Me and My Dad : A Baseball Memoir

Rating:
Summary: Limited Appeal
Review: Me and My Dad is Paul O'Neill's tribute to his late father Chuck O'Neill. The book takes you through Paul's life from playing homerun derby in his backyard as a child, to playing in the World Series as a New York Yankee. He places emphasis on his fathers influence and wisdom he shared with him through the many troubles he had in life. Throughout the book Paul tells us about his experiences and how his father could always put a positive spin on everything by relating life to baseball, or baseball to life. The book helps to give the reader a deeper and simpler look at professional athletes.
While it is a must read for any Yankee or Paul O'Neill fan, I can not recommend it to anyone else. Even for a baseball fan like myself it has limited appeal. It is short and not very well written; some parts seem to drag on and on about nothing. Yankee fans will love it just to get a deeper understanding of one of their better players, but others will laugh at Paul's girlyness and grow to dislike him by the end. Because of these reasons, I can only recommend this book to Yankee fans, and possibly women who like to see the softer and more sensitive side of men.


Rating:
Summary: Me and My Dad by Paul O'Neill
Review: An enjoyable book and perfect for the summer. Nothing new or earth-shattering, but Paul O'Neill is a good comapny and it's an enjoyable beach book.

Rating:
Summary: Great book, Paul
Review: Anyone who has watched the New York Yankees play since the 2001 postseason has noticed something different about the world's most famous and successful franchise. The team's early exit from the 2002 postseason was assessed to a number of variables: the starting pitching didn't hold up, overconfidence, or lack of intensity and desire. It is the latter that has been cited often from Yankee fans, and sadly, though the Yankees have a strong team yet again this season, it may have carried over to 2003 as well. Often times last season, I wondered what the 2002 Yankees might have been had Paul O'Neill patrolled right field for the Yankees, for he was the heart of the Yankees most recent championship run of the last six years and his passion has yet to be replaced by anyone on the Yankee team. Not that Paul O'Neill is someone who is going to dazzle you with eye-popping statistical numbers, for his prime had since passed on the baseball field. But as is the case with many people in life, Paul O'Neill's significance could never be limited to his statistics alone.

Always a quiet, introspective player, O'Neill was never one to find comfort in the public eye. Though he got better about his shyness in the last few years of his career, rare was the occasion where Paul would offer his thoughts in public. Which is why, when I got word that Paul was going to write an autobiography/memoir about his father, I marked down the release date of the book on the calendar. One of Yankee fans' most enduring memories of the last few years was Paul O'Neill crying during the team's celebration on October 21, 1999 when the Yankees swept the Atlanta Braves in the World Series. Tears of joy? Yes and no. Paul's father had passed away in the wee hours the night before Game 4, the culmination of a difficult year for Paul as his father was in and out of the hospital.

This is the book that explains his relationship with his father as well as O'Neill the man. Unlike another recent Yankee autobiography, this book does not tell stories in and out of the clubhouse at all. Paul has some complimentary things to say about various teammates, particularly Bernie Williams, and very poignant comments about the relationship between he and his father figure, manager of the Yankees, Joe Torre. I was touched by his childhood memories of backyard home run derbys with his brothers as well as his father's words of optimism throughout his life. O'Neill really brought his Dad to life in this book to where, by the end of the book, I felt as though I knew "Papa Chuck" as though he were an uncle of mine.

Baseball fans who dislike the Yankees might be surprised to find the "embracing of Paul O'Neill" as nothing more than fan worship, for Paul was often very emotional on the field: throwing his helmet, punching a water-cooler, arguing with an umpire, etc. But Paul O'Neill, as he explains in his book, is a perfectionist who is harder on himself than anyone. Whether or not this is a result of being the youngest of six brothers is hard to say, though O'Neill's emotions were always directed at himself and no one else. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, the present-day Yankees could use a little of Paul's emotion. But the irony of Paul O'Neill is that while he is indeed an emotional person on the outside, inside he is extremely shy. I once met Paul O'Neill toward the end of his career at a Brooks Brothers store in Kansas City. I wasn't sure if I should approach him or not, but finally did and was forever grateful for the experience. He is very soft-spoken, almost bashful, he was so shy. But he was very kind: he asked where I was from and if I was going to the game that night. I was particularly interested to hear if he was going to be back for the 2001 season, to which he replied, "If we win the World Series this year, we'll all be back. But if we don't, I'll probably have to go back and play in Cincinnati." Though they did indeed win the World Series that year, a three-peat, such circumstances as Paul was in at the time tend to present themselves when you play for George Steinbrenner. The experience of meeting Paul O'Neill and shaking his hand, to this day, remains one of the most memorable of my childhood.

Paul O'Neill is a popular player because he is human. He is a solid person who takes pride in being a son, a husband, and a father. He was a pretty good ballplayer too. Towards the end of his career, he came to symbolize the Yankee renaissance through his passion and his character. There was a tear in every Yankee fans' eye when, during Game 5 of the 2001 World Series, 56,000 Yankee fans stood in unison and chanted, "PAUL O-NEE-ULLL!" to say thanks in what proved to be his last game in Yankee Stadium. In that moment, Paul had become this generation's answer to Lou Gehrig, the Pride of the Yankees. I watched at home with a tear in my own eye as Paul tipped his cap to an appreciative crowd who will one day chant his name again when his number 21 is retired among the Yankee greats in Monument Park. "Me and My Dad: A Baseball Memoir" is about a player who belongs to the old school way of sports- it is a wonderful book and I am grateful to Paul for opening up and sharing his memories about his Dad. My guess is that a number of readers will harken back to memories of their own fathers while reading his book.

Rating:
Summary: Indians fan changes mind, thinks O'Neill is okay!
Review: Being an Indians fan I have never been a Yankee or Paul O'Neill fan. This was mainly due to O'Neill's actions of emotion of breaking water coolers or throwing his helmet after he failed on the field. After reading his book "Me and my Dad". I still hate the Yankees but I do respect Paul O'Neill. He was a great ballplayer and he loves the game just like his Dad taught him to. This book gives a good capsule of a journey of a little kid and his Father by his side from little league to the majors. One side note, there is a typo in the book about the 1997 Yankees - Indians playoff game. Sandy Alomar hit the home run off Mario Rivera not Robbie Alomar. As an Indian fan I will never forget it!

Rating:
Summary: Indians fan changes mind, thinks O'Neill is okay!
Review: Being an Indians fan I have never been a Yankee or Paul O'Neill fan. This was mainly due to O'Neill's actions of emotion of breaking water coolers or throwing his helmet after he failed on the field. After reading his book "Me and my Dad". I still hate the Yankees but I do respect Paul O'Neill. He was a great ballplayer and he loves the game just like his Dad taught him to. This book gives a good capsule of a journey of a little kid and his Father by his side from little league to the majors. One side note, there is a typo in the book about the 1997 Yankees - Indians playoff game. Sandy Alomar hit the home run off Mario Rivera not Robbie Alomar. As an Indian fan I will never forget it!

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I am not a Yankee fan at all but I loved Paul O'Neill's book. It brought back memories of playing in little league and brings hope and inspiration for me as I attempt to play college baseball. I loved the book and would recommend it to anyone interested in baseball or developing a good relationship with their father or mother.

Rating:
Summary: Bleeding Yankee blue & white
Review: I hardly remember Paul O'Neill as a Red's player, he's always been a Yankee to me. Never have I ever seen any one bleed Yankee blue and white as Paul O'Neill did. This book is a great book. He brings the same perfection to writing a book as he did on the field. His story brings new meaning to father/son baseball relationships.

Rating:
Summary: A True Role Model for Today's Youth
Review: I have always respected Paul O'Neill and looked up to him as a young Reds fan growing up outside of Cincinnati. His book gives you a heartfelt in depth look of what made Paul O'Neill the humble, hard working, family man that he is and that is none other than his father, Chick O'Neill. Their father-son relationship is bonded by their love for one another and their love for America's favorite pastime. This is a great read about family and baseball.

Rating:
Summary: Praise for the "Ultimate Warrior"
Review: Paul O'Neill's semi-autobiography tells of his relationship with his father, Charles "Chick" O'Neill, and how baseball became a way through which the O'Neill family bonded--the game being passed down from generation to generation. Paul, a die-hard perfectionist, contrasts with his father, an eternal optimist. Through his father, Paul was taught how to not only play baseball, but how to carry himself on the baseball field. His team-first style of play seems to be dwindling today in baseball, which is a shame. But there was more to the relationship between Paul and his father than just baseball, as the book explains; they shared an intimate father-son bond that not many fathers and sons have. When Chick died during the 1999 World Series, Paul mentions how deeply saddened he was by the loss of his father, yet he knew in his heart what his father believed he should do, and he went out and played Game Four. This is a great book about the life of a father and son, the life of a father's relationship with his family, and the life of the Ultimate Warrior, Paul O'Neill (this nickname came from George Steinbrenner, which goes to show how much reverence he holds for Paul).

As a Yankee fan I look at right field today and no matter who in pinstripes is playing there, no matter how good he is, he could not replace Paul O'Neill. O'Neill's selfless personality and genuine love of the game is evident to any fan who watched the Yankees during his tenure with the team. I miss seeing O'Neill hitting watercoolers and throwing his helmet, but what I miss most about him is the way he played the game. Whenever he hit a ball he knew was going to be a home run, unlike many players today who start their home-run trot and admire their ball fly away, he simply put the bat down and rounded the bases without any flair. As hard as he was on himself, he never vented his anger toward his teammates. He was the ideal team player whose personality earned the respect of his teammates and all Yankee fans.

Rating:
Summary: Top Ten Baseball Book of the Year
Review: The father-son baseball connection has been done many times but usually in connection to fans, not a major league player and his dad. This original & touching treatment of the topic makes Me and My Dad one of the 10 best baseball books of year and worthy of its Finalist nomination for the 2003 CASEY Award.