Review of
Joe Maddon: Hallelujah! We’re Gonna Party
Like It’s 1908, by Rich Wolfe ISBN 9780692782729
Three out of five stars
Contains over the top accolades for Maddon
As a longtime
Cub fan, I deeply appreciate the Cubs winning the World Series in 2016, 108
years after their last one. That appreciation also extends to Joe Maddon, the
genius that managed the Cubs to that title. This book is not a biography in the
normal use of the term, it is a series of short segments written by people that
have known Joe Maddon. Some know him through his work in baseball, others have
encountered him in other walks of life.
I found this
book to be one of the most boring baseball books that I have ever read. The
accolades read more like extreme marketing hype rather than actual descriptions
of the man. For example, on page 138, Art Fischetti writes: “I’m not a fun guy,
I’m a sports guy. Fun to me is fundamentals. Joe Maddon would be the Pope for
me. I love the Pope. We all love the Pope. Joe Maddon is bigger than the Pope.”
While accolades
and praise are fine, there is a point where reading text like that over and
over again causes you to reach the point where you just want to declare that
you have read enough. He is also compared to John Wooden and Knute Rockne.
Wooden won 10 NCAA basketball championships in 12 years and Rockne has the
highest winning percentage of any coach in the history of NCAA football. While managing
the Cubs to a World Series victory is a major achievement, longevity as a
winner is what makes greatness. I found it difficult to read significant
segments at one sitting.
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