Word: schaap
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...hard to parlay his writing talents into popular hardbacks. His fiction to date: The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight, a spoof of the Mafia; World Without End, Amen, the travels of a New York Irish policeman to warring Northern Ireland; and .44 (written with Dick Schaap), a novelized exploitation of the Son of Sam murders...
...James C. Schaap...
...bravado in telling the press that he had floored two insulting Dodger fans in a hotel elevator during last year's World Series seems to reflect the same willingness to trade the truth for attention. No one, after all, ever found the fans Steinbrenner claims to have punched out. Schaap accounts for the "phantom punch" by suggesting that the bruised fist the owner raised as proof of his triumph actually resulted from Steinbrenner's striking the elevator wall himself, enraged after the Bombers' loss...
...WHICH is very illuminating and funny; Schaap's diagnosis of what makes George rant and rave does make sense. Yet amidst all the stories and jokes, Schaap fails to address questions that the presence in the sports world of men like Steinbrenner has raised. Those who deride Steinbrenner tend to rail on him for two activities: meddling in on-the-field decisions, and jacking up baseball salaries to an insane level. With his general mockery of Steinbrenner, Schaap suggests that he blames the Yankee owner for both trends...
...without belaboring the point--for Schaap's biography is enjoyable for its sarcastically anecdotal humor--that's not quite fair. Certainly, no one can excuse Steinbrenner's uninformed meddling with the finest baseball organization in history. But calling him to task for doling out high salaries seems misguided. Until baseball's players and owners iron out more realistic wage guidelines--don't hold your breath--owners will inevitably be tempted to pay for a quality ballclub. Steinbrenner's boorish histrionics may make his bidding wars unusually distateful, but other owners have proven themselves just as willing to trade cash...