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The Book of Joe: Trying Not to Suck at Baseball and Life

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Will Collyer
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Ratings
Book
1
Narrator
1
Release Date
October 11, 2022
Duration
13 hours 31 minutes
Summary
A book of lessons in baseball enlightenment from three-time MLB Manager of the Year, Joe Maddon.

"A perfect baseball book, as invaluable as it is unique." ―Jane Leavy, author of The Last Boy LP: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood

No one sees baseball like Joe Maddon. He sees it through his trademark glasses and irrepressible wit. Raised in the “shot and beer” town of Hazleton, PA, and forged by 15 years in the minors, Maddon is one of the most successful, most colorful, and most quoted managers in Major League Baseball. He is a workplace culture expert, having engineered two of the most stunning turnarounds in the past quarter century: taking the Rays from the worst record in baseball one year to the World Series the next and leading the Cubs to their first World Series title in 108 years.

Like his teams, Maddon defies convention. He is part strategist, part philosopher, part sports psychologist, and part motivational coach. In The Book of Joe, Maddon gives readers unique insights into the game, including the tension between art and data, the changing role of managers as front offices gain power, why the honeymoon with the Cubs did not last, and what it’s like to manage the modern player, including stars such as Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Yu Darvish, and Kris Bryant.

But you expect even more from a manager who meditates daily, admires Twain, and has only one rule when it comes to a team dress code: “If you think you look hot, wear it!” And Maddon delivers. Built on-old school values and new-school methods, his wisdom applies beyond the dugout. His mantras about leadership, mentorship, team building, and communication are meditations on life, not just baseball.

The Book of Joe is Maddon at his uniquely holistic best. It is a memoir of a fascinating baseball journey, an insider’s look at a changing game, and a guidebook on leadership and life.
Reviews
Profile Avatar Anonymous Dec 2023

As a Rays fan I never was a Maddon fan. The insistence on staying with Percival and washed relievers drove me crazy. And the ego that seemed to enjoy the pre and postgame theatrics more than the job managing was frustrating. It always seemed to be the Joe Show. This book was much of the same- especially the last few chapters when he whines about how the Cubs asked him to tone it down and he decided to quit because of it. The early parts of the book were fun though- the parts when he clawed to make it and shared stories of triumph. But man the back end (after success in the big leagues) was nothing more than an ego stroke.

The Book of Joe: Trying Not to Suck at Baseball and Life

The Book of Joe: Trying Not to Suck at Baseball and Life

Author: Joe Maddon
Read by: Will Collyer
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