Swing and a Hit: Nine Innings of What Baseball Taught Me

This fun and fiery New York Times bestselling memoir tells the life story of All Star Yankee and five-time World Champion, Paul O’Neill, like you’ve never seen him before.

In Swing and Hit​, O’Neill elaborates on his most important hitting principles, lessons, and memories--exploring those elements across ten chapters (to align with the nine innings of a baseball game and one extra inning). Here, O’Neill, with his intense temperament, describes what he did as a hitter, how he adjusted to pitchers, how he boosted his confidence, how he battled with umpires (and water coolers), and what advice he would give to current hitters.

O’Neill has always been a tough out at the plate. Recalling how he started to swing at bat as a two-year-old and kept swinging it professionally until he was thirty-eight, O’Neill provides constant insights into the beauty and frustration of playing baseball. The legendary Ted Williams said using a round bat to hit a round ball is the most difficult thing to do in sports. Naturally, O’Neill, who once received a surprise call from Williams that was filled with hitting advice, agrees.

Swing and Hit​ features O’Neill’s most thoughtful revelations and offers clubhouse stories from some of the biggest names in Major League Baseball--hitters, managers, and teammates like Joe Torre, Derek Jeter, Don Mattingly, Pete Rose, and Bernie Williams.

Remember, O’Neill, ever the perfectionist, was the type of hitter who believed that pitchers didn’t ever get him out. For that incredible reason and so many others, Swing and Hit​ is essential reading for any baseball fan.

Paul Andrew O’Neill played 17 seasons in the major leagues. He played for the Cincinnati Reds (1985-1992) and New York Yankees (1993-2001). O’Neill compiled 281 home runs, 1,269 runs batted in, 2,107 hits, and a lifetime batting average of .288. He won the American League batting title in 1994 with a .359 average. He was a five-time World Series champion and a five-time All-Star (1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, and 1998). After retiring from playing baseball, O’Neill became a broadcaster for the Yankees on the YES Network. He currently works on the network as the lead game analyst and color commentator.

Jack Curry is an analyst on the Yankees’ pre and postgame shows on the YES Network, where he has worked since 2010. He was part of YES’s Emmy Award-winning Yankee coverage in 2011. He is also a columnist for Yesnetwork.com. Until 2009, he was a national baseball correspondent for The New York Times. Before taking over that position, he was the beat writer covering the Yankees for the Times. He worked at the Times for 22 years.