White Rat: A Life in Baseball

by Whitey Herzog, Kevin Horrigan

The author recounts his career as a player, scout, and manager, and shares his memories of fellow players, managers, and baseball legends

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Autobiography, Nonfiction, Biography

240 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1987

Reviews

[Longfellow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who cares about baseball in the '70s and '80s? People who can remember, that's who, and one of the greatest pleasures in reading Herzog's baseball memoir was being reminded of players' names I had long forgotten, as well as those players I still remember regularly with fondness, namely those from Royals' teams of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Besides this, White Rat offers a couple other pleasures: Herzog's fairly in-depth discussions of game-time strategy and the strategy of building a successful organization and his no-bullshit attitude and tone. An expression like "all Steve Carlton had to do was throw his glove on the mound and the Cardinals would surrender" is amusing enough, but one like "a pitcher without confidence is like tits on a boar hog" is enough to crack me up, despite not knowing what Herzog means by it.

Of course I took no little pleasure in reading that Herzog considers the 1977 Royals the best team he ever managed. Hope we make you proud in 2012, Whitey, if you're still out there somewhere.

[Eric Vickrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in the late 80s while Herzog was still managing the Cardinals, he provides amazingly honest stories about his life and career. His unique vocabulary shines through in this book. Holds up pretty well even 35+ years later.

[Jan Hungerford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny and interesting at times, but too much detail and poorly written.

[Rodger Payne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an early autobiography of Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog. It was published after the 1986 season, so it does not cover his pennant winning Cardinals of 1987. Herzog is a colorful man and opinionated thinker, so I enjoyed the book. He seems fairly honest writing about the drug problems of the 1970s and 1980s, though some details are omitted. The final section recommends some changes for baseball -- some ridiculous and some now part of the game (merging AL & NL umpires, for example). Herzog sounds smart when he debunks the idea that the KC Royals were losing money in the mid-1980s, but comes off looking foolish for recommending contraction for teams in Cleveland and San Francisco.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm no Cardinals fan. I grew up a Cubs fan but a good friend gave me this book. What I enjoyed was the chance to get a better picture of a turning point in Cards history. It was fun to see how Herzog came in and cleaned house and shaped a pivotal period, most notably bringing in Ozzie Smith. Like any coach autobiography, it's not real illuminating or revealing. It's just intended for superfans or baseball fans.

[Greg Stratman · Rating 4 out of 5]

No better manager or baseball mind in the game —- ever.

[Fred Seaman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greatest book ever written about baseball by the smartest man to ever walk on to a diamond.

[Mhenryg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great baseball book.