Twice around the bases

Kevin Kennedy is a baseball lifer. He was a catcher in the minor leagues for eight years, spent eight more years as a minor-league manager for the L.A. Dodgers, and served one year as a farm director overseeing minor-league operations for the Montreal Expos and as a bench coach for Expos skipper Felipe Alou. He then went on to manage the Texas Rangers and the Boston Red Sox. Today he is one of the most respected analysts and commentators on the sport. The game, as they say, is in his blood. Now in this intelligent, insightful, and engaging book, he offers a fresh look at baseball earned from a lifetime's worth of experience. Fans will draw a greater appreciation for the players past and present, a more profound respect for the managers, and, most important, a deeper understanding of the intricacies of the game courtesy of Kennedy's sharp analytical eye and his candor in exploring a wide range of topics such as - the lengths to which teams and players will go to gain a competitive edge - from doctoring playing fields to the use of performance-enhancing drugs; the little-known world of the Latin American winter leagues; the politics and the powerful - and sometimes fragile - egos that keep the managerial carousel spinning; how to manage the modern-day player, including such superstars as Roger Clemens, Pudge Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez, and Jose Canseco his surprising lists of the greatest hitters, pitchers, and players he has ever seen and more. Rich with anecdotes and filled with an insider's wisdom, Twice Around the Bases is a book destined to become a bible for true fans of the game.