Wild, High and Tight: The Life and Death of Billy Martin

Ever want to get to know someone famous that you have haven't met? This is absolutely the best of the many biographies I have ever read. I feel like I know Billy Martin and understand where he was coming from with his sometimes erratic behavior. The George Steinbrenner relationship is very vividly explained and the impact of his personality on Martin's life. It is also some of the best writing you will ever see. Peter Golenbock has the ability to write whatever he wants to. You don't have to be a baseball fan to enjoy this one. Mike Murphy

One of the best sports biographies that I've read. It tells of the relationship Billy had with George Steinbrenner and Billy's women (well a few of them anyway). You've heard of women who couldn't pick men, well Billy couldn't pick women or at least those you might want to consider for a long-term relationship. His daughter gave him good advice about his women, but unfortunately he didn't take it. Billy's family and friends detested his last wife. Billy wouldn't get rid of his women once he had them and felt obligated to keep them. The book tells of Billy's battles with teams' front offices and owners. The book is a long one, but I couldn't put it down so the time went fast.

The excellent biography by Peter Golenbock actually covers indepth the lives of Martin and George Steinbrenner. So much had been written about the relationship between the two, but the reader will learn so much about the pair in the closing chapters. This is the point where Martin's professional career and personal life is in a shambles and Steinbrenner seemingly dangles the opportunity of managing the Yankees one more time to "Number One," since he has what amounts to a personal services contract with "The Boss." Golenbock's research into the death of Martin is outstanding and was highly controversial at the time of publication. Essentially, Golenbock reports, Martin's friend in the truck falsely admitted to police that he was driving the vehicle at the time it struck the culvert, knowing it would help Martin's family in dealing with the financial meltdown he had suffered in the final years of his life. The only negative is the typographical errors, something that plagues most of Golenbock's books. Even the reprint of The Bronx Zoo contained its original typographical errors! I think it's safe to say the book certainly isn't prominently on the shelf in Steinbrenner's office in Yankee Stadium, but it remains the most thorough writing concerning the lives of Martin and Steinbrenner.

Without generating undeserved sympathy for the man, this book documents the sad life of Billy Martin, the extent to which his troubles were self-inflicted, and his tortured relationship with George Steinbrenner. The insecurities of both of these men feed on each other's, with each convinced that the other is out to upstage and destroy him, and each ultimately proving the other right, time after time. The years have provided an interesting postscript, however. Just as Martin's early death seemed almost inevitable because of his inability to confront and defeat his demons, author Golenbock ends the book with a forecast of inevitable doom for Steinbrenner, predicting with certainty that his many shortcomings will stop the Yankees from ever again achieving respectability. Golenbock was wrong, of course. Steinbrenner's late 90s Yankees are among baseball's all-time great teams, guided by a superb manager with no apparent interference from above. Perhaps Steinbrenner did in fact learn something from Martin's sad demise.