Rick Wolff

Richard H. Wolff

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 170 lb.
• School Harvard University

• Born July 14, 1951
• Died April 10, 2023

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

2B Rick Wolff was drafted in the 33rd round of the 1972 amateur draft by the Detroit Tigers. He played for the Anderson Tigers in 1973 and hit .246/~.340/.316 with one home run and 26 RBI in 86 games. He drew 41 walks and scored 39 runs. Wolff hit .229/~.347/.301 with one home runs and 25 RBI in 110 games for the Clinton Pilots in 1974 and his .932 fielding percentage was the worst of any Midwest League regular second baseman. He wrote a book called What's a Nice Harvard Boy Like You Doing in the Bushes? describing his experience in the minors.

From 1979-1985, Wolff coached the baseball team at Mercy College.

He was a writer for Sports Illustrated and editor for Macmillan Publishing who got into 3 games for the 1989 South Bend White Sox at 2B, briefly replacing Cesar Bernhardt. He was 4-7 with a double, three RBI and a walk with no strikeouts for a final line of .571/.625/.714. The club voted him a championship ring and he had the highest average in the White Sox chain that year. When he was compared to the mythical Roy Hobbs, he said "I don't think Roy Hobbs felt as bad as I did the next morning."

Wolff found himself on the Cleveland Indians coaching staff from 1990 to 1994, where he dealt with baseball psychology.

In 1993, he wrote Good Sports: A Concerned Parent's Guide to Little League and Other Competitive Youth Sports and is also the author of Game Day Baseball. A complete list of his books is shown below.

Nowadays, Wolff is considered an authority on childrens' sports and sports psychology, and he is the chairman of the Center for Sports Parenting. He has also hosted The Sports Edge on WFAN Radio in New York City. In 1997, he co-hosted a videotape program called Youth Sports with quarterback Steve Young.

List of books authored

• Good Sports: A Concerned Parent's Guide to Little League and Other Competitive Youth Sports
• Coaching Kids for Dummies
• Game Day Baseball: The Player's Companion
• What's a Nice Harvard Boy Like You Doing in the Bushes?
• Parenting Young Athletes the Ripken Way: Ensuring the Best Experience for Your Kids in Any Sport (co-authored with Cal Ripken, Jr.)
• Playing Better Baseball
• Golf Dirty Tricks (co authored by Jim Becker, Andy Mayer and Barrie Maguire)
• Ted Williams (Baseball Legends)
• Sports Parenting (Training Camp Guide to)
• Brooks Robinson (Baseball Legends)
• Sports Parenting Edge
• A Thing or Two About Soccer (co authored with Michael Teitelbaum and James Buckley)
• A Thing Or Two About Baseball (co authored with David Fischer)
• A Thing of Two about Golf (co authored with Larry Dennis and James Irwin)
• Life for Real Dummies: Life for the Totally Clueless (For Dummies Series) (co authored with Richard Sandomir)
• Sports Illustrated: A Parody Issue
• Breaking Into the Big Leagues (co authored with Al Goldis)
• Baseball...a Laughing Matter! (co authored with Warner Fusselle, Brian Zevnik, Bill Wilson)
• The Psychology of Winning Baseball: A Coach's Handbook
• The Sports Parenting Edge: The Winning Game Plan for Every Athlete--From T-Ball to College Recruiting

Sources include 1974 and 1975 Baseball Guides, 1990 Baseball Almanac, Midwest League Guide.com