The Memoirs of Bing Devine: Stealing Lou Brock and Other Brilliant Moves by a Master G.M.

In The Memoirs of Bing Devine, this quiet gentleman details -- after years of coaxing by family and friends -- the staggering scope of his 65 years in pro baseball. And he does so in typical fashion, deferring credit for every triumph and taking blame for every setback, even if not personally at fault. Devine was best known for his two decades as a big-league general manager from 1958 through 1978. He built, from scratch, four World Series teams in two cities: The Cardinals of '64, '67, '68, and New York's Miracle Mets of '69. In Devine's remarkable 88 years of life, he was deeply involved with a Who's Who of baseball greats. He pitched batting practice to his idol, Joe Medwick. He hired a young broadcaster named Jack Buck in the minors, then recommended him to the Cardinals. He worked for and with legendary GMs Branch Rickey, George Weiss and Frank Lane. He argued against Lane's proposed trade of Stan Musial to Pittsburgh. In his first act as GM, he vetoed Lane's pending trade of Ken Boyer for Richie Ashburn. He brought Johnny Keane to St. Louis and Gil Hodges to New York to lead future World Series champs. In The Memoirs of Bing Devine, Devine for the first time gives his take on that tumultuous turn of events. And, after his unlikely return three years later, of Busch's disastrous demand to trade Steve Carlton. It was Devine who inadvertently opened the Flood-gates of free agency, trading Curt Flood to Philly in a move that wound up in the U.S. Supreme Court.