How a Father and Son Learned to Love Baseball Again PDF
Preview How a Father and Son Learned to Love Baseball Again
T $23.00 £15.99 $26.50 CAN PPrraaiissee ffforr R continued from front fl ap T R A D I N G Rather than wait for an offi cial explana- T H E MOV I NG STORY A tion and apology from Major League Baseball of how a father and his young son that would never materialize, Jim and Joe set recaptured their love of baseball — a out to fi nd their own answers. They traveled M A N N Y D the country from coast to coast, from Spring winning testament to why the game Training contests to major and minor league matters and how it can still bring us games — speaking with players, prospects, and I “ Trading Mannyy should be required reading for anybody associated with Major League together in spite of itself managers while tracking down the legends How a Father & Son Baseball, including players, managers, trainers, GMs, union leaders, and, especially, the and ghosts of baseball’s golden age. And one N day they discovered an aging but dedicated Commissioner. This is the story of what it’s like to be a fan, to worship players as kids Learned to Love n recent years something hasn’t prospect who would become not only a true do, but then to grapple with learning that your heroes are human. Jim Gullo and his son been quite right with baseball. Ask Jim role model for Joe, but also the unlikely inspi- take readers on a journey that underscores the challenges not only of growing up in the G Baseball Again Gullo: he’ll tell you even a seven-year- ration to lure both father and son back to the so-called ‘Steroid Era’ but, even more so, of refusing to fall out of love with the game.” old kid knows it. In December 2007, game they loved. —mark fainaru-wada, coauthor of Game of Shadows just as Jim’s young son Joe was beginning By turns humorous, heartbreaking, and to develop a true passion for the game, the inspiring, Trading Manny tells the story of “A ny parent who sees a dream inside the heart of their child will exhale that someone has aa rrr bombshell news of players’ steroid use made their journey back to baseball — how along fi nally tried to express the shattering effects of baseball’s inability to teach from its fail- LL ddd it clear that America’s pastime wasn’t what the way Joe traded his idol Manny for a more ings. Jim has attacked it head-on, with both raw honesty and fatherly tenderness.” t e it claimed to be. Suddenly, Jim found him- worthy hero, and Jim discovered something —doug glanville, ESPN analyst and author of The Game from Where I Stand BB se llll self struggling to answer questions from Joe invaluable about being a father. that had nothing to do with batting averages “ Sometimes it takes a child’s vision for adults to see clearly. In Trading Manny, Jim Gullo or World Series champions: “What are steroids? M and his wise-beyond-his-yyyyyyeeeeaaaarrrrrssss ssoonnnnn Joe, seek answers...Why did players do this to the Who was using them? Wasn’t it cheating? j i m g u l l o ’ s game we love? And can wwwwwwwweeeccccoooommmmeee bbbbbbbbbbbaack to the game after this time of rampant cheating Why weren’t the players who got caught writing has appeared in Sports and disregard for our naaaaaatttiiiooooonnnnnaaaaalllllpppppaaaaassssssttttttiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeee? Trading Mannyy helps us all through the tough suspended or punished by baseball?” Illustrated, Premiere, Islands, A While Jim searched for the right answers Saveur, and other publications. times we whoollloooovvvveeeeee ttttttttttthhhhhhhhhheeeeeeee gggggggggggggggggaaammeehhaadd tooggggggggggggggggooooooooooo through.” He is the author of several —dale murphyyy,,,,, and Major League Baseball dithered, Joe took ttttwwwwoooo------ttttiiime National League MVP books and guidebooks and matters into his own hands: he removed the andd FFFoouundeeeeeerr oofftthheeIIIWWWWWon’’tt Cheat Foundattion N lives in Oregon. Find him at players who had been named as likely drug www.jimgullo.com. users from his prized baseball card collection and created a cheaters pile. Then he created a N different category of suspected “juicers” to keep da capo press an eye on. He took these players’ posters — A Member of the Perseus Books Group even the poster of his favorite slugger, Manny Y www.dacapopress.com Ramirez — down from his bedroom walls. The steroid scandal had clearly hit home. Jacket design: George Restrepo, Rest Design Jacket photograph: © Ronnie Kaufman/CORBIS J I M GULLO continued on back fl ap Author photograph: Joel Sackett 0306820175-Gullo_Layout 1 12/12/11 3:53 PM Page i TRADING MANNY 0306820175-Gullo_Layout 1 12/12/11 3:53 PM Page ii Also by Jim Gullo Just Let Me Play: The Story of Charlie Sifford Fountain of Youth: A Novel 0306820175-Gullo_Layout 1 12/12/11 3:53 PM Page iii T R A D I N G M A N N Y How a Father and Son Learned to Love Baseball Again JIM GULLO DA CAPO PRESS A Member of the Perseus Books Group 0306820175-Gullo_Layout 1 12/12/11 3:53 PM Page iv Copyright © 2012 by Jim Gullo All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. For information, address Da Capo Press, 44 Farnsworth Street, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02210. Designed by Linda Mark Set in 11 point Electra by the Perseus Books Group Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gullo, Jim, 1957– Trading Manny : how a father and son learned to love baseball again / Jim Gullo p. cm. ISBN 978-0-306-82017-5 (hardcover : alk. paper)— ISBN 978-0-306-82102-8 (e-book) 1. Baseball—Corrupt practices—United States. 2. Baseball players— Drug use—United States. 3. Doping in sports—United States. 4. Anabolic steroids—Health aspects—United States. I. Title. GV877.5.G85 2012 796.357640973—dc23 2011032070 First Da Capo Press edition 2012 Published by Da Capo Press A Member of the Perseus Books Group www.dacapopress.com Da Capo Press books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the U.S. by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call (800) 810-4145, ext. 5000, or e-mail [email protected]. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0306820175-Gullo_Layout 1 12/12/11 3:53 PM Page v To Joseph Frank and Michael Frank, Joseph Neil and Henry James— nice work this day, boys; time for a meal. 0306820175-Gullo_Layout 1 12/12/11 3:53 PM Page vi 0306820175-Gullo_Layout 1 12/12/11 3:53 PM Page vii CONTENTS preface • Baseball Cards 1 part one: The House That Juice Built one • Joe 7 two • What the Cards Said 17 three • No Comment 25 four • Still the King 30 five • Gorilla Food 36 six • Every Frog Is Spotty 41 seven • Enough Needles to Go Around 47 eight • The 33 Million Reasons to Take Steroids 56 nine • My Eternal Shame over Omar Vizquel 62 ten • Eighty Pounds in a Week 67 eleven • Abject Humiliation 76 twelve • 104 More Cheaters 84 thirteen • Jamie Moyer’s Changeup 97 fourteen • Back to the Bushes 107 vii 0306820175-Gullo_Layout 1 12/12/11 3:53 PM Page viii viii Jim Gullo fifteen • “I Don’t Want to Talk About Steroids!” 114 part two: Journey Back to Baseball sixteen • Robbing My Father 127 seventeen • The Worst Sport in the History of Baseball 132 eighteen • Gas Is Up and So Is Manny 144 nineteen • If It’s Not Broken 149 twenty • Dear Manny, Part Two 156 twenty-one • Weiser 164 twenty-two • Gynecomastia 178 twenty-three • The Sad Story of Taylor Hooton 189 twenty-four • Do This for the Game 202 twenty-five • Ball Four 209 twenty-six • Joe Meets the Garfoose 214 twenty-seven • Crazy Louie 228 twenty-eight • Bottom of the Ninth 238 Afterword • Seasons 245 Acknowledgments 253 0306820175-Gullo_Layout 1 12/12/11 3:53 PM Page ix TRADING MANNY
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