Skipper: Why Baseball Managers Matter and Always Will

by Scott Miller

Overview

From the award-winning baseball writer and coauthor of Ninety Percent Mental, an unprecedented look at the job of Major League Baseball managers—showing how they shape the game, and how the ever-changing game shapes them.

Skipper takes on an ambitious Moneyball-esque premise: a deep dive into the ongoing struggle for control that often takes place behind the scenes between Major League Baseball managers and the ownership groups, and now, their data analysts. In a culture still attempting to come to terms with the Digital Age, there’s a bigger story behind the evolution of authority of managing inside the major leagues. 

Packed with baseball history, interviews with dozens of MLB's current stars and veterans, and an exclusive, inside look at the day-to-day life of manager  LA Dodgers’ Dave Roberts, Skipper is a fascinating look into the highs, the lows, and the inner workings of the changing world of professional baseball.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780306832703
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	05/13/2025
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Scott Miller is an award-winning veteran national MLB writer who has been a contributor to the New York Times, the national baseball columnist at Bleacher Report and CBSSports.com, and covered baseball extensively for the Los Angeles Times and St. Paul Pioneer Press before that. He has been honored several times as one of the top baseball writers in the nation by the Associated Press Sports Editors, and his work has been cited in Best American Sportswriting 2019.  Miller co-authored Ninety Percent Mental with former MLB All-Star pitcher Bob Tewksbury in 2018, and is a former analyst for MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM. He lives in Carlsbad, CA.

Editorial Reviews

Skipper is one of the best baseball books in years, but it’s really much more—a lively look at leadership in a public pressure cooker. Scott Miller, one of baseball’s most gifted and trusted reporters, goes far beyond the press conference to reveal the humanity in a job that everyone thinks they can handle, but few truly understand.”—Tyler Kepner, author of K and The Grandest Stage

“This captivating narrative takes readers behind the scenes, revealing the heart and soul of the sport we all love. Whether you're a die-hard fan or a casual observer, this book invites you to discover how the spirit of the game endures through the ages.”—Torii Hunter, five-time All-Star, nine-time Gold Glove winner

“Skipper addresses an important but sometimes overlooked topic—the impact of technology on the evolution of the baseball manager. Scott Miller makes a powerful case for why managers remain vital, but in different ways than before. Former Yankees manager Joe Torre once told GM Brian Cashman, ‘Don’t forget that this game has a heartbeat.’ Skipper is a lively and richly detailed reminder, superbly crafted by Miller.”—Ken Rosenthal, senior baseball writer, The Athletic

“Baseball Gold from a Baseball Guy. From Billy Martin and Earl Weaver to Alex Cora and Kevin Cash, Scott Miller takes you into the dugout and clubhouse. I read Skipper from cover to cover in one sitting and when I finally put it down, I expected to see sunflower seeds on the floor of my den.”—Dan Shaughnessy, author of Francona and The Curse of the Bambino

“Skipper is filled with anecdote after anecdote around the most notable in-game decisions over the last half-century, with the managers telling the readers about all the complications that framed their choices. The excellent and comprehensive work is not surprising to me, after watching Scott Miller extract details from big-league All-Stars over his remarkable career. In this era when narrative-bending is exchanged for access, Scott is an outlier: He seeks the truth in every situation.”—Buster Olney, author of The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty

“Scott Miller has always been one of the best and most insightful baseball writers in America. But this might be his finest work, because Skipper is the definitive book on the complicated, new-age world of modern managing. Reading it, I felt just the way I did when I read Moneyball. We were all pretty sure we knew what baseball and baseball managers have always looked like. And this isn’t it! Once you’ve read Skipper, you’ll understand exactly why.”—Jayson Stark, senior baseball writer, The Athletic

“Simply, this is the ultimate and definitive book of MLB managers. It’s a must-read with Scott Miller brilliantly capturing an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look with today’s managers and their predecessors. He takes you into the living room of the Bob Boone house where he is watching his son, Aaron, managing the Yankees. He takes you into the day-to-day grind with Dave Roberts as he leads the Los Angeles Dodgers to the World Series championship. And he takes you into the pain Art Howe endured watching Moneyball. Every chapter is absolutely riveting, giving you an exclusive perspective into the complicated world of baseball managers.”—Bob Nightengale, baseball columnist, USA Today

“There are certainties in baseball. 60-feet 6-inches from the pitcher’s mound to the plate. 90 feet from one base to the next. And Scott Miller at the ballpark, several hours before game time in the dugout waiting for a one-on-one conversation with the manager. And if the manager isn’t in the dugout, then certainly they meet in the manager’s office. What Miller brings to the page is the insight of the manager, about the players he manages and oversees. The game isn’t just numbers, and lineups, it is the people who play it, and how they play it under the guidance of the Skipper. The managers and their personalities. Each manager has his own view of his and opposing players and how the game can and should be played. That is the essence of the game. Its heart and its soul. Why baseball managers matter (and always will). Scott Miller is the Skipper of this game.”—“Charlie Steiner, radio play-by-play, Los Angeles Dodgers

"Seasoned baseball reporter Miller takes readers inside front offices, locker rooms, dugouts, and the living rooms of living legends in this intimate and definitive look at where managers now fit in a game transformed. Miller... often lets skippers speak seemingly unfiltered for paragraphs at a time. The result is plainspoken, colorful, and deeply insightful—much like this book. 
Essential reading for students of the game and aspiring leaders."
 —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2025-03-22
The shifting view from baseball’s hottest seat.

Seasoned baseball reporter Miller takes readers inside front offices, locker rooms, dugouts, and the living rooms of living legends in this intimate and definitive look at where managers now fit in a game transformed. “Managing always has been the industry’s loneliest job,” Miller writes. “It’s just lonely today for different reasons.” The rise—and perhaps tyranny—of analytics, which Miller says “caps a player’s ability by identifying what he doesn’t do well and, instead of teaching and developing those areas, finds a second puzzle piece that simply plugs in to overcome the first player’s shortcomings,” has taken decision-making out of managers’ hands and distributed it across organizations. Little in today’s game escapes the influence of front office economic models and stat-happy baseball ops functions. But winning the numbers game doesn’t always mean winning ballgames, and it’s the manager alone who must step to the plate when collective calls swing and miss. This takes a toll. Like U.S. presidents, Miller points out, baseball managers also “usually look shockingly older at the end of their terms than at the beginning.” Survival demands certain qualities: an ability to flex, a willingness to collaborate with pointy-headed suits, strong leadership, and the kind of knowledge that can help players believe in a mission—and in themselves. This is a book filled with warmth and soul, a credit to the trust Miller has built across years of clubhouse reporting. He spends time in future Hall of Famer Dusty Baker’s vineyard; watches Aaron Boone’s Yankees from the home of Phillies legend Bob Boone, Aaron’s father; and devotes a chapter to four days spent alongside the Dodgers’ Dave Roberts for an “an unprecedented peek inside the day-to-day life of a modern manager.” Miller deploys a light editorial hand and often lets skippers speak seemingly unfiltered for paragraphs at a time. The result is plainspoken, colorful, and deeply insightful—much like this book.

Essential reading for students of the game and aspiring leaders.

Kirkus Reviews