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| Latest Williams book is a grand slam Sunday, June 10, 2001 By Phil O'Neill Worcester Telegram & Gazette In this business, you get a sports book in the mail once in a while. Some are pretty good, some are bad, but the latest, “Ted Williams: My Life in Pictures,â€� tops my list. There's a little prejudice involved here since â €œTeddy Ballgameâ€� was my hero growing up. It's a big book . . . but it's quite a package. In addition to the fascinating pictures—some familiar, some not previously published— there's a wonderful accompanying first- person dialogue from Williams in his typical, no-nonsense, regular-guy delivery. The description of his crash landing after flying a mission into North Korea in 1953 is especially riveting. The dialogue, with editor David Pietrusza, is excellent, the best summation I've seen of this real-life John Wayne, who was probably baseball's greatest hitter. USA Today Baseball Weekly The Splendid Splinter opens his personal scrapbook and spins a few yarns to reveal much about his vaunted career. With more than 300 photos, many published for the first time. Kansas City Star “The last man to hit .400 is at his typical cocky best in Ted Williams: My Life in Pictures . .. the photographs are thrilling reminders of Williams' glory days with the Boston Red Sox.â€� Providence Journal The many memorable illustrations are enhanced by Williams's extensive first-person narrative, shaped with help from co-author David Pietrusza.When I saw the final book, I was blown away. The Google Directory An intimate portrait of one of the most compelling sports figures of the 20th century, vibrantly told in Ted Williams own plain- spoken words Bill Nowlin This is a wonderful new addition, and Ted's voice comes through loud and clear here. David Pietrusza has done a wonderful job here and this is a book I will myself treasure. |
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| San Francisco Chronicle: TED WILLIAMS is a larger-than-life Boston Red Sox baseball hero, and "My Life in Pictures" (with David Pietrusza, Total Sports Publishing) is a larger- than-life coffee-table book, but one with a twist: It has soul. Its soul doesn't come from the predictably priceless photos from Williams' collection, but from the text, which reads like oral history. Williams himself tells the stories, in an idiom that captures both the feel of the clubhouse and the author's own hard-boiled stubborn streak. It's as if Williams takes on his career with a bat in his hands, ready either to knock one out of the park or strike out. Whatever, pal, he comes out swinging. Ted Still Hitting Home Runs August 16, 2001 Joe Murphy Lawrence (MA) Eagle-Tribune Leave it to Ted Williams. Even in retirement, and an octogenarian at that, he hits a home run. He does that with his book, "Ted Williams— My Life In Pictures." The book, done with writer David Pietrusza, was sitting on my coffee table for a couple of months before I got around to it. My mistake. A major mistake. Compelling and colorful is what it is and why not considering it's about baseball's greatest living hitter. It's more than just baseball, though. It's about his topsy-turvy life both on and off the field. I don't shill for books but I'll make an exception in this case. It's crammed with 250 pictures and 204 pages of Ted Williams talking at you. It's written in the first person and you almost feel as though you're sitting in a room face to face with him. The type, with an occasional "bleeping,'' almost growls off the page in true Ted Williams style. . . Ted not only hits a home run with this book but a grand slam. John Vorperian, Beyond the Game A superb illustrated compendium . . . bats a thousand. |
| Praise for Teddy Ballgame's First Edition |
| Teddy Ballgame: |
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| "Authentic" This may be the first book I've ever liked in part because of the use of italics in the text. Let me explain. For the non-baseball fans out there, Ted Williams was an original. He set out to become the greatest hitter who ever lived, and after 125 years of baseball he's still in the argument. Williams was a superb batsman from 1939 to 1960 in a career that was interrupted by injuries and two separate stints in the military. And when it comes to personality, well, Ted was John Wayne in a baseball uniform. If you've heard Williams speak, you know he can talk in italics—a little extra emphasis on certain words. Using the technique in this book really made the words come to life and made it read like Williams was talking directly to the reader. Here's a paragraph from the introduction as an explanation. Since I can't use italics here, I'll substitute capital letters. You'll get the idea. "I can tell you PART of the story. I can tell you about hitting .400 or fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. But you see a lot more in a picture. Plus, well, the mind plays TRICKS on you. The memories change. Your attitudes change. People tell you so much about yourself, you start to half believe WHAT THEY READ, rather then WHAT YOU LIVED. Happens to a curmudgeon like me. But pictures don't change. No, they DON'T." Yup, that's Ted. I don't know how long it took to do this book, especially since Williams has been in poor health for part of the last couple of years. However, co-author David Pietrusza has done a fine job of getting the correct tone on paper ... and that's much more than half the battle. Put the package together, then, and you do feel like you are sitting next to Williams as he goes through a scrapbook. And what baseball fan wouldn't want to do that. Williams is typically candid but shows he's gotten a little softer as years have gone by. The pictures may not be all that fresh, since some of Williams' personal photos were destroyed in a hurricane, but they serve as good launching points for the text. |
| Budd Bailey, epinions.com |