Yasiel Puig celebrates after hitting his first career walk-off home run against the Reds on July 28, 2013 (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) Ever since he made his to play baseball, Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig has been a flashpoint of contention among fans, sportswriters, and even his own teammates. Although criticism of his flashy personality and style of play has typically been the fodder of cranky sportswriters (we're looking at you, Bill Plaschke), "character issues"—as they're called in the industry—have long dogged Puig even before he signed with a Major League team. He has been at the center of a handful of near brawls with opposing teams, and a new book reveals at least one incident where he had to be held back from fighting his own teammate."At this point, it would be addition by subtraction," an unidentified Dodger player told Yahoo! Sports. Teammates have resented the sense of entitlement the 24-year old Cuban seems to possess, no doubt stemming at least partly from his preternatural talent and the 7-year, $42 million deal he signed in the summer of 2012 with the team.
His seeming lack of work ethic in practice and his bad habit of showing up late to games certainly don't help. In a story from last year recounted in Molly Knight's forthcoming The Best Team Money Can Buy, Puig had to be restrained when teammate Zack Greinke spitefully threw his luggage into the street while the team was in Chicago. Puig's misbehavior has also found its way off the field, such as being arrested twice for driving over 100 m.p.h. Managing the miscreant that is Puig has been one of the challenges that faces Dodger management. "Whatever Puig's issues were, he was one of the best players in the game, he sold tickets, and he was relatively cheap," writes Knight. Even his teammates realize that even though Puig can be an enormous pain in the ass, he's a special player. "That's the biggest Catch-22," said the same player who called him 'addition by subtraction.' "He's a top three or four talent in baseball." Even with all the baggage, Puig is an integral part of the Dodgers' success in recent years.
In his last two seasons with the team they've won the division and at least 92 games, and by advanced statistics has been worth at least four wins each season. Aesthetically, his spectacular and sometimes reckless style of play brings an electricity to a sport otherwise thought of as old-fashioned and stuffy by most casual fans. Baseball wouldn't nearly be as fun without his bat flips. Here’s the latest on the world’s greatest bullfighter and Spain’s conflicted relationship with his art: My friend Alex Belth gave a little write up on the Kindle Series Interview I did with Mike Tyson for Amazon HERE. New interview I conducted with Mike Tyson last week in his suite at the Ritz-Carlton. A lot of interesting material covered. Have a read of the interview here. Here’s a review from Boxiana’s Luke G. Williams for A Cuban Boxer’s Journey: Boxiana. Talking Teofilo Stevenson and Guillermo Rigondeaux with the thoughtful Ger Gilroy of Ireland’s Newstalk Radio: podcast.
Pleased to announce “The Domino Diaries” availability and release June 9th, 2015 from Picador USA in hardcover. You can pre-order the book now here: The Domino Diaries or wherever books are sold that you’d prefer. just released a podcast I did with them yesterday that you can listen to HERE. Rigondeaux fought last week in Macau (dispatched with his opponent inside of a round) and Brian Campbell over at ESPN wrote a really fine article about his prospects going forward which I was interviewed for: Rigondeaux article. Amazon just included A Cuban Boxer’s Journey on their list of 2014’s Best Books So Far, so if you have some spare change lying around that could buy a happy meal… consider my storytelling calories instead. Yahoo India’s wonderful Prem Panicker worked with me on a little interview about A Cuban Boxer’s Journey and the writing process. That can be found here. Amazon just selected A Cuban Boxer’s Journey as one of their “2014’s Best Books So Far.”
should be out next week. Was a real privilege to be included amongst the other wonderful journalists and writers they’ve interviewed for their series (Evan Wright, Jay Caspian Kang, and Gay Talese’s podcasts, to name just a few, make for great listening). If you haven’t had a chance to check out my short film “Ali vs Stevenson: The Greatest Fight That Never Was” please head over to Ring Magazine’s write up by the super talented Brian Harty: here. Happy 4th of July! A new longform article and documentary short, focussed on the legendary Cuban boxer Teofilo Stevenson, can be found here. The story begins in Isla Mujeres, one of the prime human smuggling destinations on earth for Cubans, where Teofilo Stevenson’s daughter Helmys comes to visit me to talk about her father. We meet for dinner at the same hotel where Dodger’s superstar Yasiel Puig was held captive at machete point after being smuggled out of Cuba. My new book on Cuban boxers is available for purchase (at about the price of an iced coffee) here:
A Cuban Boxer’s Journey: From Castro’s Traitor To American Champion An interview is up that I did with Brian Harty over at The Ring Magazine’s website that can be found here: A Cuban Boxer’s Journey. We explored the origins of the book, Teofilo Stevenson, Felix Savon, Guillermo Rigondeaux, and the extensive human smuggling ring dealing with Cubans looking for a way off the island. Brian has a review of the book in the magazine out mid-June that’s as succinct a take on what the book’s about as I could hope to offer prospective readers.Yasiel Puig reportedly claimed on waivers Yasiel Puig’s official exit from Los Angeles may finally be imminent. According to a report by Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball on Tuesday, Puig has been claimed on waivers. Though the identity of the claimant is still unknown, the Dodgers can attempt to work out a deal with that team. sources: puig has been claimed on waivers. dodgers can try to work out a deal with that team, if they can.