cover image The Niekro Files: The Uncensored Letters of Baseball's Most Notorious Brothers

The Niekro Files: The Uncensored Letters of Baseball's Most Notorious Brothers

Phil Niekro. McGraw-Hill/Contemporary, $0 (227pp) ISBN 978-0-8092-4601-4

The exaggeration inherent in this book's subtitle is almost risible: the lack of censorship must involve the authors' comments about George Steinbrenner, for, apart from some earthy vocabulary, there is little to offend the members of any sewing circle, and the Niekro brothers are about as notorious as Zeppo and Gummo Marx. These letters are only from 1987, when the Niekros set a record for the most wins by a brother combination in baseball history, and Joe became the first Niekro to pitch in a World Series. But the book is generally tame stuff, and, since both Niekros have the same writing style and both employ every sportswriting cliche known to the lingo, the reader may be forgiven for wondering how much of this effort was composed by the Niekros and how much by Picking, a USA Today writer. Photos not seen by PW. (May)