Saturday, May 13, 2023

Shakespeare Reference in The Greatest Game

Richard Bradley's book about that fateful game in 1978 (the Bucky Fuckin' Dent game), The Greatest Game: The Day That Bucky, Yaz, Reggie, Pudge, And Company Played The Most Memorable Game In Baseball's Most Intense Rivalry, contains a reference to Hamlet. The reference comes in something that Yankees backup catcher Cliff Johnson is quoted as saying: "I feel it in my heart of hearts that he basically had a good heart" (p. 177). The phrase of "heart of hearts" comes from Act III Scene ii, when Hamlet says: "Give me that man/That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him/In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart,/As I do thee." Cliff Johnson, by the way, is talking about Billy Martin.

This book was originally published in 2008, the hardcover title being The Greatest Game: The Yankees, The Red Sox, And The Playoff Of '78. The trade paperback edition was published in February 2009.

No comments:

Post a Comment