Character Is Not A Statistic: The Legacy And Wisdom Of Baseball's Godfather Scout Bill Lajoie
Anup Sinha and Bill Lajoie
This book is available for download with iBooks on your Mac or iOS device, and with iTunes on your computer. Books can be read with iBooks on your Mac or iOS device.
Description
Bill Lajoie just had it. When it came to drafting ballplayers and building a World Series club, few in baseball history can match his extraordinary success. The lessons of Lajoies illustrious career and the brilliance of his philosophy are put to print in Character is Not a Statistic. After a playing career that fell achingly short of the major leagues, Lajoie returned to Detroit to become a teacher in the mid-1960s. But his unyielding passion for baseball and desire to atone for a broken dream pulled him back to the game as a scout. From there, hed go on to build World Series Championships from scratch by finding players who possessed the very character he lacked as a young athlete. Starting as an area scout for the Cincinnati Reds in 1965, Lajoie later moved up the ladder with the Detroit Tigers and was the architect and general manager of their 1984 World Series crowning. Lajoie would then be instrumental as an assistant GM for two more franchises who dominated their decades with championships and titles; the 1990s Atlanta Braves and the 2000s Boston Red Sox. Perhaps no one alive has scouted more baseball over the last 50 years or has better stories to tell about finding the greats. Though the modern era has seen the depersonalization of scouting via statistics and radar gun readings, Lajoie was immensely successful through five decades by emphasizing what a player had inside him. His belief in a players humanity and character persists to this day. This book is not only a biography, but a collection of great baseball stories and a manual for the next generation of fans and scouts alike. Lajoie tackles such controversial issues as the Moneyball movement, the importance of a strong manager, scouting for makeup, making trades, preventing pitching injuries, running a farm system, and ranking both the best general managers and scouting directors of the modern era.
Customer Reviews
Character Is Not A Statistc
Having devoted the last 20 years of my life to Professional Baseball Scouting, I can assure you that this book is a genuine gem. There is no other place to go if you want the "How To" information on being a successful winning s Scout - period. Other books on the subject can entertain you, but this is an instruction Manuel. A great read, and in a world of ever increasing "Eye Wash" it is a work of great substance. My respect always for the Author. I can't wait to read it again. -- Rene Gayo

- $9.99
- Category: Baseball
- Published: Jan 21, 2010
- Publisher: Xlibris
- Seller: Author Solutions, Inc.
- Print Length: 356 Pages
- Language: English
Discover and share
new apps.
Follow us on @AppStore.
Discover and share new music, movies, TV, books, and more.
Follow us @iTunes and discover
new iTunes Radio Stations
and the music we love.