They Called Me God: The Best Umpire Who Ever Lived
Doug Harvey made his Major League umpiring debut in 1962 and retired after 4,673 games in 1992. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010. As one would expect of an umpire, his memoir is confident and sure. Whatever call he made, safe or out, ball or strike, he never backed down and never changed his mind. Along with best-selling coauthor Golenbock (The Bronx Zoo, 1979, and Balls, 1984, among others), Harvey guides readers through his career: his relatively short apprenticeship in the minors, his time as a basketball referee, his early years with a contentious crew chief in the Majors, and his long run as veteran and much-respected ump. And, as readers would hope, there are dozens of anecdotes involving some of baseball’s greatest names, including Sandy Koufax, Ted Williams, and Willie Mays. Though he never changed his mind, Harvey prided himself on being a good listener, even to irate managers, and the best tales are those about the behind-the-scenes machinations of such legendary field generals as Leo Durocher, Sparky Anderson, Tommy Lasorda, and Walter Alston. Baseball fans will relish this my-way-or-the-highway memoir. --Wes Lukowsky