Al Hirshberg

From SoSH

The poignant story of Jim Piersall attracted Hollywood film producers.

Hirshberg co-wrote Yaz's autobiography following his triple crown season in 1967

The brash and flashy Sox slugger was traded to Cleveland on April 19, 1969 -- less than a week before this book hit store shelves.

Hirshberg's final book, published just before his death in 1973.

Albert S. "Al" Hirshberg (1909-1973) was a noted Boston sportswriter from the 1940s through the early 1970s, and an author of numerous baseball books including Fear Strikes Out; The Jim Piersall Story and What's the Matter With the Red Sox?.

The former tome, which detailed the Red Sox outfielder's struggles with bipolar disorder, became the basis for the 1957 film of the same name starring Anthony Perkins and Karl Malden. In the latter title, an anecdotal look at the team's struggles and misfortunes over several decades, Hirshberg famously quoted Boston manager Mike "Pinky" Higgins as saying, "There'll be no niggers on this ball club as long as I have anything to say about it."

Biography

A native of Brookline, Massachusetts, and a Boston University graduate, Hirshberg served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He took part in 1944's Battle of Leyte and the Gulf of Lingayen Invasions in January 1945 as a member of an amphibious assault group, and also participated in several minor D-Day operations in the Philippines. He was honorably discharged from military service in 1946.

Hirshberg wrote for the Boston Post and the Boston Herald Traveler Sunday magazine before becoming a writer for periodicals such as Sport, Life, The Sporting News, Look and The Saturday Evening Post. He also served as an editor and writer for Sportland magazine, and did local sports reporting and commentary on Boston radio stations. A number of Hirshberg's books were written for juvenile readers. His non-baseball books included biographies of Boston sports legends Bob Cousy and Bobby Orr.

Viking Press commissioned Hirshberg to work with Carl Yastrzemski on his biography after Yaz's triple-crown 1967 season. Yaz discussed his writing partnership with his coauthor in Garry Valk's Letter From the Publisher in the March 25, 1968 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine:

The demands made on [Yastrzemski's] time after the World Series made it impossible for him and coauthor Al Hirshberg to work effectively in Boston. So, when Yaz had to fly to Miami for a speaking engagement, Hirshberg came along. "We registered under assumed names at the Americana Hotel," Yaz says, "and we worked for three solid days — 8 am to 6 pm each day. I found out that Al knew a lot more about me and my career than I did myself. He had dug into all the clips, and he had visited my home town — Bridgehampton, on Long Island — and talked to my folks and my friends. Originally the book was supposed to be divided into three simple parts: the 1967 season, the World Series and my own background. But as we talked, it was obvious that there was a lot more. Now there are only one or two chapters exclusively about baseball."

Working from tapes, Hirshberg put the book together, phoning Yaz whenever there was a point to be clarified. The calls reached him in Seattle, Puerto Rico, Rochester, Los Angeles and even, once or twice, at home in Lynnfield, Mass. When Carl read through the final version, he says, "I'd be reading about myself as a kid in Bridgehampton, where we never had $10,000 in one year. And, I'd think, now we're turning down deals for $70,000 and $80,000 as though it was nothing. It was scary."

While getting started on Hawk, a biography of Ken Harrelson, in January 1969, Hirshberg suffered a heart attack at his typewriter. Following a two-month break under doctor's orders, he resumed work on the book on March 10 and finished it six weeks later. Hirshberg discussed the project and his work with Harrelson in Garry Valk's Letter From the Publisher in the July 14, 1969 issue of Sports Illustrated:

"I'd heard [Harrelson] was a pretty interesting guy, that he'd done a lot of daffy things, and he didn't let me down. Ten minutes with him and I knew he was a book. The guy drove me crazy at first. I called him for our first session and we set up an appointment for my place, 9 o'clock Monday morning. Nine, 10, 11 o'clock go by, and no Hawk. At noon I call him, and wake him up. 'Gee, Al, I'm sorry,' he says. 'Tomorrow for sure, same time.' Well, we didn't get together for the first time until that Friday. The Hawk is an active guy — and he likes to sleep."

Hirshberg discovered the Hawk to be the complete opposite of Yaz. Whereas Yastrzemski had been carefully groomed for a baseball career, Harrelson, in his own words, was "just a daffy guy who happened to be a ballplayer."

"With Yaz you had to fight to get him to sit down and talk into a tape recorder," says Hirshberg. "All I had to do was corner the Hawk. Once I did, he was great; he'd talk for hours. Harrelson was so funny to write about I chuckled all the way through it. I almost forgot to put enough in about baseball."

In 1970, Hirshberg married the former Bert Milstone Cohen. On April 12, 1973, Hirshberg had another heart attack at his home in Longboat Key, Florida, and died at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. He was 63.

Following Hirshberg's death, Canadian sportswriter Frank Orr (no relation) completed Fire on Ice, Hirshberg's unfinished biography of Boston Bruins hockey legend Bobby Orr. It was published in 1975.

A collection of Hirshberg's personal papers has been cataloged on microfilm and is on file in the Boston Public Library's special collections department.

Hirshberg's widow, Bert, died February 2, 2008, of injuries sustained when she was struck by a car in Boston. On her way to a movie, she had pushed her walker out between two parked cars onto Massachusetts Avenue near Symphony Hall. She was 89.

Quotes

"Truly, The Wall is baseball's Lorelei, luring all hitters with its beauty and apparent accessibility." -- Hirshberg on Fenway Park's Green Monster in What's the Matter with the Red Sox?

Baseball Books by Al Hirshberg

• The Red Sox, the Bean and the Cod (1947)
• The Braves, the Pick and the Shovel (1948)
• Fear Strikes Out; The Jim Piersall Story (1955)
• The Battery for Madison High (1955)
• The Eddie Mathews Story (1960)
• The Jackie Jensen Story (1960)
• The Man Who Fought Back: Red Schoendienst (1961)
• From Sandlots to League President; The Story of Joe Cronin (1962)
• My Giants (with Russ Hodges, 1963)
• The Al Kaline Story (with Al Kaline, 1964)
• Cowboy at the Mike (with Curt Gowdy, 1966)
• Baseball's Greatest Catchers (1966)
• Backstage at the Mets (with Lindsey Nelson, 1966)
• Yaz (with Carl Yastrzemski, 1968)
• Henry Aaron; Quiet Superstar (1969)
• Hawk (with Ken Harrelson, 1969)
• The Greatest American Leaguers (1970)
• Batting (with Carl Yastrzemski, 1972)
• Frank Howard; The Gentle Giant (1973)
• Frank Robinson: Born Leader (1973)
• What's the Matter With the Red Sox? (1973)

Links

• IMDB page
• Publications index at WorldCat.org
• Boston Public Library special collections
• Behind the Red Sox Turnaround, Carl Yastrzemski as told to Al Hirshberg, Sport Magazine, November 1967
• Carl Yastrzemski on Al Hirshberg, Sports Illustrated, Letter from the Publisher (Garry Valk), 3/25/1968
• Al Hirshberg on Ken Harrelson, Sports Illustrated, Letter from the Publisher (Garry Valk), 7/14/1969