Keith Hernandez compared his 1979 race for the batting title to being chased by The Mummy
Has Keith Hernandez's fabulous Twitter account given you a renewed interest in the many mysteries of the Mets broadcaster's life? (You don't have to say anything, we know the answer is yes.) Well, you're in luck, because he just published a memoir.
Fittingly titled "I'm Keith Hernandez," it'll tell you everything you ever wanted to know about Hadji's dad.
— keith Hernandez (@keithhernandez) May 6, 2018
Yes, Hadji gets plenty of mentions, but Hernandez's book focuses mostly on the early years of his career, before the Cardinals traded him to the Mets. It takes you from his early struggles at the plate to 1979, the year he really put it all together and challenged Pete Rose for the NL batting title. In his words, it was less a race and more a scene straight out of a drive-in movie theater:
All of Hernandez's writing is colorful, and this isn't the only horror-movie image you'll find in it. Early in the book, he describes his time in the Texas League (emphasis ours):
If you pick up "I'm Keith Hernandez," you'll get a lot of incredible stories, but be warned -- some of them are very candid and perhaps best suited for a mature audience. There's plenty of his cozy Twitter personality to be found as well, like when he lists all his favorite albums, or extols Gary Cohen's many virtues.
Overall, the memoir captures what it's probably like to hang out with Keith. It's full of a great love for baseball, tempered with just a bit of a "you kids get off my lawn" attitude. Let's just say that Hernandez isn't the biggest fan of modern analytics. But he does enjoy sharing both his successes and failures, and doesn't mind telling jokes where he's the punchline.
