The Toughest Job in Baseball: What Managers Do, How They Do It, and Why It Gives Them Ulcers

Pascarelli, baseball correspondent for the Sporting News, has selected a title that suggests a scope which his book does not have. Essentially, this is the story of one manager, the Pittsburgh Pirates' Jim Leyland, who developed his mediocre team into the National League East champion. Although the problems that beset managers are presented, with observations on Earl Weaver, Tony LaRussa, Sparky Anderson et al., the focus is on Leyland as a personnel director best known for his rapport with his players. The book makes clear that he is a highly emotional man, and readers will feel Leyland's dissapointment when the Pirates fail to make the World Series. (May)