Leo Mazzone's Tales from the Mound

by Leo Mazzone, Scott Freeman, John Smoltz (Foreword)

These unique tales, including an entire chapter of new ones, describe Leo Mazzone's ascent through the minor leagues to the dugout of the Atlanta Braves, where he was the named the best pitching coach in baseball in a player´s poll conducted by Sports Illustrated. Though he is widely known for nervously rocking in the dugout during close games, Mazzone's pitching staff in Atlanta either led or was second in the major leagues in earned-run average in all but one year between 1992-2005. Mazzone also coached six Cy Young Award winners - more than any other active coach - and the core group of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz anchored what some consider the greatest pitching staff ever assembled on a major league roster. He developed pitchers at various levels of the Braves organization beginning in 1979, and in 2006 takes his talents to the Baltimore Orioles as their new pitching coach. Nothing gave him more satisfaction in Atlanta, however, than the 14 consecutive seasons of the team's extraordinary run of division championships. The updated softcover edition of Leo Mazzone's Tales from the Braves Mound reveals his coaching philosophies and provides insight into his relationships with Braves pitchers, ranging from such future Hall of Famers as Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz, to the combustible (and controversial) John Rocker, and on to the underdog 2005 division championship team that beat all the odds. An assortment of stories and memories from the coach´s time on the Braves bench makes Leo Mazzone's Tales from the Braves Mound a must-read for any Braves fan - as well as for baseball fans across the country.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Nonfiction, History

174 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Basically a collection of memories recorded in a book about the glorious days of the Atlanta Braves in the 1990's. A must-read for Braves fans to relive the brilliant pitching that spoiled us rotten!

[Emily]

He better be the first pitching coach in the Hall of Fame. Love me some Leo

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Transparency on the front end, I am a huge admirer of Leo Mazzone’s philosophies and approaches to coaching pitchers. Every Braves game I watch, I long for the wisdom of Leo and The Professor to sink into these younger guys to maintain their ability to play vs so many surgeries. Being the massive Braves fan I am, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this treasure from Leo. That being said, editing could have been better in organizing the content. Overall, I’d read/learn anything I could from Leo Mazonne! Those were the days!!!

[KF-in-Georgia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Leo, but this is the third edition and he still hasn't found a decent editor. I'm not talking about needing someone to cut excess text. I'm talking about someone to catch the errors that spellcheck lets by. He tells good stories, and he seems to be a nice guy, but he's not the poet laureate of major league baseball.

[Dawson Harrelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is one of the best books I have ever read. This was a very in-depth pov of major league pitchers. Not only just regular major league pitchers but major league Hall of Famers. This will go down as one of the greatest books of all time in my opinion.

[Carson Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super solid book, just not great.

[Nick Fischlein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book

Braves all day! Greatest pitching coach to have ever lived!! Highly recommend this book to any and all braves fans!!

[Barry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun for Braves fans but Mazzone is no wordsmith