Review of "Jocko," by Jocko Conlan

Review of

Jocko, by Jocko Conlan

Five out of five stars

 Jocko Conlan played professional baseball and then was an umpire for decades in the majors. While he called them as he saw them, Conlan had the respect of the players and managers, even though some of them gave him a hard time. This book is partially a biography, but it is mostly a collection of memories of when he was a man wearing blue. Since he umpired from 1941 to 1965 in the National League, in the minors before that and five World Series and six All-Star Games, Conlan was able to observe nearly all of the great players in those years. As a retired umpire, he can now openly express his opinion of players, managers, executives and owners.

 Conlan’s observations are from a perspective not often seen, which makes this book an interesting retrospective of how baseball was played and how the great players acted. Conlan’s arch-enemy on the field was Leo Durocher and his description of the incident where he and Durocher literally got into a shin-kicking contest on the field is a great story.

 Yet more revealing are his interactions with some of the great players. There is an instance when Conlan calls a third strike on Ted Williams, the man considered to have the greatest understanding of the strike zone. Williams was also known for his temper when something went wrong. When the manager came out to argue the call, Williams quickly silenced him by saying, “It was a strike, I should have swung.” That is a demonstration of class that one rarely hears about Williams.

 Since Conlan played when pitchers could still throw the spitball and claimed he could recognize one by the movement, his debunking of the prevalence must be taken seriously. Conlan also is emphatic in arguing against throwing the beanball, if there is something about baseball that he clearly hates, it is the tactic of throwing a pitch at a batter’s head.

 This is definitely a book that can be given the subtitle, “Inside Baseball.”