Dugout Days: Untold Tales and Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Career of Billy Martin.

Dugout Days: Untold Tales and Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Career of Billy Martin Michael DeMarco AMACOM, 2001 288 pages, $24.96 Hard Cover

When the reviewer was asked to critique this book, he wondered aloud, "Why Pick Billy Martin as the subject about leadership?" Why not Sparky Anderson, or Tommy Lasorda, or Tom Kelly or Joe Torre?

Any of these men have enjoyed longer managerial careers, better winning averages, and fewer firings. Perhaps the telling answer is found in part of the lengthy and unwieldy 14-word book title "Untold Tales ..."

Dug Out Days is frankly a collection of quotes from a few of Martin's former players in search of some lessons about leadership in the workplace. Noticeably absent are any quotes from his bosses who periodically fired him. The book has an intriguing title, but its content is like the Bermuda Triangle: enter, but you may never find your way out.

If there are any lessons about leadership from Martin's managerial career, the answers can be found in the question, What does a baseball manager do? If you asked any of the privileged few who managed in the Big Show, they would reply:

* Be prepared to be fired at the most unexpected moment and don't take it personally.

* Know that the job includes working with your boss. He writes your paycheck and decides what players you have on the team, whether you like it or not.