Gib Bodet, Major League Scout

Gib Bodet’s 70-year love affair with baseball dates from his childhood in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, and it has carried him through parts of six decades as a scout with the Red Sox, Tigers, Expos, Angels, Royals, and Dodgers. He played ball in high school and the military, coached youth and legion teams, and finally made the game his profession at age 38. In this memoir, Bodet recalls humorous stories about people he worked for and with—Peter O’Malley, Walter Shannon, Gene Autry, John Schuerholz, Al Campanis and long-time friend Tom Lasorda among them—and describes his role in drafting and signing such players as Mike Piazza, Eric Karros, Todd Hollandsworth, Paul Konerko, Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley.