cover image Pudge: The Biography of Carlton Fisk

Pudge: The Biography of Carlton Fisk

Doug Wilson. St. Martin’s/Dunne, $26.99 (352p) ISBN 978-1-250-06543-8

Wilson, following his works on pitcher Mark Fidrych (The Bird, 2013) and third-baseman Brooks Robinson (Brooks, 2014), takes on the life of legendary Boston Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk. Using original research and interviews, Wilson begins with a look at perhaps Fisk’s greatest moment: hitting the winning home run in the 12th inning of game six of the 1975 World Series. He writes that Fisk had a “perfectionist’s drive to excel and a single-minded devotion to duty,” adding that he “tolerated nothing less than maximum effort, from himself or his teammates.” Wilson traces that drive from Fisk’s early days playing basketball and baseball in New Hampshire to his being named Rookie of the Year for the Red Sox in 1972, and through a career that stretched into the 1980s. He also notes that Fisk’s perfectionism wasn’t able to help him as his career wound down in the ’90s: “The last half of his career had been spent during the zenith of hatred between players and owners.” Wilson delivers a solid look at the prodigious career of one the finest baseball players of the ’70s. (Oct.)