Impact Player Bobby Richardson

Bobby Richardson, a Christian, was the second baseman for the New York Yankees from 1955-1966.  This book describes some of those special games he played in along with some of the players he played with eg. Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford etc. If you are a baseball fan, especially of the Yankee stripe, you will enjoy this book.

This is not a tell-all type of book where the author tells us about the faults and failures of his teammates. He speaks highly of all of them. The only one with any negative overtures at all is his playing time with manager Casey Stengal, he so micro-managed that he would pinch-hit for players in the first inning. I am not sure that that type of managing would work in today’s game, he would probably be ran out of town by the fans.

     I was interested in the book because of Richardson being a Christian, I was curious to see how his faith worked out in the midst of a popular sports team. I was somewhat disappointed, for other than the fact of how he tried to influence other players with his faith, Mickey Mantle became a Christian on his death bed. He makes little mention of the unique struggles he had as a Christian and a ball player. I would like to know how he prayed as far as his skills were concerned. Did he have to do extra praying etc to play for Casey Stengal? Did he pray that his team would win and if they won was it an answer to his prayer and if they lost did that disturb his faith?

     I believe most of us on our jobs pray for co-workers that we cant get along with as well as things we are struggling to learn. I would have liked to know how does a baseball player pray and handle these type of things.

 I would give this book a 3 star rating.

Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book