Billy Ball

”[Billy Martin’s] homecoming 40 years ago helped revive a pathetically cheap and disrespected franchise that still carries some of his tenets… . Tafoya stays on course with how much Martin changed the culture of a once-ragtag franchise … Martin proved you can go home and be revered…“– “Chicago Tribune”“A wild, wacky, blissful read about a magical baseball run. Billy Martin is best remembered as a Yankee, but his time revitalizing the A’s speaks to a larger-than-life figure’s impact on a franchise in need of a jolt. This is tremendous stuff.”–Jeff Pearlman, New York Times bestselling author of eight books, including The Bad Guys Won!“Back home and at the height of his managerial powers, Billy Martin turned the rag-tag A’s into a winner and a pop culture phenomenon. Billy Ball explains in great detail how he pulled it off. The story seems especially amazing given the lack of daring and the decline of influence among managers today”.–Tom Verducci, New York Times Best-Selling Author, Fox & MLB Network Analyst“Berkeley-born Billy Martin saved Major League Baseball in Oakland. Dale Tafoya’s Billy Ball brings the Martin legend and legacy back to life with a well-crafted deep dive into Martin’s many often-contradictory sides and his time leading the A’s.”– “Sports Illustrated”“Dale Tafoya has written a first-class piece of journalism on Billy Martin’s effect on Oakland when he took over as manager of the A’s in 1980. Billy, who was from the Bay Area, took a dreadful team and built it into a winner. These were the glory days of Billy Ball.”–Peter Golenbock, author of Wild, High, and Tight: The Life and Death of Billy Martin“Dale Tafoya’s new book, “Billy Ball: Billy Martin and the Resurrection of the Oakland A’s,” is an excellent read about the early 1980s A’s renaissance, led by the always interesting Martin.“– “New York Post”“In Billy Ball, Dale Tafoya takes us back to a time before the analytics revolution, when the manager was not a figurehead but a must-see celebrity who could re-shape a team’s whole outlook. Tafoya brings Billy Martin to life through exhaustive research and captivating insights from players, coaches, reporters and others who lived through an exciting era in Oakland baseball that finally gets the book it deserves.”–Tyler Kepner, The New York Times“Martin was Charlie Finley’s last manager and although he didn’t lead the A’s to any pennants, his impact enabled the franchise to remain in Oakland. This focuses on an often overlooked period, more successful than many realize, in Martin’s career.”– “Tulsa World”“Tafoya does an excellent job of re-creating Martin’s rise and fall in Oakland and his epic battles with [Charlie] Finley. Fine baseball history.”– “Booklist”“The story is amazing and no one tells it like Dale Tafoya.”– “Castle Country Radio”“There was never a dull moment when Martin was in the mix. This book proves it and more.”–Tom Hoffarth, The Drill

Dale Tafoya is author of Bash Brothers: A Legacy Subpoenaed (Potomac Books, 2008) and has followed Oakland A’s baseball for thirty years. His work has appeared in the Oakland Tribune, Contra Costa Times, Orlando Sentinel, Modesto Bee, The Source, and Beckett Baseball Card Monthly. In addition to his writing credits, Tafoya has been a guest on ESPN Radio, FOX Sports, Cumulus Media and Comcast Sports. Tafoya resides in the San Francisco-Bay Area.