In London, Ben Todd reported Real Madrid MF DAVID BECKHAM’s father, TED, has “secretly written a warts-and-all book” entitled “DAVID BECKHAM: MY SON.” The book is “almost certain to earn a six-figure sum,” on which Ted Beckham is “hoping he can ‘retire.’” Friends of David Beckham and his wife, VICTORIA, said that they “are privately furious that Ted wrote the book without even telling them” (London MIRROR, 7/17).
OF ICE AND MEN: ANDREW PODNIEKS has written “LOST SEASON” about the NHL lockout. The book is being published by Fenn Publishing and is scheduled for release in September. Podnieks also wrote “THE SPECTACULAR SIDNEY CROSBY” about the prospective top pick in this year’s NHL Draft, which is also scheduled to be released in the fall (TORONTO STAR, 7/17).
THE HUB: Former Red Sox Exec VP/Baseball Operations
LOU GORMAN, on his new book “
ONE PITCH FROM GLORY”: “I wrote almost 3,000 pages in longhand. The editor told me, ‘We can’t print this; it’s too big.’ Well, by the time we worked it out the Sox had won it all, so we decided to sort of link the agony of 1986 with the ecstasy of 2004” (
BOSTON HERALD, 7/20)....ESPN Books on October 1 will release the first book by ESPN.com’s
BILL SIMMONS, titled, “
NOW I CAN DIE IN PEACE: HOW CLEMENS, BUCKNER, PEDRO AND THE RED SOX MADE A MAN OUT OF THE SPORTS GUY.” The book, which centers on Simmons’ life as a Boston sports fan, bears the same title as the column he wrote the day after the Patriots won their first Super Bowl in ’02 (
THE DAILY).
MUDDY WATERS: In St. Paul, Charley Walters reports former Twins P JIM “MUDCAT” GRANT will publish a book in November about “how African-Americans were mistreated during the early years of his major league playing career” (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 7/21).
REVIEWS: In Chicago, Rick Morrissey wrote that ESPN.com’s GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI’s book, “CUBS NATION: 162 GAMES, 162 STORIES, 1 ADDICTION,” about the team’s ’04 season, is a “wonderful book” that “perfectly captured the entire Cubs experience” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 7/17)....In Boston, Rich Barlow wrote JERRY CRASNICK’s new book “LICENSE TO DEAL” about MLB agents “is more a study of egos than earned run averages and of business than at-bat brawn. It’s an engaging read” (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/17).
