Pitchers Do Get Lonely, and Other Sports Stories

This collection of Berkow's New York Times columns and feature stories covering the '80s runs the gamut from a moving account of a retarded boy's adventure at a baseball camp to a hilarious story that demonstrates ex-Knick Bill Bradley's wonderful sense of humor. There are entries about the major sports and their participants; some have considerable bite, like Berkow's argument that what hockey needs is more, not less, violence to increase its appeal to fans and his musings about why George Steinbrenner wanted to put a plaque of Billy Martin in the Yankee Stadium outfield. There are also appreciations of Hank Aaron, Jimmy Connors, Bronko Nagurski and others. The only weak section is the concluding ""Strictly Personal,'' which reinforces the old allegation that sports writers are merely failed jocks. (April)