Built to Win: Inside Stories and Leadership Strategies from Baseball's Winningest GM

  • Author : John Schuerholz
  • Author : Larry Guest
  • Binding : Kindle Edition
  • Dewey Decimal Number : 796.3576409758231
  • Format : Kindle Book
  • Label : Grand Central Publishing
  • List Price : $9.99 (USD)
  • Manufacturer : Grand Central Publishing
  • Number Of Items : 1
  • Number Of Pages : 288
  • Publication Date : 2008-12-01
  • Publisher : Grand Central Publishing
  • Release Date : 2008-12-14
  • Studio : Grand Central Publishing

He lost two Cy Young winners in two years, signed a 47-year-old to be his starting first baseman, played 17 rookies in 2005, and still took his team to the playoffs. Baseball is John Schuerholz's world--everyone is just playing in it. Now, in BUILT TO WIN, the legendary manager takes readers behind the scenes of the most successful franchise in recent history--and shows how his unique philosophies and leadership have helped the Atlanta Braves achieve something no team has ever come close to accomplishing. He candidly peels back the curtain, from his first World Series with the Kansas City Royals to his departure for the struggling Braves. No sooner did Schuerholz arrive than they won their first title in 1991...and the rest is history.

- Product Description

Customer Reviews:

Rated 2.5 stars Customers rated Built to Win: Inside Stories and Leadership Strategies from Baseball's Winningest GM 2.5 stars out of 5.0 based on 17 reviews:

  • Worst baseball book

    by M. torres - 2010-05-26  Rated 1 stars
    Wow, with all due respect to John Scherholz this book is just a waste of time....The number of contradictions and arrogant comments are just too much....

  • Very good book

    by Charles M. Jetmore - 2010-02-12  Rated 4 stars
    This book is not for everybody. However, it is very good to help you think through things that come up in a business. It is not for just baseball. One might think so, however, because of the cover. It is worth the price.

  • Too Much Philosophy, Too Little Baseball

    by Zachary Koenig (Fergus Falls, MN) - 2009-01-26  Rated 1 stars
    As I began reading this book, I figured that it would explain the inside stories of how the Atlanta Braves were so successful from 1991-2005. The book tries to do this, but does so in completely the wrong fashion, making it an incredibly boring read. Instead of describing the interesting deals/performances/stories that likely characterized those classic Braves teams, John Schuerholz instead spews out little more than inspirational quotes and philosophical points of view that, though they may contribute to his success, are unique to him and thus not inherently interesting. Schuerholz is trying to lay out the "basic mindset" of a winning GM, but what he doesn't realize is that each GM/organization (even the winning ones) goes through different methods of building a good team. The book begins with a little story about how Barry Bonds nearly became an Atlanta Brave, then trails off into an unnecessarily harsh criticism of Oakland GM Billy Beane's "Moneyball" philosophy (stupid due to the fact that Beane has had just as much success with the model as Schuerholz) and finally descends into little more than Schuerholz spouting quotes about "winning" for the next 100-200 pages. There is no context to the stories told in the book. In fact, I found the only interesting part of the entire book to be the last 10 or so pages, where each Braves team (from 1991-2005) is given a quick summary. Had the entire book been about that, I would be giving it a much better review! Thus, please DO NOT begin reading this book if you are expecting great Braves baseball stories. You will likely enjoy this book much more than I if you are into inspirational memoirs, but otherwise stay away.

  • A few interesting stories, but very poorly written.

    by B. Caudill - 2008-12-05  Rated 2 stars
    Every now and then Schuerholz will offer up some inside info on different trades, almost trades (Barry Bonds nearly traded to Atlanta, for example), and free agent signings that will keep you somewhat interested. Overall, however, the book is just boring, repetitive (by chapter 6 you will hate the phrase "evergreen clause"), poorly worded, and offers little insight on how the business of baseball works that most fans didn't already know. Schuerholz also takes a few pot shots at the "Money Ball" way of thinking, and uses very poor examples to support his arguments. (He uses his signing of Raul Mondesi as a argument in favor of an emphasis on scouting, then later in the chapter acknowledges that Mondesi was a complete bust and had to release him half way through the season) I enjoyed taking a closer look at a baseball front office, but they poor writing and dead-end anecdotes that Schuerholz offers up made this book a bit difficult to read.

  • Not much baseball

    by W. Rudd (Auburn Hills, MI) - 2008-08-11  Rated 2 stars
    I picked up a copy of the book at the local Dollar store and I am glad I didn't pay full price for it. I am not sure if he is surrounded by a group of toadies or what but I have to wonder who gave him any feed back on the manuscript. The man must have a wealth of knowledge about how trades were made, how some people he thought were stars failed and others he thought wouldn't make it did, etc. There were some good stories such as the Bonds to Atlanta trade. I had heard Andre Thomas was involved and he wasn't mentioned so I don't know if the full story wasn't in the book or that was just a rumor. He had some interesting things to say about Andrew Jones (positive) and some agents (negative) but really nothing about what went on in Kansas City, why that team collapsed or how he worked with Bobby Cox to make trades. He did make some great trades and mentioned a few but not much into the thought process behind them. I wouldn't know who the intended audience for the book is. It's not for baseball junkies, it's not for business managers, maybe people who want a few tips on management techniques? I don't know but if you are looking for baseball don't expect to find much here.

Your Opinion Counts:

Copyright © 1999-2010 Data Growth Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Use |