang is hilarious, but there are plenty of stories about Van Lingle Mungo, Boots Poffenberger, Hugh Casey, Joe Medwick, Pepper Martin, Milt Pappas, Ron Santo, Babe Ruth's stolen watch, and the modern day ball player to entertain even a non baseball reader.
I was struck by Leo's ability to self criticize and admit certain personality traits-a hatred for losing(he'd have tripped his mother rounding second if need be). On the other hand I believe he down played his gambling problems and perhaps even his associations with known gamblers. I do, however, agree that he got a bum rap from Happy Chandler in 1947 for that one year suspension.
I found the 1941 pennant race and the club house rebellion of that same year to be fascinating, but so was the chapter on the 51 race. I had read quite a bit about Mays and Irvin but that's always good reading. Each chapter is special and it's written in a conversational tone so you think you are listening to an audio tape with Durocher. He was "The Lip" but you get to understand his motivational style. He would be an anachronism today-a dodo bird. In fact by 1969 he had already become extinct even by his own admission. He retired after the 75 season with the Astros because he couldn't grasp or contend with the modern day player and the gains made by the players' union. In fact, it's a wonder any manager can maintain control of a team when players make 25 times as much as the manager and there is little that Leo or today's manager can do to have leverage over them. Durocher was a real character, beloved by some of his players and owners, but reviled by many as well. Still, he is a Hall of Famer so he must have done something right even if it took him until 1996(well after his death) to be enshrined.
I was struck by Leo's ability to self criticize and admit certain personality traits-a hatred for losing(he'd have tripped his mother rounding second if need be). On the other hand I believe he down played his gambling problems and perhaps even his associations with known gamblers. I do, however, agree that he got a bum rap from Happy Chandler in 1947 for that one year suspension.
I found the 1941 pennant race and the club house rebellion of that same year to be fascinating, but so was the chapter on the 51 race. I had read quite a bit about Mays and Irvin but that's always good reading. Each chapter is special and it's written in a conversational tone so you think you are listening to an audio tape with Durocher. He was "The Lip" but you get to understand his motivational style. He would be an anachronism today-a dodo bird. In fact by 1969 he had already become extinct even by his own admission. He retired after the 75 season with the Astros because he couldn't grasp or contend with the modern day player and the gains made by the players' union. In fact, it's a wonder any manager can maintain control of a team when players make 25 times as much as the manager and there is little that Leo or today's manager can do to have leverage over them. Durocher was a real character, beloved by some of his players and owners, but reviled by many as well. Still, he is a Hall of Famer so he must have done something right even if it took him until 1996(well after his death) to be enshrined.
April 16, 2017
This is as good as any baseball autobiography I can remember. Durocher played with Babe Ruth in the 1920s and managed Cesar Cedeno in the 1970s and did a lot of other interesting things in the 50 years in between. The book's conversational style makes it a very easy 400 pages to read. I can imagine Durocher told these stories to co-author, Ed Linn, and Linn kept the voice in tact. It doesn't at all have the feeling of Linn's book on Ted Williams. That is just a straight biography. This is a conversation that Durocher is having with you at the airport bar. It may not have the frankness of Ball Four, but you have to give credit when a baseball manager is willing to be honest about his own faults like Durocher is here. He doesn't spare others along the way. His description of Lee McPhail makes McPhail seem like a head case and yet Durocher never really loses affection for him. He both reveres Branch Rickey and also shows that Rickey had his own faults despite the general consensus. His favorite owner was Phillip Wrigley, a man of generosity and integrity.
What's great about the book is that I knew next to nothing about the 1940s Brooklyn Dodgers, the 1950s New York Giants, and 1960s Chicago Cubs, the 3 important clubs that Durocher managed during his career. That gave him the chance to manage a very young Willie Mays and very old Ernie Banks. There is also some good stuff here about Pete Reiser, a great player that injured himself out of a hall of fame career.
He also does his share of name dropping. He was an off-season house guest of Hollywood actor, George Raft, married to actress Laraine Day, and often hob nobbing with Sinatra, Danny Kaye, and Spencer Tracy. And yet he doesn't have much of anything to say about his television career except that he worked for NBC between baseball jobs.
There is a bit in the early 1970s about his run in with Marvin Miller, the head of the players union. Sportswriters have come to lionize Miller these days demanding his induction into the hall of fame. Durocher can't stand him. He sees Miller as a master manipulator and trouble maker. This is even before Miller led the 1981 baseball strike that ruined my summer vacation. Leo's description here seems dead on, like with most of his observations.
Leo came up during the time of player-managers, a rarity in this day and age. I remember Pete Rose did that in the 1980s. Has anyone done that since? He saw the changes coming in the 1970s where the players were going to make so much money they would become unmanageable. He felt this with the Houston Astros in 1973, especially with Jerry Reuss and Cesar Cedeno. I wish he had written just an article about baseball in the 1980s to bring his thoughts up to date.
Baseball isn't the same business today that it was generations ago, but it's thankfully the same game. It's a game that Leo understood and he left his thoughts in a book that is every bit as good as Boys of Summer or Bronx Zoo. It's worth the time of any baseball fan.
What's great about the book is that I knew next to nothing about the 1940s Brooklyn Dodgers, the 1950s New York Giants, and 1960s Chicago Cubs, the 3 important clubs that Durocher managed during his career. That gave him the chance to manage a very young Willie Mays and very old Ernie Banks. There is also some good stuff here about Pete Reiser, a great player that injured himself out of a hall of fame career.
He also does his share of name dropping. He was an off-season house guest of Hollywood actor, George Raft, married to actress Laraine Day, and often hob nobbing with Sinatra, Danny Kaye, and Spencer Tracy. And yet he doesn't have much of anything to say about his television career except that he worked for NBC between baseball jobs.
There is a bit in the early 1970s about his run in with Marvin Miller, the head of the players union. Sportswriters have come to lionize Miller these days demanding his induction into the hall of fame. Durocher can't stand him. He sees Miller as a master manipulator and trouble maker. This is even before Miller led the 1981 baseball strike that ruined my summer vacation. Leo's description here seems dead on, like with most of his observations.
Leo came up during the time of player-managers, a rarity in this day and age. I remember Pete Rose did that in the 1980s. Has anyone done that since? He saw the changes coming in the 1970s where the players were going to make so much money they would become unmanageable. He felt this with the Houston Astros in 1973, especially with Jerry Reuss and Cesar Cedeno. I wish he had written just an article about baseball in the 1980s to bring his thoughts up to date.
Baseball isn't the same business today that it was generations ago, but it's thankfully the same game. It's a game that Leo understood and he left his thoughts in a book that is every bit as good as Boys of Summer or Bronx Zoo. It's worth the time of any baseball fan.
January 12, 2019
A great biography about a great manager, this has some wonderful, funny stories of Leo's 48 years in baseball.
November 17, 2013
This is probably the greatest non-fiction baseball book ever written. Durocher, was, as the back of the book indicates, a key component of several of baseball's most iconic moments: the 1927 Yankees, Babe Ruth's called shot, the Gashouse Gang, Jackie Robinson, The Shot Heard Round the World . . .
Every story he tells is told with character and verve. Durocher earns the reader's sympathy while holding himself out as an antihero. Linn does a fantastic job with style. There's a limit to how different anyone can seem while telling a story in English before there has to be a translation. Here, it really feels like Durocher has a very unique and consistent voice unlike most of those in literature.
The only possible downsides are (1) you probably need to know a little something about baseball in the era covered to follow it and (2) by the end, Durocher is kind of a broken and beaten man who no longer can command the respect he thinks he deserves, but he is unwilling and unable to admit it. So the last two or three chapters are a little discordant. Also, at the end of the day, the book may be whitewashing Durocher. But he wrote the book, he gets the sympathy.
Every story he tells is told with character and verve. Durocher earns the reader's sympathy while holding himself out as an antihero. Linn does a fantastic job with style. There's a limit to how different anyone can seem while telling a story in English before there has to be a translation. Here, it really feels like Durocher has a very unique and consistent voice unlike most of those in literature.
The only possible downsides are (1) you probably need to know a little something about baseball in the era covered to follow it and (2) by the end, Durocher is kind of a broken and beaten man who no longer can command the respect he thinks he deserves, but he is unwilling and unable to admit it. So the last two or three chapters are a little discordant. Also, at the end of the day, the book may be whitewashing Durocher. But he wrote the book, he gets the sympathy.
August 17, 2019
Leo Durocher who certainly left his mark on baseball, especially baseball as played in New York City
together with sportswriter Ed Linn writes a rollicking set of memoirs where the real pugnacious
Durocher comes through. Not blessed with any hitting talent, he known as the All American out,
Durocher was a slick fielding shortstop and sparkplug of two World Series winners. The 1928 Yankees
and the 1934 St.Louis Cardinals, the Gashouse Gang.
We learn here that his real inspiration came from Yankee manager Miller Huggins, another good
fielding shortstop and a short man barely 130 pounds. Huggins told Leo to develop that pugnaciousness and never back down. And to study the game thoroughly and master its strategies.
We only survive in this game if we can outthink the opposition.
It was how Leo played and thrived and he took that attitude to the Brooklyn Dodgers the first team
he managed. Managed them to a pennant in 1941 their first in 21 years. They lost to the Yankees
in five games though.
Durocher stayed with the Dodgers through to 1946 and the Dodgers changed management at that
time. Larry MacPhail who hired him gave way to Branch Rickey. Leo had some interesting tales to
tell on both of them, two more different personalities you will not find.
Before the 1947 season began Durocher got suspended for a year when allegations of association
with gamblers surfaced. He was lucky Judge Landis was not still commissioner otherwise he would
have been banned. New commissioner Albert H. Chandler did the suspending. Durocher returned
to the Dodgers in 1948.
It wasn't to last long as Durocher switched teams getting an offer to manage the New York Giants
from owner Horace Stoneham. In his tenure there Durocher won two pennants in 1951 and 1954
and reached the height of his career winning the World Series over the favored Cleveland Indians
four straight. You'll enjoy his stories of pinch hitter extraordinaire Dusty Rhodes here. And of his
special relationship with Willie Mays.
Leo had trouble getting baseball employment for awhile. He was a coach for the Los Angeles
Dodgers with Walt Alston for a bit, a situation tenuous for both men.
Durocher's final managing jobs were with the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros. By this time it
was a different game altogether with the players having a strong union now. Lots like Leo Durocher couldn't adjust.
This is for any baseball fan out there, you won't be able to put this down.
He got his last job with
together with sportswriter Ed Linn writes a rollicking set of memoirs where the real pugnacious
Durocher comes through. Not blessed with any hitting talent, he known as the All American out,
Durocher was a slick fielding shortstop and sparkplug of two World Series winners. The 1928 Yankees
and the 1934 St.Louis Cardinals, the Gashouse Gang.
We learn here that his real inspiration came from Yankee manager Miller Huggins, another good
fielding shortstop and a short man barely 130 pounds. Huggins told Leo to develop that pugnaciousness and never back down. And to study the game thoroughly and master its strategies.
We only survive in this game if we can outthink the opposition.
It was how Leo played and thrived and he took that attitude to the Brooklyn Dodgers the first team
he managed. Managed them to a pennant in 1941 their first in 21 years. They lost to the Yankees
in five games though.
Durocher stayed with the Dodgers through to 1946 and the Dodgers changed management at that
time. Larry MacPhail who hired him gave way to Branch Rickey. Leo had some interesting tales to
tell on both of them, two more different personalities you will not find.
Before the 1947 season began Durocher got suspended for a year when allegations of association
with gamblers surfaced. He was lucky Judge Landis was not still commissioner otherwise he would
have been banned. New commissioner Albert H. Chandler did the suspending. Durocher returned
to the Dodgers in 1948.
It wasn't to last long as Durocher switched teams getting an offer to manage the New York Giants
from owner Horace Stoneham. In his tenure there Durocher won two pennants in 1951 and 1954
and reached the height of his career winning the World Series over the favored Cleveland Indians
four straight. You'll enjoy his stories of pinch hitter extraordinaire Dusty Rhodes here. And of his
special relationship with Willie Mays.
Leo had trouble getting baseball employment for awhile. He was a coach for the Los Angeles
Dodgers with Walt Alston for a bit, a situation tenuous for both men.
Durocher's final managing jobs were with the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros. By this time it
was a different game altogether with the players having a strong union now. Lots like Leo Durocher couldn't adjust.
This is for any baseball fan out there, you won't be able to put this down.
He got his last job with
April 21, 2024
Leo Durocher began his careers as a late season callup on the '27 Yankees. and ended it managing the Houston Astros. He is the only person to play with Murderer's Row and the Gas House gang. A team mate with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Dizzy Dean. He was the first major league manager of Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays. Along the way he married a movie star and became friends with Frank Sinatra.
But this book was a chore to read. It's heavy on anecdotes and very light on self-reflection. The first half of the book plays up his rebellious attitude and all the rules he broke. The second half is a bitter denunciation of the modern players who don't listen to their managers and make too much money for their own good. He goes so far as to write an entire chapter about how he tried to undermine Marvin Miller as he did the important work of building the baseball player's association into a viable union that would eventually turn playing baseball into an extremely lucrative vocation.
The really comical part of the biography is Leo's childlike explanations for his suspension from baseball in 1947 for associating with gamblers and a second investigation into his shady associations more than 20 years later. He really would have us believe that he was completely innocent both times but his account of the incidents have all the believability of a teenager who is high as a kite and trying to convince his parents that he doesn't touch the stuff.
There is almost no mention of his personal life or families. He talks a little about step children but I don't think he ever mentions having a daughter, because I just learned he does from Wikipedia. The book is dedicated to his parents but they are not mentioned apart from some anodyne stories about his child hood.
Leo puts down star players as spoiled for making 65K a year in 1973. That is 475K in 2024 dollars. The major league minimum salary in 2024 is $740K. Thank you, Mr. Miller.
I did learn one interesting bit of trivia. Durocher grew up in a Francophone neighborhood in Springfield, Massachusetts. He didn't speak a work of English until he started kindergarten and until entering baseball he pronounced his last name Du-row-shay.
But this book was a chore to read. It's heavy on anecdotes and very light on self-reflection. The first half of the book plays up his rebellious attitude and all the rules he broke. The second half is a bitter denunciation of the modern players who don't listen to their managers and make too much money for their own good. He goes so far as to write an entire chapter about how he tried to undermine Marvin Miller as he did the important work of building the baseball player's association into a viable union that would eventually turn playing baseball into an extremely lucrative vocation.
The really comical part of the biography is Leo's childlike explanations for his suspension from baseball in 1947 for associating with gamblers and a second investigation into his shady associations more than 20 years later. He really would have us believe that he was completely innocent both times but his account of the incidents have all the believability of a teenager who is high as a kite and trying to convince his parents that he doesn't touch the stuff.
There is almost no mention of his personal life or families. He talks a little about step children but I don't think he ever mentions having a daughter, because I just learned he does from Wikipedia. The book is dedicated to his parents but they are not mentioned apart from some anodyne stories about his child hood.
Leo puts down star players as spoiled for making 65K a year in 1973. That is 475K in 2024 dollars. The major league minimum salary in 2024 is $740K. Thank you, Mr. Miller.
I did learn one interesting bit of trivia. Durocher grew up in a Francophone neighborhood in Springfield, Massachusetts. He didn't speak a work of English until he started kindergarten and until entering baseball he pronounced his last name Du-row-shay.
January 17, 2024
I enjoyed this one, not only was it about someone who everyone knows if they follow baseball it was honest. Leo pulled no punches with players, front office folks, umpires and even himself. From his playing days with the Gas House Gang and Babe Ruth straight through to his managerial days he seemed genuine and honest.
Leo was an all-star shortstop, a teammate of Babe Ruth, a player manager for one of the most exciting teams of all times; namely the St. Louis Cardinals Gas House Gang, married a movie star, was close friends with Frank Sinatra, and managed a World Series team as well as won three pennants.
He was honest about certain personality traits like his hatred for losing saying he'd have tripped his mother rounding second if needed to win. He retired after the 75 season with the Astros because he couldn't grasp or contend with the modern day player and the gains made by the players' union as he lamented about how a manager can be expected to maintain control of a team when players make 25 times as much as the manager and there is little that Leo or today's manager can do to have leverage over them.
He also took no mercy on umpires, listing those he thought were good and those he thought were the absolute worst.
This was a good baseball book from "Leo the Lip" and well worth the read.
Leo was an all-star shortstop, a teammate of Babe Ruth, a player manager for one of the most exciting teams of all times; namely the St. Louis Cardinals Gas House Gang, married a movie star, was close friends with Frank Sinatra, and managed a World Series team as well as won three pennants.
He was honest about certain personality traits like his hatred for losing saying he'd have tripped his mother rounding second if needed to win. He retired after the 75 season with the Astros because he couldn't grasp or contend with the modern day player and the gains made by the players' union as he lamented about how a manager can be expected to maintain control of a team when players make 25 times as much as the manager and there is little that Leo or today's manager can do to have leverage over them.
He also took no mercy on umpires, listing those he thought were good and those he thought were the absolute worst.
This was a good baseball book from "Leo the Lip" and well worth the read.
January 9, 2024
Durocher's biography is very enjoyable with great stories and memories throughout. Definitely recommended for any baseball fan who enjoys its history.
As an aside, just a couple of things within the prose that I would critique.... We don't get ANY insight or memories or drama or excitement on how Durocher's 1951 Giants came back from a 13.5 game deficit to tie the Dodgers for the NL pennant. Inexplicably, he skips right to the Bobby Thomson game and memories of that. I really think his editor should have insisted that the day to day drama of the race throughout the late summer of '51 be included.
Also, while Leo is hard on some players and management within the game (as expected, this is part of the lure of the book), he is too often an apologist for himself and others. If you can follow the 15 page maze and conspiratorial nature of his explanation of the reasons behind his yearlong suspension, then you can go right to the front of the Q Anon class. And one other thing...despite Leo's position to the contrary, Frank Sinatra (who he describes as his best friend) would never be nominated for sainthood in my or anyone else's lifetime.
As an aside, just a couple of things within the prose that I would critique.... We don't get ANY insight or memories or drama or excitement on how Durocher's 1951 Giants came back from a 13.5 game deficit to tie the Dodgers for the NL pennant. Inexplicably, he skips right to the Bobby Thomson game and memories of that. I really think his editor should have insisted that the day to day drama of the race throughout the late summer of '51 be included.
Also, while Leo is hard on some players and management within the game (as expected, this is part of the lure of the book), he is too often an apologist for himself and others. If you can follow the 15 page maze and conspiratorial nature of his explanation of the reasons behind his yearlong suspension, then you can go right to the front of the Q Anon class. And one other thing...despite Leo's position to the contrary, Frank Sinatra (who he describes as his best friend) would never be nominated for sainthood in my or anyone else's lifetime.
July 29, 2019
Leo Durocher wrote a tell all book where he gives his life story with all the color and controversy that exemplified his life. It is a no holds bar book where he calls out umpires, players, owners, and anyone else who crossed him during his 50+ years in baseball. If you are a baseball fan, read the book. It is fun to see all the craziness of his life where he just couldn't stay out of trouble or keep his mouth shut. From the 1927 Yankees, the Gas House Gang of the Cardinals in the 30's, Brooklyn Dodgers of the 40's, the NY Giants of the 50's,to the Cubs of the 60's, the stories are vivid and will keep you turning the pages. Leo was one of a kind and this book tells the story.
August 8, 2020
Let's Have Another Schlitz, Fellas...
I grew up in Chicago, a die-hard Cub fan, and Leo Durocher was the Cubs Manager during my prime kid\baseball years.
Durocher had a long-running series of commercials during his Cub years. In each one, Leo would be telling a story about baseball - one great story after another - and would always end with Leo Irving "Let's Have another Schlitz, fellas". Great stuff...
This book is another collection of great baseball stories, about baseball before designated hitters & free-agents. It brought back memories of the pure love I had for baseball at that age. Enjoy...
I grew up in Chicago, a die-hard Cub fan, and Leo Durocher was the Cubs Manager during my prime kid\baseball years.
Durocher had a long-running series of commercials during his Cub years. In each one, Leo would be telling a story about baseball - one great story after another - and would always end with Leo Irving "Let's Have another Schlitz, fellas". Great stuff...
This book is another collection of great baseball stories, about baseball before designated hitters & free-agents. It brought back memories of the pure love I had for baseball at that age. Enjoy...
September 16, 2024
While this is an old book I finally took the time to read it brought back a lot of memories and also took me places I had forgotten or maybe didn't want to think about. The game has changed as it always has and always will. Sometimes for the better and sometimes that is questionable.
Durocher tells it like it was and maybe is more honest than we are used to today. Both about himself and others and names names in most places.
It is interesting to here the reflections of a manager from another era and one that was successful in a number of organizations. Not always popular but passionate.
Durocher tells it like it was and maybe is more honest than we are used to today. Both about himself and others and names names in most places.
It is interesting to here the reflections of a manager from another era and one that was successful in a number of organizations. Not always popular but passionate.
December 22, 2016
I enjoyed Leo's autobiography even if stories are told from his side of the fence. It is definitely clear that Leo prefers the "good old days" of the 20s and 30s and he speaks of them fondly for the first half of the book. The tone changes when he becomes a manager and near the end he blasts his teams and players in Chicago and Houston. There is even some slight criticism towards Jackie Robinson, which you would never seem today. Interesting for the historical record and context.
April 22, 2020
What a self-absorbed gasbag. This is 350+ pages of editorial self-defense. He gets marks for being honest and consistent, but I think that may have been Ed Linn's doing - it's a very well-constructed work.
September 2, 2025
I’ve been meaning to read this book for 50 years. Lol! Pretty good. Leo jumped around chronologically a bit and sometimes it was hard to tell what season he was talking about. But his stories were very entertaining.
January 27, 2018
Hilarious, entertaining!
May 20, 2017
A nostalgic look at the good old days of baseball.
Durocher was a character and consummate baseball man, whose convictions paralleled the times and the game he loved.
Durocher was a character and consummate baseball man, whose convictions paralleled the times and the game he loved.
August 2, 2024
Leo Durocher was like the Zelig of baseball. He did it all and he takes you through his colorful paces in what has to be the funniest sports book I have ever read.
November 16, 2024
Incredibly readable book that tells great stories from the life of a very public baseball guy. I believe about 60% of it.
February 17, 2025
An enjoyable story of life in baseball from one of its greatest characters.
August 12, 2025
a bit tedious at times -- he spends a lot of time relitigating beefs that just aren't important in the long run -- but Durocher's an interesting raconteur and witness to several eras of baseball.
August 12, 2024
A masterpiece. Leo Durocher never shied away from speaking his mind regardless of the consequences. He lived a thrilling life of fame and fortune. Most importantly, he loved baseball and shared his best stories in this wild and wonderful book.
September 28, 2023
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.
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.
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March 12, 2016Durocher, whose life seemed filled with anecdotes, told stories to Ed Linn, who shaped things into an autobiography that's thoroughly entertaining. Covering his early life learning to play shortstop at an elite level to cashing his World Series checks as a benchwarmer on the Yankees and a centerpiece of the Gas House Gang Cardinals to his managing the Dodgers, Giants, Cubs, and Astros, Durocher explains all his controversial experiences as evidence that some people just didn't like him. Maybe so, but even when he was a fool, his storytelling is so charming that I can't help but like the guy. It's sad that in the end with the Astros in 1973, he got so frustrated with Cesar Cedeno not taking his advice, especially since he gloried in his playing days with going against what management wanted him to do. And, of course, he gets all cranky about Marvin Miller and the players union, not realizing at all that his high salaries were still crumbs compared to what the owners were making all along. He sure did know the game well, and he played with or managed some magnificent players, all of whom he puts into well rounded characterizations that remind me baseball is played by human beings. I'm glad I found this book.
June 12, 2013
I can see why it made Joe Posnanski's list of best baseball books.
Reviews of this book tend to be pretty positive and I'd tend to agree with them. "Nice Guys" is worth a read if you're into baseball from the 30s through 50s or if you were a fan of the late 60s/early 70s Cubs and wanted a little bit more insight into why they couldn't put it all together and bring a pennant to the north side of Chicago.
A colorful read to match a colorful character.
Reviews of this book tend to be pretty positive and I'd tend to agree with them. "Nice Guys" is worth a read if you're into baseball from the 30s through 50s or if you were a fan of the late 60s/early 70s Cubs and wanted a little bit more insight into why they couldn't put it all together and bring a pennant to the north side of Chicago.
A colorful read to match a colorful character.
September 20, 2024
Well, this guy can certainly tell a story - gets the full five stars for that, really, but demoted a star for the self-pity and for saying "You have to believe me when I say I have no racial prejudice." (Because when someone says that, you know what's coming next - and you know it's going to be awkward.) But all the straight-up baseball-related stuff: 100% gold.
August 14, 2015
Durocher's account of his own life and times probably suffers from understandable bias, but he certainly knew all the characters of his time. You may want to take his evaluations of others, and of himself, with a grain of salt.
November 15, 2009
An entertaining piece of baseball history/memoir.
January 4, 2014
Take it with a grain of salt, but this is a fun book about some long gone times in baseball.
July 14, 2014
If more athletes' biographies were like this, I'd read more athlete's biographies.
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