Burton Evan Rocks (born 1972, New York City) is an American sports attorney,
agent
Agent may refer to:
Espionage, investigation, and law
*, spies or intelligence officers
* Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another
** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuran ...
, and writer. Rocks
collaborated with Yankee outfielder
Paul O'Neill on the 2003
''New York Times'' bestseller ''Me and My Dad: A Baseball Memoir''.
Early life and education
Burton Rocks is the son of chemist
Lawrence Rocks
The Lawrence Rocks are a group of two rocky islets, 6.8 ha and 1.5 ha in area, with an associated reef, 2.4 km south-east of Point Danger in western Victoria, Australia, and about 6 km south-east of the city of Portland.
...
.
As a child Rocks was often hospitalized due to life-threatening
asthma
Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...
, suffering three
code blues before the age of five. He graduated from
Ward Melville High School
Ward Melville High School is a public high school in the Three Village Central School District of Suffolk County, New York on Long Island, serving grades ten through twelve. It is fed by the two junior high schools in the district: Paul J. ...
and then graduated from
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...
with a history degree in 1994,
where he was a member of
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...
. Rocks then graduated
Hofstra University School of Law
The Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University – also known as Hofstra Law School and colloquially as Hofstra Law – is a law school located in Hempstead, on Long Island, in New York, United States. It is affiliated with Hofstra U ...
.
Writing
Rocks is the co-author, with
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
outfielder
Paul O'Neill, of the 2003
''New York Times'' bestselling book ''Me and My Dad: A Baseball Memoir'', detailing O'Neill's relationship with his father and how they bonded over baseball. Andrea Cooper reviewing for the ''New York Times'' described the book as a charming eulogy for O'Neill's father. Rocks has also co-written books with other athletes and media figures.
In 2006, Burton Rocks and Andrew Goodwin co-founded and launched the social media company Chatwithastar Inc.
In 2015 Stony Brook University hired Rocks as an adjunct business professor.
C.L. Rocks Corporation
Rocks is the founder and owner of C.L. Rocks Corporation, a sports agency, which he launched in 2008, based on a metric he created during law school. The agency has numerous high-profile clients.
In 2018 Rocks negotiated a six-year contract extension worth a guaranteed $26 million for client
Paul DeJong
Paul Sterling DeJong (; born August 2, 1993) is an American professional baseball shortstop and third baseman for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue ...
, the biggest contract ever signed by a Major League Baseball player with less than one full year of major league service time. ''Forbes'' SportsMoney profiled Rocks' "Quantified Intangible Sheet" evaluation methodology used in DeJong's contract extension negotiations.
In January 2019
Topps
The Topps Company, Inc. is an American company that manufactures trading cards and other collectibles. Formerly based in New York City, Topps is best known as a leading producer of Baseball card, baseball and other sports and Non-sports tradi ...
announced plans to issue a collectible card for Rocks.
Bibliography
Co-authored
*
King, Clyde – ''A King's Legacy: The Clyde King Story'' (1999, Masters Press)
*
O'Neill, Paul – ''Me and My Dad: A Baseball Memoir'' (2003, Harpercollins Publishers)
*
Klugman, Jack – ''Tony And Me: A Story Of Friendship'' (2005, Goodhill Press)
*
Erskine, Carl – ''What I Learned From Jackie Robinson'' (2005, McGraw-Hill)
*
Feller, Bob – ''Bob Feller's Little Black Book Of Baseball Wisdom'' (2001, McGraw-Hill)
*
Lyons, Steve "Psycho" – ''The Psycho 100: Baseball's Most Outrageous Moments'' (2009, Triumph Books)
*Feller, Bob – ''Bob Feller's Little Blue Book of Baseball Wisdom'' (2009 Triumph Books)
*
North, Andy – ''The Long And The Short Of It'' (2002, Thomas Dunne Books)
References
External links
C.L. Rocks Corporation official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rocks, Burton
1972 births
Living people
American male writers
American sports agents
Hofstra University alumni
Maurice A. Deane School of Law alumni
Ward Melville High School alumni
Writers from New York City