I'm Keith Hernandez

by Keith Hernandez

Overview

Legendary first baseman Keith Hernandez tells all in this gripping literary memoir and New York Times bestseller.

Keith Hernandez revolutionized the role of first baseman. During his illustrious career with the World Series-winning St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets, he was a perennial fan favorite, earning eleven consecutive Gold Gloves, a National League co-MVP Award, and a batting title. But it was his unique blend of intelligence, humor, and talent — not to mention his unflappable leadership, playful antics, and competitive temperament — that transcended the sport and propelled him to a level of renown that few other athletes have achieved, including his memorable appearances on the television show Seinfeld.

Now, with a striking mix of candor and self-reflection, Hernandez takes us along on his journey to baseball immortality. There are the hellacious bus rides and south-of-the-border escapades of his minor league years. His major league benchings, unending plate adjustments, and role in one of the most exciting batting races in history against Pete Rose.

Indeed, from the Little League fields of Northern California to the dusty proving grounds of triple-A ball to the grand stages of Busch Stadium and beyond, I'm Keith Hernandez reveals as much about America's favorite pastime as it does about the man himself. What emerges is an honest and compelling assessment of the game's past, present, and future: a memoir that showcases one of baseball's most unique and experienced minds at his very best.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316395755
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	05/07/2019
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	358,160
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Keith Hernandez is a former Major League Baseball first baseman who played the majority of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Mets. A batting champion and five-time All-Star, Hernandez was corecipient of the 1979 NL MVP award and won two World Series titles, one each with the Cardinals and Mets. He earned more Gold Glove awards — eleven — than any first baseman in baseball history.

Since 2000, Hernandez has served as an analyst on Mets telecasts for the SNY, WPIX, and MSG networks and is a member of the FOX Sports MLB postseason studio team. He divides his time between New York and Florida.

Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Part I Bricks and Mortar 13

Part II Get to Work 125

Part III Consistency 253

Epilogue 324

Acknowledgments 329

Index 331

Editorial Reviews

Praise for I'm Keith Hernandez

"Meeting Keith when I was 13 remains one of the greatest moments of my life. After reading this book which so accurately describes the grit, dedication, and perseverance it takes to become one of the Baseball's greats, my appreciation for Keith—as a player, as a colleague, and as a friend—has reached new heights. It hits home, as do his keen insights into the game's past, present, and future. If you love baseball, you MUST read this book."—Alex Rodriguez

"As a longtime baseball fan, I appreciated learning about the evolution of one of my favorite ball players—Keith Hernandez. Even when he is writing about his slumps, his book is a hit. I recommend it."—Gay Talese, author of High Notes and A Silent Season of a Hero

"'Don't think,' said Crash Davis to Nuke LaLoosh in Bull Durham. 'You can only hurt the ball club.' No one ever said that to Keith Hernandez, the thinking person's ballplayer. 'You're gonna have to learn your clichés,' Crash advised Nuke. 'They're your friends.' This, too, is a rule that, fortunately, Hernandez ignores in this romp through his life before, during and after baseball. Except there is no life after baseball."—George F. Will

"I have known Keith my entire adult life and this revealing and honest autobiography made me smile and weep. Everyone has their own 'bruises' and Keith lets us in on what it takes to survive the troughs and tough times to make himself into the MVP he was and fine man he is today. Incredible perseverance of the human spirit with the help of his family, Keith will always be the greatest ballplayer I ever played with. I'm proud to call him my friend."—Ron Darling

"Poignant and unexpectedly literary."—Sports Illustrated

"Even at 64, Hernandez has maintained the coolness quotient that made him a star in New York more than 30 years ago."—Newsday

"5 Books High Performers Should Read This Month"

"In this candid memoir, the legendary first baseman reveals how his early years were strewn with insecurities. Hernandez opens up about how he gained the confidence to thrive in the major leagues."—Equinox's "Furthermore"

"If you pick up "I'm Keith Hernandez," you'll get a lot of incredible stories... Overall, the memoir captures what it's probably like to hang out with Keith."—MLB's "Cut 4"

"[I'M KEITH HERNANDEZ] reflects on his life, career and the state of baseball today."—WNYC's "The Brian Lehrer Show"

"All in all, Hernandez delivers his book with disarmingly self-deprecating humor and blunt candor - 100-percent authentic to who he is in the broadcast booth."—East Hampton Star

Selected for "Behind the Bestsellers" roundup—Publisher's Weekly

"An impressionistic account of his baseball boyhood, and a kind of 'Remembrance of At-Bats Past,' complete with a baked good to set the memories in motion...I'm Keith Hernandez is by turns crust and soft. It's pretty good, too."—New York Times Book Review

"Illuminating and heartfelt memoir."—Memphis Flyer

Selected for "6 Baseball Books for Mid-season Reading"—Christian Science Monitor

"Hernandez writes with frankness and honesty in his baseball memoir...[he] still has the ability to engage readers with thoughts on batting slumps, his worries about a fixation on home runs, and his concerns about baseball's escalating use of statistical analysis."—Christian Science Monitor

"The book offers an interesting perspective of what it takes to be a success in baseball."—Chicago Tribune

"Just as he is on Mets and Fox postseason broadcasts, he is candid and that makes for entertaining, informative reading in I'm Keith Hernandez."—Tulsa World

"The book offers an interesting perspective of what it takes to be a success in baseball."—The Daily World

From the Publisher

…an impressionistic account of [Hernandez's] baseball boyhood, a kind of "Remembrance of At-Bats Past"…I'm Keith Hernandez is by turns crusty and soft. It's pretty good, too. If you've ever listened to Hernandez in his current capacity as a color man for the Mets, you know that he can be unapologetically cranky…But he cuts the crustiness with a surprising soft side. Hernandez cries in this book—kind of a lot. He cries when fans razz him during A-ball. He cries when he gets sent back to Triple-A after a cup of coffee in the bigs. He cries when he gets called up again but rides the pine. Don't these fans and managers know he's Keith Hernandez? But he's not yet Keith Hernandez—not a National League M.V.P. or a bon vivant who dines at Elaine Kaufman's and dates Elaine Benes—and therein lies the pleasure of the book.

The New York Times Book Review - John Swansburg

03/26/2018
In the introduction to his entertaining memoir, two-time World Series Champion and five-time All-Star Keith Hernandez claims he didn’t want to write a “boring” baseball book. Mission accomplished, as the outspoken first baseman-turned-broadcaster covers the highlights from his impressive career trajectory, beginning with the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1970s and his game-by-game battle against Pete Rose for the 1979 batting crown and continuing with dalliances with prostitutes and cocaine. Hernandez, now 64, retired in 1990 after spending most of his career with the Cardinals and later the New York Mets, with one final season in Cleveland. He focuses almost entirely on his years in the Cardinals organization (they were “the most instructive,” he writes), while also discussing his opponents and his post-baseball career as a color analyst on Mets’ telecasts. Frustrated with how long today’s games are, the use of sabermetrics, and the impact of league expansion, Hernandez brings a witty veteran’s view to today’s game (“call me old fashioned,” he tells readers before stating an opinion). These observations, however, along with his bar-conversation writing style and self-deprecating humor, will appeal to baseball fans of any era. (May)

Publishers Weekly

2018-02-26
A former major league baseball All-Star and MVP—and current TV analyst for the New York Mets—reviews his boyhood and the dawn of his professional career and reveals some of the secrets of his success.Although Hernandez claims that he doesn't want his text to be like other baseball memoirs, in fundamental ways, it is exactly that. The author provides game-by-game accounts, descriptions of influences (good and bad and mixed), and details about influential managers such as Ken Boyer and fellow players, including Pete Rose—though the author does not comment on the Rose exclusion-from-the-Hall-of-Fame controversy. We learn about Hernandez's Spanish heritage (though his teammates called him "Mex"), his flirtation with drugs, his sometimes-excessive drinking, and his struggles with his father, who trained him but ultimately couldn't let go. But in his style, Hernandez does distinguish himself, offering a variety of chapters: flashbacks to boyhood (italicized), accounts of his current occupation as a broadcaster, and details about his journey through the minor leagues and into MLB, where, after experiencing some difficulties and frustrations, he soon emerged as a major talent. He alternates the chapters, shifting readers from past to present to past again, and he pauses periodically to elaborate on certain elements of today's game that annoy him: the obsession with home runs and the consequent shrinking of baseball parks and the soaring influence of statistics (see Moneyball). Hernandez concludes one minitirade with this: "Boring, one-base-at-a-time, home-run baseball. Yuck." We also learn some things about the author that may surprise readers—e.g., he likes to draw, and he collects first editions and works of art. Refreshingly, he also blames himself for the dissolution of his first marriage, confessing that he cheated on his young wife.Often candid and even self-deprecating memories by an athlete who once stood at the summit of his profession.

Kirkus Reviews