Billy Williams: My Sweet-Swinging Lifetime with the Cubs - Hardcover

Williams, Billy; Mitchell, Fred

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1600780504 ISBN 13: 9781600780509

Publisher: Triumph Books, 2008

Synopsis

One of the most popular Cubs of all time—and now an executive advisor for the team—Williams reminisces about his early years, his Hall of Fame career, and his five decades in the game in this inspirational autobiography. In Billy Williams: My Sweet-Swinging Lifetime with the Cubs, he remembers the sturdy values and selfless devotion of the people from Whistler who helped shape his character; people like Lilly Dixon, his grade school principal, and Virgil Rhodes, his high school coach, both of whom he remembered in his Hall of Fame induction speech, and also his father who lived long enough to see his son play in the big leagues.

About this title

From the Publisher:

"Everybody in the media thought that Billy was extremely shy when he was a young man. But in the clubhouse with his teammates, he was a leader. Billy spoke his mind, and I loved him for that."--from the foreword by Ron Santo

From the Inside Flap:

One of the most popular Chicago Cubs of all time, and now an executive adviser for the team, Billy Williams reminisces about his early years, his Hall of Fame career, and his five decades in the game in this self-titled autobiography. He remembers the sturdy values and selfless devotion of the people from his hometown, Whistler, Alabama, who helped shape his character: Lilly Dixon, his grade school principal; Virgil Rhodes, his high school coach; and his father, who passed away at the age of 92, but lived long enough to see his son play in the big leagues.

Just before he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987, Williams revisited Whistler. The boarded-up shanties, desolate dirt roads, and abandoned shelters converted into churches were a poignant reminder of how far he had come. They also brought to mind the inner strength, purpose, and faith of the humble congregations that belied the frailty of the makeshift structures.

Williams tells not only how he beat some long odds to make it to the Hall of Fame, but also how, remarkably, three others from his home state did the same: Hank Aaron, Willie McCovey, and Satchel Paige. All had the same hardscrabble youth growing up, all overcame similar obstacles, and each in his own way rewrote baseball history.

From his early roots in the Negro Leagues to his brilliant career in the majors, Williams, with the Chicago Tribune's Fred Mitchell, gives the reader a behind-the-scenes look into one of the most beloved eras in baseball. In this thoughtful and entertaining memoir, Williams provides stories and anecdotes about the colorful characters he played with and against, comments on baseball itself and how it has changed, and discusses his efforts to give something back to the game and the people that made him the man he is today.

About this edition

• Publisher: Triumph Books
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1600780504
• ISBN 13: 9781600780509
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256