Full Swing: Hits, Runs and Errors in a Writer's Life

Berkow, sports columnist for the New York Times, begins his memoir with his spring 1939 conception (""It's difficult to picture one's parents in the throes of such private moments, but facts must be countenanced"") and uses his ever-shrinking Baseball Writer's Association of America membership card number (his first card was ""around no. 800 out of about eight hundred members,"" now it's 22) to underscore how long he is in the tooth. Despite his less than privileged childhood in Chicago, Berkow's entry into the sportswriting world is fairly conventional: in high school, he was inspired to write a poem when the Dodgers won the 1955 World Series, and he began his stint on the college newspaper by interviewing the tennis coach. With its enthusiasm for sports and literature, Berkow's story of climbing the social and professional ladders will appeal to his fans and aspiring sportswriters.