Williams: Rivera’s book not exactly a home run

In June, two books about Major League Baseball made the best sellers’ lists.

One hung around on the charts for several weeks. One was a page-turner — it was hard to resist seeing what was coming next.

The former was not the latter.

Mariano Rivera’s “The Closer — My Story” is the book that remained a top-10 book for a while. It probably didn’t hurt that the retired New York Yankees pitcher made promotional appearances on popular talk shows including “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.”

The other book is “Blood Sport,” which has the subtitle of “Alex Rodriguez, Biogenesis and the Quest to End Baseball’s Steroid Era.” It was written by Tim Elfrink of the Miami New Times and Gus Garcia-Roberts of Newsday. It’s the one for Indians and Pirates fans.

Rivera, one of the core members of the Yankees’ five championships from 1996-2009, retired last year. Only shortstop Derek Jeter is active from that 1996 team, but his retirement begins Sunday evening.

Rivera’s book is an autobiography, but the book credits Wayne Coffey of the New York Daily News as co-author. A few years ago, Coffey wrote a terrific book, “The Boys of Winter,” about the 1980 USA hockey team. When I saw his name on the cover, I had high hopes for this collaboration.

Unfortunately, Rivera, the greatest closer in major league history, was unwilling to go the distance on a few subjects.

Take performance-enhancing drugs. Jeter and Rivera are admired even by those who hate the Yankees and owner George Steinbrenner, who outspent everyone to win those five rings. One reason why is Rivera and Jeter have never been suspected of cheating.

Rivera writes that “taking PEDs is cheating, plain and simple. It robs the game of integrity and legitimacy.” I couldn’t wait to see his opinions on teammates Roger Clemens (World Series winner in 1999 and 2000) and Rodriguez (2009).

For the most part, Rivera dished little dirt on his infamous teammates.

In discussing the 2000 World Series Clemens-Mike Piazza incident (where the pitcher fielded a broken bat and fired it close to the Mets batter), Rivera describes Clemens an “insanely intense competitor.” But Rivera writes that he never asked the ace, whose reputation eventually was tarnished by steroid allegations, what was going through his mind when he threw the bat.

Why not?

Rivera constantly reminds the reader of his strong Christian faith so it’s a little puzzling how he throws third baseman Scott Brosius under the bus in recounting Rivera’s biggest professional failure — blowing the save and losing Game 7 of the 2001 World Series to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Little credit goes to the Diamondbacks for rallying against the greatest closer in MLB history.

To be fair, Rivera is less charitable to A-Rod, his teammate from 2004-13, but no apologies are offered for winning championships with enhanced performers.

Rivera’s book is a love letter to the Yankees and their fans. “Blood Sport” — not so much.

As polarizing as Barry Bonds and Clemens became once Major League Baseball finally decided it had steroids problem, Rodriguez has surpassed them as baseball’s top cheater and biggest villain.

“Blood Sport” documents how the Miami clinic Biogenesis eventually became linked to baseball’s PED epidemic. Retiring MLB Commissioner Bud Selig would like you to believe that the release of the Mitchell Report in 2007 exposed all of baseball’s cheats and rid the game of PEDs.

As if.

Elfrink and Garcia-Roberts expose just how cheating has been thriving in recent seasons. It’s a fascinating read for those who love baseball but realize the sport probably is no cleaner today than it was in 1998 and Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa duped us into believing in natural power.

The hardest-hitting chapter is when the authors detail that today’s punishments and suspensions are insignificant compared to the salaries cheaters are getting.

Take former Indians shortstop Jhonny Peralta, who was making $6 million with Detroit in 2013. His 50-game suspension for PEDs cost him $1.6 million. In the offseason, the St. Louis Cardinals signed Peralta to a four-year contract worth $53 million guaranteed.

Who says cheaters never prosper?

Tom Williams is a sportswriter at The Vindicator. Write him at williams@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @Williams_Vindy.