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Wild, High and Tight: The Life and Death of Billy Martin
On the field, he played and managed with an aggressive intensity that sometimes spilled over into fury.
Off the field, he cruised around in a chauffer-driven gold stretch limo, stocked with a full bar, video, and phones, sporting a custom license plate: YANKEE 1.
To many people, he was a hero. To others, he was a disgrace. Labels are easy to apply, but no single word can sum up the complex and tormented life of Billy Martin.
Billy was one of the great managers of baseball's modern era, perhaps the greatest. In every new job, he built losing teams into immediate winners: the Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, and the New York Yankees all triumphed with his exciting "Billyball" style of play. And all fired him, for his off-field escapades inevitably eclipsed his baseball achievements.
He was possessive, jealous, a brawling bully who was also a victim of smarter, subtler, more powerful bullies; wildly adulterous as a married man; a public figure who was privately, desperately lonely; a street kid who coveted the rich and famous; an alcoholic who maintained total control on the field, but sought the anonymous camaraderie of bars where he could drink to ease his insecurities. His death in a car wreck on Christmas Day 1989 symbolized a life of contradictions gone violently out of control.
Wild, High, and Tight is unlike any sports biography. Much more than a recitation of wins and losses, it is a rich, engrossing, intimate portrait of a little guy, an American everyman who found fame, fortune, all the booze and women he wanted--but was undone by the very fantasy he chased.
Off the field, he cruised around in a chauffer-driven gold stretch limo, stocked with a full bar, video, and phones, sporting a custom license plate: YANKEE 1.
To many people, he was a hero. To others, he was a disgrace. Labels are easy to apply, but no single word can sum up the complex and tormented life of Billy Martin.
Billy was one of the great managers of baseball's modern era, perhaps the greatest. In every new job, he built losing teams into immediate winners: the Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, and the New York Yankees all triumphed with his exciting "Billyball" style of play. And all fired him, for his off-field escapades inevitably eclipsed his baseball achievements.
He was possessive, jealous, a brawling bully who was also a victim of smarter, subtler, more powerful bullies; wildly adulterous as a married man; a public figure who was privately, desperately lonely; a street kid who coveted the rich and famous; an alcoholic who maintained total control on the field, but sought the anonymous camaraderie of bars where he could drink to ease his insecurities. His death in a car wreck on Christmas Day 1989 symbolized a life of contradictions gone violently out of control.
Wild, High, and Tight is unlike any sports biography. Much more than a recitation of wins and losses, it is a rich, engrossing, intimate portrait of a little guy, an American everyman who found fame, fortune, all the booze and women he wanted--but was undone by the very fantasy he chased.
545 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 1994
34 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
About the author
Peter Golenbock
81 books28 followersGolenbock grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, and in 1963 graduated St. Luke's School in New Canaan, Connecticut. His heroes were Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford. One day in the local library he discovered the book, The New York Yankees: An Informal History by Frank Graham ( G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1943) and it made a strong impression on him.''
Golenbock graduated from Dartmouth College in 1967 and the New York University School of Law in 1970.
He was a radio sports talk show host in 1980 on station WOR in New York City. He was the color broadcaster for the St. Petersburg Pelicans of the Senior Professional Baseball League in 1989-90 and has been a frequent guest on many of the top television and radio talk shows including "Biography on A&E," the "Fifty Greatest Athletes and the Dynasties on ESPN," "Good Morning America," "Larry King Live," "ESPN Classic," and the YES network.
Golenbock lives in St. Petersburg, Florida with his two basset hounds, Doris and Fred.
Golenbock graduated from Dartmouth College in 1967 and the New York University School of Law in 1970.
He was a radio sports talk show host in 1980 on station WOR in New York City. He was the color broadcaster for the St. Petersburg Pelicans of the Senior Professional Baseball League in 1989-90 and has been a frequent guest on many of the top television and radio talk shows including "Biography on A&E," the "Fifty Greatest Athletes and the Dynasties on ESPN," "Good Morning America," "Larry King Live," "ESPN Classic," and the YES network.
Golenbock lives in St. Petersburg, Florida with his two basset hounds, Doris and Fred.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 15, 2011
Staggeringly magnificent baseball epic -- Golenbock creates an American tragedy with power and detail far beyond the usual sports biography whitewash.
The amazing thing about this book is that Golenbock devotes at least half the text to describing the horrific crimes and misdeeds of Billy Martin's nemesis, George Steinbrenner. Writing with passion and exhaustive detail, Golenbock unearths the thousand tawdry deals and swinish bullying tactics that allowed the bloated, monstrous Steinbrenner to rise from wealth and privilege to -- even more wealth and privilege.
This non-fiction classic succeeds not only as a sports masterpiece but as a critique of modern American capitalism far more powerful than anything so-called "Marxist" writers like John Dos Passos or James T. Farrell could ever have imagined. Moreover, Golenbock is a genuine sports writer who writes about the game with all the inside knowledge (but none of the cloying sentimentality) of upper-class dilettantes like the late David Halberstam.
This is the real story of Billy Martin. The real story of America. The real story of American. And it's all told by a man who refuses to retreat into comfortable baseball sentimentality.
The amazing thing about this book is that Golenbock devotes at least half the text to describing the horrific crimes and misdeeds of Billy Martin's nemesis, George Steinbrenner. Writing with passion and exhaustive detail, Golenbock unearths the thousand tawdry deals and swinish bullying tactics that allowed the bloated, monstrous Steinbrenner to rise from wealth and privilege to -- even more wealth and privilege.
This non-fiction classic succeeds not only as a sports masterpiece but as a critique of modern American capitalism far more powerful than anything so-called "Marxist" writers like John Dos Passos or James T. Farrell could ever have imagined. Moreover, Golenbock is a genuine sports writer who writes about the game with all the inside knowledge (but none of the cloying sentimentality) of upper-class dilettantes like the late David Halberstam.
This is the real story of Billy Martin. The real story of America. The real story of American. And it's all told by a man who refuses to retreat into comfortable baseball sentimentality.
June 15, 2015
The tragic soap opera of a great baseball man
The heading I wrote was relating to Billy Martin's greatness as a baseball strategist. It was not to imply that he was a great man. He was in fact a train wreck of a man as future readers of this book will come to realize upon reading this book. From the addiction to alcohol to his mistreatment of woman and those in his life this book is a fascinating insight into the chaos of Billy Martin's life. The ultimate pairing of this man and George Steinbrenner is the stuff of an unbelievable soap opera accept it was real. The early life narrative was necessary to build a foundation for cross reference later to understand some of Billy's behavior, I get that. However I found it was a bit to long winded and boring and could lead some to stop reading. I think if this was streamlined and not so long I would have felt the book would not have become tedious at that point. Just my opinion, Stick with the book though, when the book transitions into Billy's beginning years as a manager the book has you hooked. When Billy gets to his Yankee years the book throttles up and has you addicted and you can't put it down.
The heading I wrote was relating to Billy Martin's greatness as a baseball strategist. It was not to imply that he was a great man. He was in fact a train wreck of a man as future readers of this book will come to realize upon reading this book. From the addiction to alcohol to his mistreatment of woman and those in his life this book is a fascinating insight into the chaos of Billy Martin's life. The ultimate pairing of this man and George Steinbrenner is the stuff of an unbelievable soap opera accept it was real. The early life narrative was necessary to build a foundation for cross reference later to understand some of Billy's behavior, I get that. However I found it was a bit to long winded and boring and could lead some to stop reading. I think if this was streamlined and not so long I would have felt the book would not have become tedious at that point. Just my opinion, Stick with the book though, when the book transitions into Billy's beginning years as a manager the book has you hooked. When Billy gets to his Yankee years the book throttles up and has you addicted and you can't put it down.
February 16, 2022
If you're a baseball fan, a Yankee fan or a Billy Martin fan, this is a good read. If you're a steinbrenner hater, this is a very good read.
May 20, 2014
First and foremost, this book is not a singular biography. The title misrepresents the content. It's a co-biography of Billy Martin and George Steinbrenner. And that's important to note, because their fates and legacies were intertwined for many years. As far as biographies go, this was very well done. The author does nothing to white wash history concerning Martin or Steinbrenner. What you have is a story of two really awful people trying their hardest to make life miserable for one another. You don't feel sorry for anyone. Steinbrenner is presented as the tyrant manipulator he always was, and Martin is presented as the alcoholic womanizer that he always was. And then there's baseball mixed in seamlessly to make it a true baseball book. I might have enjoyed it more if I didn't already know a lot of the story, or if I was a Yankees fan. As a Yankee hater, it was just a reminder of what a rotten asshole Steinbrenner was.
May 6, 2012
WAY TOO LONG; TOO MUCH EXTRANEOUS;
August 26, 2014
Booze..
January 17, 2016
Very good book.
Must read for the die hard baseball fan. Lots of surprising information to be seen here,especially about Billy, Steinbrenner, and Billy's teammates and friends.
Must read for the die hard baseball fan. Lots of surprising information to be seen here,especially about Billy, Steinbrenner, and Billy's teammates and friends.
October 24, 2016
And again in 2015.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews