Glen Rock Man Interviews Sons Of MLB Players In First Book

GLEN ROCK, NJ — A Glen Rock resident has interviewed the sons of former professional baseball players for his first book.

Mark Braff, a 37-year borough resident and former journalist, is the author of "Sons of Baseball: Growing Up With a Major League Dad" — set to release on May 10.

Braff — who previously managed sports publicity at USA Networks — spoke with 18 sons of former MLB players, including Yankees Yogi Berra, Mariano Rivera, Ron Guidry, Jim Bouton, and Roger Maris (some of whom spent summers in parts of Bergen County), and gathered the exclusive interviews for the book.

The sons shared stories, ballpark memories, and the challenges and rewards of having fathers "whose talents enabled them to reach the pinnacle of their profession(s)," according to Braff's publisher Rowman & Littlefield.

"Sons of (MLB) players grow up in a unique environment, not only because they are raised by professional athletes... but also by the game itself," the publisher said. "The locker rooms, the corridors beneath the stands, dugouts and fields are the playgrounds of their youth."

Each chapter of the 67-year-old's book is devoted to one son talking about his experiences — from one who disclosed that his dad has not been able to acknowledge his son's sexuality as a gay man, to one who said he had once absconded with the groundskeepers' cart.

"Sons of Baseball", which features a foreword by Cal Ripken, Jr. (son of the late Orioles player and coach who played for the same Baltimore team), provides a "unique perspective" on the lives of professional ballplayers and their families, the publisher said.

Braff, who recently retired as a consultant for his own public relations firm, "takes us inside different types of father-son baseball relationships, some filled with fun, others with regrets," MLB.com reporter Mark Feinsand said in a review.

"(He provides) a look at some of the game's greatest players in a completely different light," the review said.