Reviews

"A fascinating read. . . . Wonderful job. . . . Highly recommended!"

“Manners takes us back to the days of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig — and well beyond — through the eyes of an early mound master whose story can finally be told.” 

"Very few baseball biographies have the range of triumph and anguish, of poignance and redemption, as this self-told tale of the ace of the legendary 1927 Yankees.”

"What a great find to tell the story in Hoyt's own words."

"Blindsidingly fantastic. . . . Could be the most entertaining and don’t-put-down baseball book for the '24 season."

“For baseball fans, the University of Nebraska Press is a perennial MVP—most valuable publisher. This biography shows why. Waite Hoyt, an underappreciated cog in a great Yankee machine, had a two-decade major league career that illuminates the game a century ago.”

"Tim Manners painstakingly pieces together moments and memories to reveal fascinating insight into not just Hoyt, but also the times he lived in. Hoyt’s story needed to be told, and like his legendary rain delay stories, 'Schoolboy' makes it worth the wait."

"An insider’s view of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, with intimate stories about Waite Hoyt’s life as a 15-year-old pro, his grand times with the '27 Yankees, his 24 seasons in the Cincinnati Reds radio booth and, most revealingly, his showdown with alcohol. Full of honesty, intimacy and hard-knocks inspiration. I couldn’t put it down. " 

"Tim Manners wound up writing an autobiography of Yankees great and Reds announcer Waite Hoyt. The miracle is, Hoyt passed 40 years ago, in 1984. The book? It sat unfinished in a box of Hoyt's things. Fate waited for someone to discover its existence . . . . Magic.”

“Manners’ skillfully edited and seamless narrative, compiled from Hall of Famer Waite Hoyt’s lifetime of memories, is a real baseball treasure.  Success, failure, doubts, and achievements, in baseball and Hoyt's personal life, are all here in his own words.  This book will enhance Waite’s status as a baseball star, as well as a man.” 

“Manners makes the Waite Hoyt story, especially ‘you-are-there’ material about Babe Ruth and other Yankee legends,
spring to life.” 

"The Yankees famed 'Murderer's Row' era wasn't just about the power of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.  There were Hall of Fame-bound pitchers on that great team as well, none more prominent than the colorful local star Waite Hoyt, whose life story continues to fascinate."