by Paul O'Neill
First published 2022
Paul O'Neill opens his story as a two-year-old learning to swing a bat and carries readers through his journey to becoming a five-time World Series champion with the New York Yankees. The All Star outfielder reveals his core hitting principles and the mental adjustments he made against different pitchers throughout his career. O'Neill recounts his battles with umpires and his famous encounters with water coolers when frustration boiled over. He shares advice he received from hitting legend Ted Williams during a surprise phone call and explains how he built the confidence that made him believe pitchers never truly got him out. The perfectionist outfielder organizes his insights across ten chapters that mirror baseball's nine innings plus extra time. Teammates like Derek Jeter, Don Mattingly, and Bernie Williams appear alongside managers Joe Torre and players like Pete Rose in clubhouse stories that capture the culture of championship baseball. O'Neill addresses the challenge Ted Williams identified as the hardest task in sports: using a round bat to hit a round ball. His memoir combines technical hitting advice with personal memories from a career that stretched until age thirty-eight, offering readers both instruction and entertainment from one of baseball's most intense competitors.
Genres: biography, sports, memoir, baseball
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, intimate
Tropes: inspirational, personal-journey
Setting: New York, Yankees
Period: 20th-century
272 pages · Hardcover · Grand Central Publishing