Book Description
From the perspective of 2007, the unintentional irony of Chance's boast is manifest—these days, the question is when will the Cubs ever win a game they have to have. In October 1908, though, no one would have laughed: The Cubs were, without doubt, baseball's greatest team—the first dynasty of the 20th century.
Crazy '08 recounts the 1908 season—the year when Peerless Leader Frank Chance's men went toe to toe to toe with John McGraw and Christy Mathewson's New York Giants and Honus Wagner's Pittsburgh Pirates in the greatest pennant race the National League has ever seen. The American League has its own three-cornered pennant fight, and players like Cy Young, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, and the egregiously crooked Hal Chase ensured that the junior circuit had its moments. But it was the National League's—and the Cubs'—year.
Crazy '08, however, is not just the exciting story of a great season. It is also about the forces that created modern baseball, and the America that produced it. In 1908, crooked pols run Chicago's First Ward, and gambling magnates control the Yankees. Fans regularly invade the field to do handstands or argue with the umps; others shoot guns from rickety grandstands prone to burning. There are anarchists on the loose and racial killings in the town that made Lincoln. On the flimsiest of pretexts, General Abner Doubleday becomes a symbol of Americanism, and baseball's own anthem, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," is a hit.
Picaresque and dramatic, 1908 is a season in which so many weird and wonderful things happen that it is somehow unsurprising that a hairpiece, a swarm of gnats, a sudden bout of lumbago, and a disaster down in the mines all play a role in its outcome. And sometimes the events are not so wonderful at all. There are several deaths by baseball, and the shadow of corruption creeps closer to the heart of baseball—the honesty of the game itself. Simply put, 1908 is the year that baseball grew up.
Oh, and it was the last time the Cubs won the World Series.
Destined to be as memorable as the season it documents, Crazy '08 sets a new standard for what a book about baseball can be.
Customer Reviews:
A detailed look at one baseball season.......2007-10-05
Cait Murphy observes that 1908 is an important season in the history of baseball in America. She closes the book with the statement (page 288): "In the sweep of baseball's history, 1908 is not the end of an era, nor the beginning of one. It is, however, the end of the beginning." She starts the work by answering why she explores 1908 (page xiii): "The best season in baseball history id 1908. Besides two agonizing pennant races, it features history's finest pitching duel, hurled in the white heat of an October stretch drive, and the most controversial game ever played." I'm not sure that I buy 1908 as the apogee of baseball; however, Murphy does make a nice case.
The book begins with some context, looking at the earlier years of the National League and American League just after the turn of the century. She also looks at the evolution of gloves and bats and the other artifacts of the game. There are glimpses of stadia of the time.
Also nicely done are the character sketches of some key figures from 1908--from Manager John McGraw of the Giants to John Evers and Frank ("Husk" or "The Peerless Leader") Chance of the Cubs to Honus Wagner and so on. The book takes a chronological look at the season thereafter, from opening day through the great replay of the tie game (when Fred Merkle didn't touch second base, leading to a tie score) to a brief afterword on the World Series (not much time spent on it, since it was a blowout, with the Cubs winning their last World Series over the Detroit Tigers).
Some interesting tidbits are scattered throughout: the seemingly large number of players who committed suicide (pages 66-67), the amazing variety of interests of Cubs' players on one train trip (if accurately portrayed by a reporter)--"Doc" Marshall reading a book on dentistry, Johnny Evers reading a biography of Savonarola, two players discussed how to raise alfalfa, Ed Reulbach reading a chemistry book, five playing poker, and so on.
There is the portrayal of some of the great moments of the season, for instance, Young Fred Merkle not touching second base after an apparent game-winning hit against the detested Cubs (pages 189-191).
There are also several "time-out" inserts that provide interesting side-bar discussions. One of these looks at Chicago and its bawdy politics of the early 1900s; another examines the howler that Abner Doubleday invented the game of baseball. An Epilogue briefly describes what happened to key players after the 1908 season, including Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown (there is a picture of his misshapen hand in the volume, suggesting how he might have created interesting movement on his pitches), Frank Chance, Hal Chase, Fred Merkle, "Cy" Young, and so on.
All in all, a nice detailed view of a fascinating season in baseball history.
An extra-base hit, but short of a home run.......2007-09-30
The 1908 baseball season provided plenty of excitement, suspense and story lines as one game separated the top three teams in the National League and 1.5 games separated the top three teams in the American League. Astute baseball fans have long recognized it as one of the greatest years in baseball history, if not the greatest. Author Cait Murphy writes an entertaining and informative account of Crazy '08, but it is also uneven.
Murphy thoroughly researched the 1908 season as evidenced by her extensive bibliography and footnotes, which I greatly appreciated as a reader and fan of the Deadball Era.
Murphy, however, decides to focus on the National League race among the Giants, Cubs and Pirates. She seems infatuated with John McGraw and the New York Giants and their rivalry with the Chicago Cubs. Although these two teams are colorful, readers interested in the equally exciting American League race among the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians will be vastly disappointed. Murphy considerably shortchanges the American League race.
While it's interesting to read about the characters of `08, Murphy gives scant details about the pivotal games they played. The games merit more attention. And, after battling to the last days of the season, how could Murphy dismiss the 1908 World Series between the Cubs and the Tigers in less than a page? It couldn't have been that boring. It seems as if she had run out of steam at that point or else she was just trying to finish the book before deadline. My guess is that if the Giants had won the National League pennant, Murphy would have considered the '08 World Series worthy of more coverage.
On the positive side, Murphy does an excellent job describing the infamous Merkle play and how and why it became pivotal. She also presents interesting portraits of the umpires and executives. And, she digs up some interesting informational nuggets.
Her six "Time Out" chapters, intended to put the 1908 season in context, were an unnecessary diversion for me.
OK- Average look at an unforgettable year.......2007-08-24
I expected more out of this book- I just found the writing to be pretty boring- It's a quick read but never really captures the emotion of the season- Wait until it arrives in paperback
Yankee.......2007-08-17
Loads of fun to read. My son who is 12 read it cover to cover too. It came right on time.
Interesting but Jumpy.......2007-08-15
I agree with some of the other reviewers. The book was interesting in it's depiction of players and the general cast of this era of baseball. But I was not overly impressed with the writing, or more specifically the editing. I noticed that many sentences jumped between past tense and present tense, for instance. And some of the chapters could have used more exposition. I also was annoyed by the number of footnote notations throughout the book. Just felt distracting. But for a fun read about old time baseball, it wasn't bad.
Book Description
Whether you’re a major league couch potato, life-long season ticket-holder, or teaching game to a beginner, Watching Baseball Smarter leaves no territory uncovered. In this smart and funny fan’s guide Hample explains the ins and outs of pitching, hitting, running, and fielding, while offering insider trivia and anecdotes that will surprise even the most informed viewers of our national pastime.
What is the difference between a slider and a curveball?
At which stadium did “The Wave” first make an appearance?
How do some hitters use iPods to improve their skills?
Which positions are never played by lefties?
Why do some players urinate on their hands?
Combining the narrative voice and attitude of Michael Lewis with the compulsive brilliance of Schott’s Miscellany, Watching Baseball Smarter will increase your understanding and enjoyment of the sport–no matter what your level of expertise.
Zack Hample is an obsessed fan and a regular writer for minorleaguebaseball.com. He's collected nearly 3,000 baseballs from major league games and has appeared on dozens of TV and radio shows. His first book, How to Snag Major League Baseballs, was published in 1999.
Customer Reviews:
Superb Gift and Tactical Book Without Peer.......2007-10-07
I strongly disagree with the reviewer that says that there is not much here that has not been said elsewhere. While I am new to baseball, at the age of 55 vastly more familiar with soccer, football, and basketball, my youngest son loves the game, and I have spent time looking for the perfect book that can both help him see the nuances, and help me follow the game.
This book is nothing less than extraordinary. It would be a superb gift for any high school or college student who loves the game, and for any parent or grandparent new to the game. Personally I think it has a great deal of information that those who consider themselves avid fans have NOT noticed, but you can decide that better than I.
Here are some of the nuggets in this book, which is the tactical complement to the strategic companion by another author, "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game." The two books together constitute an instant reference library from any baseball affecionado.
1) 1 in 100,000 make it to major leagues from among those who strive to get there.
2) Going to college is a superb way to perfect your skills and shorten the time to selection for minor leagues--a tiny handfull get to go straight to the majors.
3) Five tool players can field well, throw hard (and accurately), run fast, hit home runs, and hit a high batting average.
4) Any major leaguer, however "bad" they might appear on a given day, is the best of the best and has spent a lifetime getting there.
5) Awesome concise clear description of the many kinds of balls that a pitcher can throw to a batter.
6) Runner on second can see catcher's signals and signal to the hitter more often than not. I had no idea.
7) When bases are loaded, a fast ball is more likely, hit to it and improve your batting average.
8) Amazing list of all the *many* reasons a coach might walk out to talk to a pitcher.
9) Leg strength is critical for all players and helps power the ball.
10) Run bases on a CURVE for faster rounding of bases.
11) A catcher can be the team's reference librarian, a goldmine of knowledge about hitters built up over a lifetime of observation.
12) Strike zone defined by each player, not a fixed box. From the kneecaps to a line halfway between the belt and the shoulders.
13) Outstanding section on umpires, who can spend thousands on a school and endure 8-12 years in the minors on bare subsistence salaries. If they do make it to the majors, then they earn a six-figure salary.
14) Lovely section that clearly illustrates and explains all of the symbols needed to record every move in a baseball game.
15) Umpires WILL remember every slight over the years, and when borderline calls need to be made, the slights will come home to roost.
Superb glossary.
I am giving this review and the book to my 12-year old, in the hopes that he will read every word and refer back to this book many times in the years to come.
This book is a GEM. Ignore the faint praise by other reviewers.
See also the DVDs
Field of Dreams (Widescreen Two-Disc Anniversary Edition)
A League of Their OwnBaseball - A Film By Ken Burns
The Natural (Director's Cut)
For Love of the Game
Impossible to Forget: The Story of the '67 Boston Red Sox
Nine Innings From Ground Zero: The 2001 World Series
Rising Sons Return - Matsui, Ichiro and More!
American Pastime
The Pride of the Yankees (Anniversary Edition)
Nothing but raves.......2007-09-29
After reading and enjoying this book, I purchased several copies to give as gifts. The recipents gave the book raving reports and consider it one of the best gifts ever received. It is also a book that will be consulted over and over again as it is informative, entertaining and humorous.
Go from Beginning Watcher to Vivid Describer of the Action.......2007-09-18
Watching Baseball Smarter will appeal to youngsters around 9-12 who are eager to grab as much baseball knowledge as possible by attending and watching games on television. For those young people, scoring, colorful terms, and obscure rules can make the game seem more mysterious than it is. At the same time, learn those elements of active watching and a youngster can develop the basics to enjoy being a lifelong fan.
If someone had given me this book at that age, I would have treasured Watching Baseball Smarter above all over gifts I got that at that time. I would have been most thrilled by the illustrations of how the various pitches are thrown.
Remember that observation when you consider if you know any budding fans who would be thrilled to have this book.
As for the claim that the book is also for semi-experts and deeply serious geeks, I don't think so. I didn't see any material that wasn't well known to me by the time I was 15. And I was hardly a semi-expert or a deeply serious geek. I just enjoyed watching and attending the games.
Don't give this book to a serious baseball fan; you'll embarrass yourself if you do.
Here are few questions to test your ability to enjoy the book:
1. What is the infield fly rule?
2. What is a double switch?
3. What is a catcher's earned run average?
4. What is a safety squeeze?
5. How do you keep score?
If know all five, this book isn't for you. If you know four, you'll get an occasional nugget from the book. If you know three or fewer, this book is a good choice for you.
On this reading, the main pleasure was from remembering when I first learned the material and from an occasional bit of trivia that was new to me. The former pleasure was what kept me reading, and I was disappointed that the book was aimed mostly at an elementary level . . . having found the subtitle to be misleading in terms of the book's relevance for me.
Play ball!
Baseball Fan's Good Guide.......2007-09-10
As a sixty year baseball fan, I think I know most everything about the game. However, Zack came up with some new/clarifying information for me. By the way, the game has changed since I started following it in the mid-1940s.
pages missing.......2007-09-08
Pages 79 to 110 are completely missing.
If binding is baseball, the people who did the binding would be kicked out of bush league.
Also, the information is very elementary and meant basically for elementary students.
Average customer rating:
- An engaging and elegantly written account of Jackie Robinson's groundbreaking rookie season with the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers
- Walking in Jackie's shoes
- The opening day of my memories...
- a Must read
- RICK SHAQ GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "I LOVE JACKIE ROBINSON!"
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Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season
Jonathan Eig
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
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ASIN: 0743294602 |
Book Description
April 15, 1947, marked the most important opening day in baseball history. When Jackie Robinson stepped onto the diamond that afternoon at Ebbets Field, he became the first black man to break into major-league baseball in the twentieth century. World War II had just ended. Democracy had triumphed. Now Americans were beginning to press for justice on the home front -- and Robinson had a chance to lead the way.
He was an unlikely hero. He had little experience in organized baseball. His swing was far from graceful. And he was assigned to play first base, a position he had never tried before that season. But the biggest concern was his temper. Robinson was an angry man who played an aggressive style of ball. In order to succeed he would have to control himself in the face of what promised to be a brutal assault by opponents of integration.
In Opening Day, Jonathan Eig tells the true story behind the national pastime's most sacred myth. Along the way he offers new insights into events of sixty years ago and punctures some familiar legends. Was it true that the St. Louis Cardinals plotted to boycott their first home game against the Brooklyn Dodgers? Was Pee Wee Reese really Robinson's closest ally on the team? Was Dixie Walker his greatest foe? How did Robinson handle the extraordinary stress of being the only black man in baseball and still manage to perform so well on the field? Opening Day is also the story of a team of underdogs that came together against tremendous odds to capture the pennant. Facing the powerful New York Yankees, Robinson and the Dodgers battled to the seventh game in one of the most thrilling World Series competitions of all time.
Drawing on interviews with surviving players, sportswriters, and eyewitnesses, as well as newly discovered material from archives around the country, Jonathan Eig presents a fresh portrait of a ferocious competitor who embodied integration's promise and helped launch the modern civil-rights era. Full of new details and thrilling action, Opening Day brings to life baseball's ultimate story.
Customer Reviews:
An engaging and elegantly written account of Jackie Robinson's groundbreaking rookie season with the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers.......2007-09-08
By the time the middle of the 1940's rolled around Branch Rickey, President of the Brooklyn Dodgers, was already widely acknowledged as one of the smartest, most innovative executives in all of baseball. After all, it had been Rickey who had conceived the notion of a system of minor league farm teams to supply talent to the major league club. In addition, Rickey knew how to evaluate talent like no one else. It got to the point that other general managers did not want to deal with him for fear of getting snookered again. It was sometime around 1944 that Branch Rickey made up his mind that he was going to be the one to integrate Major League Baseball. Always seeking an advantage, Rickey was the first to fully understand that there was a wealth of untapped talent playing in the Negro Leagues. And so it was that before the 1946 season Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson to a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers. It was Rickey's plan to bring Robinson along slowing with the hope of Robinson contributing to the big league club in a year or two. After a magnificent season at AAA Montreal in 1946 it was apparent to most observers that Jackie Robinson would likely find himself suiting up for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. "Opening Day" is Jonathan Eig's splendid account of that historic and memorable season. It is a book that will grab your attention immediately and never let go.
I was quite surprised to learn that Jackie Robinson had really not played all that much baseball before signing with the Dodgers. While in college at UCLA Jackie Robinson had run track and been a star football player. He only dabbled in baseball. But Robinson was widely recognized as one of the best all-around athletes in the nation. It was this athleticism that intrigued Branch Rickey. On August 28, 1945 Robinson and Rickey would meet for the very first time. After taking careful measure of the man Rickey was convinced that Jackie Robinson had the proper temperment to endure the difficulties that were sure to arise as major league baseball attempted to integrate its game. After just one year in the minors Branch Rickey deemed Jackie Robinson ready to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. In "Opening Day" Jonathan Eig introduces us to Burt Shotten, the unassuming manager of the 1947 Dodgers and to the men who would be Jackie's teammates. Make no mistake about it. There was a ton of pressure on these men as well. Players like Eddie Stanky, Dixie Walker and Pee Wee Reese really had no idea what to expect in 1947. You will come to understand how the players coped with the drama unfolding all around them. And you see how a team that little was expected of would come together over the course of the long season and make this the most memorable season in the history of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
But of course it is important to understand that "Opening Day" is not just a book about baseball. For this is a story of courage and tenacity.
For one very special season Jackie Robinson took the whole world upon his shoulders. Rickey and Robinson were gambling that if this experiment was successful Major League Baseball would finally see the error of its ways and integrate the game. And it proved to be a risk worth taking. "Opening Day" managed to hold my interest from cover to cover. Jonathan Eig is a wonderful storyteller and I simply could not put this one down. One of the best sports books I have read in a very long time!
Highly recommended!
Walking in Jackie's shoes.......2007-08-04
Author Jonathan Eig does an excellent job of putting the reader in Jackie Robinson's shoes for the 1947 season. You get a good sense of what life was like for Robinson, on and off the field. He and his wife Rachael and young son, Jack Jr., shared a small bedroom in the Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment of a woman in a black neighborhood. The living conditions only added to the stress of Robinson's rookie season. Can you imagine any rookie living that way today?
Eig details how teammates and opponents treated Robinson. Many of his teammates were aloof, at best. Many were Southerns who didn't care for him. The role Dixie Walker played in supposedly circulating a petition protesting Robinson's addition to the Dodgers is covered.
Eig recounts each series of the 1947, detailing how opponents treated Robinson, how he performed on the field, and how he had to room with black families when he was on the road. It's interesting to see how some things changed as the season progressed.
This book is essential for any fan who wants to know more about Jackie Robinson and the 1947 season. It will increase whatever admiration you have for Robinson.
The opening day of my memories..........2007-07-18
indeed the book is about baseball, however it is about soooo much more.
From my perspective of someone who was four years old in 1947 Eig's work instantly turned the shadows on my wall of rememberances into a vivid dance of joy.
There was MacArthur, Rickey, Flatbush Ave, stars earning a few bucks more than Ralph Kramden, a guy named Moses who lead NYC to international prominence and forced "them Bums" out of Brooklyn. I can not tell you how much I signed bitter sweet tears of joy through out this Illid.
I had kept this Father's day gift ominously staring at me from my bedside night table for two weeks as I had declared it's purpose in life was to be my companion on a transatlantic trip w/my son to Spain and Italy.
It turned out to be the best traveling companion I ever had so I knew the era forgave me for letting it linger in the brink for those weeks.
I was reminded that in the late forties why my family, sterotypical Italianos, were die hard Yankee fans and why I had to be different. I flashed back to 1949 when I got a Leaf bubble card and opened to see a black face with a mesmerizing smile looking at me and how nonplused I was when I asked my dad who this "Negro" was since living in San Antonio at the time my exposure to there culture was next to nil.
My foggy view of the Korean "conflict" came to light as did all the references to Caro's _The Power Broker_ started to make sense. How social change evolved and the sturm un drang (sp)of the times accelerated the process. This and so much more kept me enchanted across the pond and I was only jarred back to 2007 when we touched down at Frankfurt and I had so kiss my friend farewell, blinked my eyes and uncremoniously place him in my overnight bag all the while thanking him for sixty years of memories brought to life.
a Must read.......2007-06-18
Jackie Robinson was a true Ambassador of the game of Baseball. it's well known about Branch Rickey signing Jackie to the Dodgers and the Historic Impact of Jackie Robinson being the first Black Baseball Player to break the Color Barrier in Major League baseball 60 years ago. Jackie Robinson was also a 4 letter Athlete at the University of UCLA. He was a Gifted Athlete and a Smart Man whose first Season hadn't been fully told until now. this is a Great Book and it answers so much about just how things went down 60 years ago. Jackie Robinson is a true Civil Rights Leader and a Ground-Breaker who paved the way for so many.
RICK SHAQ GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "I LOVE JACKIE ROBINSON!".......2007-06-12
I am a born and raised Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodger fan. In fact my family moved from New York to Los Angeles the same year as the Dodgers. Before my brothers and I were born, my parents went to Ebbets field every weekend. I still have a box full of Brooklyn scorecards from those days. I was too young to see Jackie in his prime, but my Dad took me to some games in 1956 and I got to see Jackie and all the "Boys Of Summer"! I was a Brooklyn Dodger fanatic even at that age. Besides watching the Dodgers, I read everything available on them, and still do, 50 years later. I can unabashedly say I love Jackie Robinson. One of my many fond memories of my Dad, was him talking to me in front of our tiny black and white TV watching the Dodgers. He said "I have gone to hundreds of baseball games, and have seen 1,000 players, and the most exciting player I ever saw was Jackie Robinson!" "What Jackie did, was not displayed only in the statistics. Over the history of baseball, many players stole more bases. (Such as Ricky Henderson stealing bases with a 7 run lead in the 8th inning.) But no one unnerved every player on the team just by leading off the base and dancing on his pigeon toes, like Jackie. This book points out little, subtle, beneficial affects, on the whole Dodger team, that the average fan wouldn't see. The pitcher and catcher would be so nervous with Jackie dancing around on the base paths, that they would be afraid to throw curve balls, so the batters got better pitches to hit. Jackie stole home more times, than just about anyone except Ty Cobb. When we moved to Los Angeles there was a program on called the "Million Dollar Theatre", in which they showed the same movie on TV every day for a week. When the "Jackie Robinson Story" was on, I watched it every night, and literally memorized the dialogue. People forget that the Brooklyn Dodgers were the "original America's team". And that was because of Jackie. When Jackie broke the color line, he wasn't only fighting for the blacks, but he also was fighting for the Jews, and every minority that has been suppressed. When I watch old sports shows, when they talk about Jackie, I actually get tears in my eyes, because I know what he went through. I've read just about every meaningful book on Jackie and the Brooklyn Dodgers. I would rate this book as the 2nd best Jackie book of them all. (My personal favorite is "Great Time Coming".)
This book was interesting to me as compared to many others, because it not
only zoomed in on his first year as a player, but also went deeper into
his personal life during that first year. All the way to the size of a little room he and Rachel rented, along with their infant son. If you were to ask me, what, with all my knowledge, I have on Jackie's playing, was the biggest thing I learned from this book, I would say his affect, and dominance, in every facet of the game, that didn't appear in his batting average, in a losing cause as a rookie in the 1947 World Series against the hated and despised Yankees. This is a great book and I recommend it to everyone. P.S. In my opinion Jackie was the greatest all around athlete since Jim Thorpe. A lot of people forget that Jackie was the first 4-sport letterman at UCLA. He was an All American football player, the top scorer on UCLA's basketball team, a record setter in the long jump, and of course baseball, which was actually his weakest sport at that time. Duke Snider tells a story about when Duke was in high school in Compton California, and Jackie was playing for Pasadena City College (A junior college). Duke went to see Jackie play a baseball game. One inning Jackie hit a homerun, and then in his full baseball uniform, with spikes on, ran over to the track field between innings, won the broad jump, and ran back to the baseball field in time to play the next inning!
Book Description
The 2007 edition of the most authoritative guide to professional baseball
AmericaÂ's favorite pastime has never been more popular and, for over a decade, Baseball Prospectus has been the ultimate guide to the game for fantasy players, professionals, and casual fans alike. Baseball Prospectus 2007 continues that tradition, bringing together the top young baseball writers and analysts in the business to provide a definitive look at the season to come. Featuring humorous and incisive essays on all thirty teams and an in-depth look at every major league player and all the top prospects, Baseball Prospectus 2007 offers the cutting-edge analysis that has inspired nearly every major league team to seek the advice of current or former Prospectus writers. Also included are projections of player stats for next year, as determined by the groundbreaking PECOTA system, which Sports Illustrated has called “perhaps the gameÂ's most accurate projection model.” The most authoritative and entertaining book of its kind, Baseball Prospectus 2007 is as essential to the baseball- watching experience as hot dogs and cold beer.
Customer Reviews:
The best.......2007-08-16
For fantasy baseball players, especially those in keeper leagues, there is nothing better. If there's nothing better, why only four stars? Because the "deadly accurate" PECOTA evaluations, though probably at least a little better than most forecasting models, can still be completely off target. No guide will be "deadly accurate."
The best feature is the extent to which this guide covers top minor leaguers. And they also translate stats from the minor leagues, (including the Mexican league), and to some extent from the Japanese league.
Another great feature is the extended review they give to each front office in the majors during the previous year. Here, the criticism really is, almost always, "deadly accurate."
Baseball Prospectus 2007.......2007-06-11
The latest in a long series of insightful, analytical reviews of major league baseball players and teams utilizing statistical analysis and other analytical techniques (e.g., econometrics). New for the 2007 edition is an analytical review of the 2006 manager for each team. Baseball Prospectus is the essential baseball reference.
Wealth of info for baseball fans........2007-05-29
This book must be kept near the TV for ready reference on all Major League players.
Another great title from Baseball Prospectus.......2007-05-07
Baseball Prospectus is the gold standard for baseball analysis. The stats are helpful, but I am especially enamored of the PECOTA projection system. This edition is much less plagued by typos than previous editions have been.
Great Info, Easy Access.......2007-04-14
Awesome information, but should include win/loss predictions for each team. Player info is in-depth. A baseball/stats fan's dream come true.
Book Description
Ever see Mike Piazza block the plate? Or Derek Jeter slide hard into second? Illegal. But it happens every game. Baseball’s rules, it seems, were made to be broken. And they are, consistently and creatively, by the players, the front office, and even sometimes the fans. Like it or not, cheating has been an integral part of America’s favourite pastime since its inception. But how do they do it, right before our eyes? The Cheater’s Guide to Baseball will show you how cheating is really done. In this lively tour through baseball’s underhanded history, readers will learn how to cork a bat • steal signs • hurl a spitball • throw a world series • and win at any cost! In the end, they’ll come to understand that cheating is as much a part of baseball as pine tar and pinch hitters. And it’s here to stay. The Cheater’s Guide to Baseball is essential reading for even the most casual fan.
Customer Reviews:
Very erudite.......2007-10-03
This is a brilliant book - it may well change the way you think about baseball. Congratulations to the author!
Buy this book for your baseball hating spouse/friend/family member.......2007-10-01
I'll be honest with you, I dislike the game of baseball. Going to a game, watching it? Doesn't intrigue me in the slightest, and I played 3 years of softball growing up. But my husband loves it and he wants to share this fun with me by including me in the season ticket package he bought into with others. So I bring magazines to games or puzzle books so I'm not completely bored. But this season? I brought Derek's book with me and I tell ya - it actually got me watching the game for the first time in a long time. I started looking out for a lot of what he describes in the book while the game was going on - from the history of the pitcher's mound to trying to figure out the signs the base coaches where giving. I even pointed stuff out to my husband that he didn't know. This book helped make my trips to the ballpark more enjoyable AND helped my husband have even more fun with me.
My honest to goodness recommendation is to buy this for the baseball haters that you baseball fans take to games and get frustrated with when they don't pay attention or understand what you're so excited about. This book gives them a level of interest that they may never have known about before - it certainly has for me.
Great gift for a baseball fan.......2007-09-09
Whether you know someone who watches three games a day or just the seventh game of the World Series, this book will entertain them. It's got solid baseball information in it, but is so amusing that even a casual fan will enjoy it.
Derek Zumsteg doesn't advise cheating (for example, in an aside, he describes how to throw a World Series, complete with looking for the "clean, honest crime figures who won't try to blackmail you...They're on aisle 6, next to the unicorns, fairies, sprites, and leprechauns.") But he does explain how cheating through the years has brought us many of the intricacies we have in the game today.
My favorite sections were on how groundskeeping can improve the home team's chance of winning, and a look at the Black Sox that showed, alas, that Shoeless Joe shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame.
Buy it for the man (or woman) who likes baseball and you won't go wrong.
I could not have enjoyed this book more! Terrific!.......2007-08-16
Derek Zumsteg has written a slim but eminently readable history of cheating in baseball.
However you feel about baseball and cheating...with Barry Bonds' recent exploits, many of us baseball fans have been thinking about it a lot...this book will modify your beliefs.
Seriously.
Plus it'll make you laugh out loud, and often.
"Cheating", in its' varying and vague definitions, is explored here from baseball's earliest days up to the whole steroid scandal. It's not encyclopedic, but it gives you plenty of ammunition to argue with the most ardent sports fan you know.
It used to be legal to hold on to a runner's belt as he led off first base.
You could run straight from second to home during a base hit, as long as the umpire didn't see you.
"Cheating" or simply mischievous?
As the rules became more refined, so did "cheating." I promise you that the words "home field advantage" will take on entirely new meanings...
Spitballing, bat-corking, sign-stealing...they each get chapters. Gaylord Perry gets his very own.
Is intentionally delaying a game, during a drizzle, in the hopes that (since you are losing) the game never goes enough innings to be "official" cheating or simply using the rules of baseball to your advantage?
I still laugh at the image of Casey Stengel trying to stress his opinion to the umpires on whether the game should be called because of darkness (no lights in the old days) or rain (before domes and roofs). He would summon a relief pitcher by flashlight in the former situation, or stroll out to the mound with an opened umbrella over his head in the latter. He'd inevitably get tossed, but that's not the point.
The main point here is that some cheating is inexcusable. Zumsteg's essays on the Black Sox and on Pete Rose are well-thought out arguments on the seriousness of those infractions when compared to, say, putting Vaseline on a pitch. I never really understood why the penalty for Pete Rose was so serious.
Now I do. I used to think he should be in the Hall of Fame. Now, I know why he's not.
The steroid issue gets a bit of ink, and it's free of the hyperbole and emotion that usually laces that topic's discussions. He places the use of steroids into a context I had not yet considered, and it makes an inordinate amount of sense.
I could not have enjoyed this book more. I only wish it were longer, which the best praise a reader can offer.
Sloppy and disappointing.......2007-08-11
While I'm sure Zumsteg knows a lot about baseball, the sloppiness of this book makes me question its accuracy. A couple of quick examples:
* At one point he talks about the Red Sox glory days early in the century and says the Sox "would not return to the World Series for another 84 years." Of course, they were in the series numerous times in those 84 years -- they just never won it.
* He also refers to former Orioles "Bobby Grinch" and "Doug DeCines."
Now, those are basic things I know off the top of my head. While I realize his editors deserve some blame, I can't help but think much of the book is hogwash.
While the writing is relatively entertaining, this is basically something that should have been a magazine article that he stretched into a book. The heckling chapter is basically filler and has virtually nothing to do with cheating. Other chapters, while related to cheating (in some form), are similarly overblown.
Book Description
The definitive and rollicking story of one of the best, and one of the wackiest, teams of all time, during one of the most vital eras in baseball.
With The Gashouse Gang, John Heidenry delivers the definitive account of one the greatest and most colorful baseball teams of all times, the 1934 St. Louis Cardinals, filled with larger-than-life baseball personalities like Branch Rickey, Leo Durocher, Pepper Martin, Casey Stengel, Satchel Paige, Frankie Frisch, and--especially--the eccentric good ol' boy and great pitcher Dizzy Dean and his brother Paul.
The year 1934 marked the lowest point of the Great Depression, when the U.S. went off the gold standard, banks collapsed by the score, and millions of Americans were out of work. Epic baseball feats offered welcome relief from the hardships of daily life. The Gashouse Gang, the brilliant culmination of a dream by its general manager, Branch Rickey, the first to envision a farm system that would acquire and "educate" young players in the art of baseball, was adored by the nation, who saw itself--scruffy, proud, and unbeatable--in the Gang.
Based on original research and told in entertaining narrative style, The Gashouse Gang brings a bygone era and a cast full of vivid personalities to life and unearths a treasure trove of baseball lore that will delight any fan of the great American pastime.
Customer Reviews:
Baseball lover's only!.......2007-09-23
Baseball in times long passed was a very different game, but like today there were some really wild characters to mke the game all the more interesting. The 1934 Cardinals, "The Gashouse Gang" were an exciting, odd collection of great ball payers who played for the love of the game in a way we wish today's players did.
If you love baseball you won't be able to put this down, and even if you don't it will be too intriquing to stop reading once you start. Well written, well researched and as entertaining as anything I've read this season. Highly reccommended!
The Gashouse Gang Personalities.......2007-09-15
This book climbs to the top wrung of my baseball ladder. Rather than a statistical or play-by-play book so common in baseball pages, this features personality development of some of the wackiest players of all time. Learn that Ducky Joe should have been Mean Joe, that Leo the Lip couldn't handle relationships, or that Dizzy Dean was really Jerome or Jay or Hanna or Herman, maybe that he was from Arkansas or Oklahoma or Texas -- well, you get it.
This book captures the thrill of a season and the joy of a team effort. It really makes you think of the Oakland Athletics of the Catfish days.
Just one observation: John Heidenry missed the point of the moniker, "Gashouse Gang." He can't figure out where it came from. He even ponders how "Gas Tank" became "Gashouse." During that day, electricity was provided by manufactured gas plants, sometimes called "witch's brew." The main structure was known as the "gashouse." The working class fellows who toiled away in those dirty gashouses were known as "the gashouse gangs." They cursed, they played dirty and hilarious tricks on each other, they had great and sour dispositions -- necessary to get through the tough days, and yes, their clothes were always filthy. Sound like the beloved Gashouse Gang?
Snag this book, and you will enjoy several hours of quiet time, if you can block out your own laughter.
Me 'n' Paul.......2007-09-02
In baseball, 1934 was a year to remember, a year in which the Saint Louis Cardinals, a scruffy team of misfits and malcontents, came from almost the graveyard to win the National League pennant, and then the World Series. While we learn a tremendous amount about the Cardinals, and especially the Dean brothers, Dizzy and Paul, there are others about whom we receive thumbnail biographies. Most importantly, Branch Rickey is focused upon for much of the early part of the book, and just reading about this remarkable man is sufficient reason to study this book. Other famous players make cameo appearances: Babe Ruth, Mel Otto, Mickey Cochrane, Leo Durocher, and Pie Traynor, with whom I was once priviledged to have an extensive conversation about baseball when I was in college. I also remember listening to Dizzy on the television announcing(?) games and talking about all kinds of extraneous subjects other than the game he was supposed to be calling. Of course, Dizzy is the centerpiece of this book, and he strides through it like a colossus. He did things then that would not be tolerated by a basseball organization today, and perhaps we are the pooorer for not having men such as him (and Curt Flood)to challenge what is considered the "right" way to act as a porfessional ball player. He's gone, and so are all of those famous old-timers, and the world misses them!
Great Father's Day gift.......2007-07-12
I gave this book to my 60 year old father for Father's Day. He hasn't read a book in years but is a huge baseball fan. He loved the book and stayed up late into the night reading it. Great for a Cardinals or baseball fan!
RICK SHAQ GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "73 YEARS AFTER WINNING THE WORLD SERIES "THE GASHOUSE GANG" ST LOUIS CARDINALS HAVE A BOOK!".......2007-06-13
Before I give you the details of this book, let me save some people their valuable time, by telling you who this book would appeal to! Old School Baseball fanatics, "Baseball Historians", Saint Louis Cardinal fans. If you think the designated hitter rule is good for baseball this book isn't for you.
73 years after the famous (To the above listed people.) Saint Louis Cardinals, hereafter known as "The Gashouse Gang", won the World Series, they have had an excellent book released on their exploits and accomplishments. As a self-acclaimed baseball fanatic, some of the statistics, and idiosyncrasies, I discovered in this book about famous old time players that I already knew about, were both interesting and amusing. The author's writing style is not anything you'll remember as out of the ordinary, since so much of the meat of the book, you can tell is repeated from old newspaper articles. But the detailed, meticulous, research should be applauded. As I've mentioned in my earlier reviews, I've read literally hundreds of baseball books, and memorized half the "Encyclopedia Of Baseball" when I was 10 years old, yet I learned even more details and amusing personality "quirks" of some of the old-time stars. I of course already knew that Dizzy Dean was a great pitcher, in the Hall Of Fame, and the last National League pitcher to win 30 games. What I didn't know, but learned here, was the absolute bottom of the barrel poverty he came from in the historically famous "dust bowl"! I knew he was a "wacky" character, but I didn't know, it went to the extent of him literally being the Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali, of the baseball world in the 1930's, before there was an Ali. I didn't know that Dizzy held out and boycotted games, in a demand for an increased contract, in the middle of the season. I also got to learn much more about the great Ducky Medwick, (The last National League Player to win the Triple Crown 70 years ago.) who was one of my dear departed Mother's favorite players, when he later played on the Brooklyn Dodgers. I never knew he was such a New Jersey, street fighting, chip on the shoulder, ready to fight anyone, including his own teammates, type of guy! I learned more than I ever had known about what led up to one of the biggest name trades in baseball history, Rogers Hornsby for Frankie Frisch. The detailed background on Branch Rickey, before his famous relationship with Jackie Robinson, was also expertly detailed. The almost blow by blow reporting on the 1934 World Series between the Gashouse Gang and the star studded Detroit Tigers makes you feel like you were there. I could go on and on, but like I said in my opening sentences, these facts, that are exciting and educational to me, would only be exciting to the type of people I described in my opening.
Book Description
Freakonomics meets Moneyball in this provocative exposé of baseballÂ's most fiercely debated controversies and some of its oldest, most dearly held myths—explained through the language of numbers and cool cash.
Two hot topics team up in The Baseball Economist, and the result is a refreshing, clear- eyed survey of a playing field that has changed radically in recent years. Utilizing the latest economic methods and statistical analysis, writer, economics professor, and popular blogger J. C. Bradbury dissects burning baseball topics with his original Sabernomic perspective, such as:
• Did steroids have nothing to do with the recent home run records? Incredibly, BradburyÂ's research, reviewed by Stanford economists, reveals steroids had little statistical significance.
• Is the big-city versus small-city competition really lopsided? Bradbury shows why the Marlins and Indians are likely to dominate big-city franchises in the coming years.
• Which players are ridiculously overvalued? Bradbury lists all players by team with their revenue value to the team listed in dollars—including a dishonor role of those players with negative values.
• Is major league baseball a monopoly that canÂ't govern itself? Bradbury sets out what rules the owners really need to play by, and what the playersÂ' union should be doing.
• Does it help to lobby for balls and strikes? How would Babe Ruth perform in todayÂ's game? And who killed all the left-handed catchers, anyway? The Baseball Economist knows.
Providing far more than a mere collection of numbers, Bradbury shines the light of his economic thinking on baseball, exposing the power of tradeoffs, competition, and incentives. Statistics alone arenÂ't enough anymore. Fans, fantasy buffs, and players, as well as coaches at all levels who want to grasp what is really happening on the field today and in the coming years, will use and enjoy BradburyÂ's brilliant new understanding of the national pastime.
Customer Reviews:
Inquiring Minds Wander from This Book.......2007-08-26
I work with economic theorists all the time, but I am not going to tell you this is a good book. Pieces of it are. Bradbury dwells on the steriods issue, prattling on and on about the lack of evidence. Yet, no where does he accept the challenge of studying the relative performances of the individuals to determine the effect of steriods. Rather, he just says it has never been proven. He even blurs the distinction of taking steriods for performance reasons vs. health reasons (and he never considers the differences in the steriods themselves!)
Some of his economic observations are interesting, those where he really studies the game and statistics. I, for one, can find other, more rewarding but boring books to give me a Saturday afternoon snooze. And Bradbury should stick to his statistical analysis of the game (where he excels), not the policy points (where he only debates under the ruse of economic theories).
Didn't care for the book.......2007-08-14
I'm a rabid baseball fan and have read most of the sabermetrics books and have enjoyed most of them. I bought and read all the Elias Baseball Analysts books (if you have to ask you're not a hard core fan) in the series. That said, I didn't care for the subjects or writing in this book. The books needs more punch to make it enjoyable and interesting. I got through the first couple of chapters, then rapidly skimmed parts of the rest of the book.
If you thinking about buying the book for a friend don't. If I didn't care for the book, I can't imagine casual fans even going past its cover.
"Good things tend to be scarce, ...".......2007-07-01
This quote starts chapter 13, and applies to this book as well. The Baseball Economist holds its own and then some when compared to most sabermetric stats books out there. It contains an ecletic but interesting collection of subjects like Freakanomics, presented within a baseball/economic context like MoneyBall. This isn't a book specifically about the economics of baseball, it is more about how the author applies economic methods to answer certain baseball related questions.
That sounds kind of dry, but the author is a better writer than I am, so the book is quite interesting. The first section I found particularly convincing, as it applies principles of economics to identifying why the DH promotes more hit batsmen, why there are almost no lefty catchers, and the over-ratedness of the protection afforded by the on deck hitter. Latter chapters discuss how baseball differs from a true monopoly, and how this has worked to the benefit of the fans.
In the Epilogue, the author writes that he considered calling this book, "An Economist Ruins Baseball", which I'm glad he didn't. That would have done a disservice to this book. Very interesting book to the general baseball fan, and not just a number cruncher book. Probably the best baseball book I have read since MoneyBall.
An economist writes about baseball.......2007-06-02
Bradbury is an associate professor of Economics. He wrote this book with an economists' viewpoint on baseball. He may have gone too in-depths in economics for some people's taste, but being an economics major in college, I enjoyed it and re-learned a few concepts. He covers some topics that have were previously discussed by folks like Bill James, Voros McCracken, Michael Lewis and Jay Gould (and gives them due credit). Topics that were new to me that I found interesting included the effect of "protection" by the on-deck hitter, managers lobbying for balls and strikes, and the baseball monopoly.
I enjoyed this book and I recommend it to baseball fans that are not afraid of charts, numbers and economic concepts. I would be the first in line to buy his second book if Bradbury expands his economic analysis and writing into other sports.
Very interesting look at baseball from a unique perspective.......2007-04-11
Very accessible, very interesting look at baseball. Bradbury tackles both high-profile issues in baseball (steroids, spending disparity amongst teams) as well as ideas you might not have even considered. (What can we learn from trends in hit batsmen?) I recommend this book to baseball fans with an interest in learning more about the inner-workings of the game as well as economists with even a passing interest in the sport.
Amazon.com
Book Description
In Peter Golenbock's shocking and revealing first novel, Mickey Mantle tells the hidden story of his life as a baseball hero, and asks for forgiveness from his friends and family. If the revelations in Jim Bouton's Ball Four were the first crack in the Mantle legend, then 7 smashes the myth to reveal the human being within.
Bestselling sportswriter Peter Golenbock knew Mickey Mantle, Billy Martin, Jim Bouton, Joe Pepitone, and many of Mantle's friends, family, and teammates. While Mickey was a good person at heart, he had a dark side that went far beyond his well-known alcoholism and infidelities. In this fictional portrait, Mickey--now in heaven--realizes that he's carrying a huge weight on his shoulders, as he did throughout his life. He needs to unburden himself of all the horrible things he did and understand for himself why he did them. He wants to make amends to the people he hurt, especially those dear to him; the fans he ignored and alienated; and the public who made him into a hero. Mickey never felt he deserved the adulation, could never live up to it, and tried his damnedest to prove it to everyone. The fact that he was human made the public love him that much more.
This Mickey Mantle is revealed as a man who lived in fear--fear of failure, of success, of life beyond baseball, and of commitment. His was a life filled with sex, yet devoid of deeper satisfactions. From the alcohol-fueled good times and bad, to the emptiness when the party was finally over, 7 has it all.
Through the recounting of his exploits on and off the field, some of them side-splittingly hilarious, some disturbing, and others that will make your head shake in sympathy, Mickey comes clean in this novel in the way he never could in real life. 7: The Mickey Mantle Novel puts you inside the locker room and bedroom with an American Icon every bit as flawed and human as we are.
How Mickey Mantle Wound Up in Heaven
An Exclusive Essay by Peter Golenbock
I met Mickey Mantle for the first time in 1974 when I was writing my first book, Dynasty. He had asked me to meet him at his home in Dallas, but when I arrived, I was informed he had flown to New York and I could meet him in the clubhouse of Yankee Stadium the next day. Back on the plane I went.
During an hour-long interview which I conducted in the Yankee clubhouse, Mickey talked about his career, his love of the game, and the nightmares that woke him up almost every night. During the middle of the interview New York Times reporter John Drebinger entered the clubhouse, and Mickey then told me that Drebby had a hearing aid and that Mickey would move his mouth, pretending to talk so Drebby would turn the hearing aid up, and when he got it up all the way, he'd scream at the top of his lungs. Mickey, myself, and everyone standing around listening roared with laughter.
That was Mickey, irreverent, complex, funny and sad.
Continue reading the essay
7 Second Interview: At Bat with Peter Golenbock
Q: You've been writing bestsellers for years, you saw the response to your friend Jim Bouton's Ball Four, and you even wrote a book (with Graig Nettles) called Balls. And you've already been through this once, with a controversial book being dropped by a major publisher and picked up by a smaller press, with Personal Fouls, your book on Jim Valvano. Were you surprised at what's happened so far with 7?
A: When I saw the outrage over the O.J. Simpson book, my immediate reaction was, Uh oh. Judith Regan became the focal point of the controversy, and since she was also my publisher, I was fully aware of what seemed sure to follow. I was hoping against hope, but unfortunately my instincts were correct.
Q: Mickey Mantle was your childhood hero. In the opening to the book, you recount the last conversation you had with him, when you try to explain to him what he meant to you. Do you still think of him as a hero?
A: He is more of a hero to me that ever. What most people refuse to accept is that alcoholism is a disease, and too often a deadly one. Mickey suffered with all the ills--both physical and social--of alcoholism for most of his life. In the end, he faced up to his problem. For a macho guy like Mickey, that took a lot of guts. To us, he was a hero. To himself he was a failure. How he must have suffered. That's what this book is all about.
Q: You've written books with and about Billy Martin, and he's a big figure in this book too. What was Mantle's relationship with him like?
A: They were best friends, drinking buddies, soul mates. They loved each other like brothers. They were also enablers. Both were alcoholics, but neither would admit it.
Q: You've talked to hundreds of old ballplayers for your books over the years. Was Mantle typical in the way he handled the time after he was done as a player, or the exception?
A: Mantle was an extreme example of an athlete who died inside the day he retired. Some athletes can smoothly make the transformation into the real world, but not most. In the days before the mega-salaries (when the athlete had to find a job after baseball) plenty of the players I interviewed felt lost and abandoned. Selling insurance or cars just didn't excite them. But they had to do if they wanted to feed their families. Mickey was one of the few athletes who could sell his autograph and make his living that way. And he felt bad about having to do that.
Q: Mickey has a line in the book: "I'm only sorry camcorders didn't exist way back then. We'd-a made a fortune." Do you think things were different "way back then," or was the difference just that everybody didn't have camcorders?
A: Things were different back then. There wasn't the constant scrutiny of the athletes' actions like there is now. There was no SportsCenter or talk radio, no Internet blogging or YouTube. The sportswriters rarely wrote about what happened off the field. The players had a lot more privacy.
Book Description
Through the recounting of his exploits on and off the field, some of them sidespittingly hilarious, some disturbing, and others that will make your head shake in sympathy, Mickey comes clean in this novel in the way he never could in real life. 7: The Mickey Mantle Novel puts you inside the locker room and bedreoom with an American Icon every bit as flawed and human as we are.
Customer Reviews:
Not the best read for a golenbock fan.......2007-10-14
Just not the type of book that I can relate to..more porn then story . Hurtful for too many folks.
Home Run!!!.......2007-07-21
Peter, it was a pleasure to read the book. I must admit there was nothing in there that should suprise anyone. It was your typical well written book. A couple of typos. Also, a contradiction or two on the year and age at death. Mick also batted .356 in 1956, not .352. All in all it is a great book and full of good stories. Your having known Mickey and interviewing each of his teammates for Dynasty is enviable. I am sure you heard a lot of stories you could not use in Dynasty. I am now seeing that people are talking about the book without having read it, as you told me to do. I will not make that mistake again. I would have missed a lot of fun by being hardheaded. Sincerely, Mike
Golenbock knows baseball.......2007-07-17
Peter Golenbock has interviewed personally the players in this book. It is true and unexpurgated baseball at its best. True fans will love it and guys like Swearington should remember that "what goes around comes around." This book is a great read, not watered down to keep the puritans happy.
Excellent read, excellent audio too.......2007-07-17
If you are a baseball fan you will love this book. The audio version sounds just like the Mick!!!
One, Two, Three Strikes - He's Out!.......2007-07-08
There is a major contradiction in this book before the first chapter begins. The copyright page contains a disclaimer that states that references to real people, places, etc. are used fictitiously, come from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Then, the second page of the Introduction states that Mickey's friends swear the incidents in the book are true. I personally know many of Mickey's teammates and I have not found one yet who claims any of the stories are real. STRIKE ONE.
The author claims to know Mickey well enough to psychoanalyze him yet he incorrectly states several important facts about Mickey's life and career such as his age at death, the number of world championship teams he was on and the name of Mickey's first son. STRIKE TWO.
Golenbock is a gifted writer who has authored many non-fiction baseball books. It is unfortunate, that at this stage in his successful career, he elected to write a trashy and degrading novel, from his own imagination, about one of American's greatest baseball icons. STRIKE THREE - HE'S OUT!
Book Description
When Legendary Negro League player Buck O'Neil asked sports columnist Joe Posnanski how he fell in love with baseball, Posnanski had to think about it. From that question was born the idea behind BASEBALL AND JAZZ. Posnanski and the 94 year old O'Neil decided to spend the 2005 baseball season touring the country in hopes of stirring up the love that first drew them to the game. This book is just as much the story of Buck O'Neil as it is the story of baseball. In a time when disillusioned, steroid–shooting, money hungry athletes define the sport, Buck O'Neil stands out as a man that truly played for the love of the game. Posnanski writes about that love and the one thing that O'Neil loved almost as much as baseball: jazz. BASEBALL AND JAZZ is an endearing step back in time to the days when the crack of a bat and the smoky notes of a midnight jam session were the sounds that brought the most joy to a man's heart.
Customer Reviews:
Buck: Almost too good to be true.......2007-09-23
Like many baseball followers, my admiration for Buck O'Neil can be traced to Ken Burns' documentary on baseball. How a black man could live through the era in which Buck lived with the attitudes he has is beyond me. (I am white, not American but lived in the US in the 60s and 70s.) Mr Posnanski's book is is a little too sugary, uncritical and unprobing for my liking. I cannot but help to think that with a little probing there is probably bit more to Buck's attitudes than is presented. However, if you want a feel-good book about this topic, this is the dream book.
On the road with Buck.......2007-09-10
A splendid collection of stories, told by one of our most valuable citizens, and conveyed by a very talented listener and writer.
I Knew Buck O'Neil.......2007-08-24
A great read of a great human being, and baseball man. I would see Buck several times a year in the '80s at the Detroit Tigers, Joker Marchant Stadium, when he was a scout with the Kansas City Royals. He was a pleasant a man you could ever meet. I am pleased to have known the man, even if only those brief moments I was able see and to talk to him.
Buy this book, and read a great tribute of this man and to the Negro Leagues of the past.
A year in the life of Buck O'Neil.......2007-08-23
I found the book very readable and never really got bored with it. I would have liked more in depth stories from when Buck played and managed. Most of the reminisces were short and sweet versions. All and all, I did enjoy the book and consider it a good book, not a great book.
Hmmm..........2007-08-08
I can't help but wonder if the 22 reviews -- all giving this book 5 stars -- are some of the author's closest friends. I am not saying I didn't like the book, but the writing was drab. Through the first few chapters, I got it, Buck O'neal was a good man. So, I'm just saying that the stories were not told in a way that made me connect with Mr. O'Neal --he was just a nice guy and then he died. There are a few editing errors as well, which made it confusing. I am by no means a critic of writing, but I just don't see the amazing book everyone else here did -- anyone agree with me?
Book Description
Becoming a Major League ballplayer for Dwight and me, that was the dream.
Dwight is Dwight Gooden. Most people know him for winning the Cy Young Award. To me, though, he’s family, an uncle, but at four years older, really a brother. I can still remember those games of catch with Dwight in the backyard: him rearing back, and me somehow getting my mitt up to stop one of his fireballs. Often the two of us would sit with Grandpa (Dwight’s dad), and he’d tell us how hard it would be to make our dream come true, how just playing our best wouldn’t be enough.
He’d talk about “inside power.”
At the time, I didn’t really understand what Grandpa was driving at. But I do now. After twenty years in the “bigs” and seven Major League teams, I understand. When I landed with my first team, Milwaukee, I thought being a ballplayer was about hitting home runs. I’ve always been good at that. It took me longer to learn that “the game” as it’s played at the Major League level with millions on the line and the cameras always turned in your direction asks far more of you.
If you’re a go-along guy, it can be great. I’ve just found that too often “going along” gets in the way of being a man. I love this game. Love the feel of the bat in my hand, the grass under my feet, the shouts of encouragement as I step into the box. I draw strength from the fans and play my heart out for them.
I just wish those who control the game had more respect for the guys doing the playing.
What I want to do in this book is show you what it’s been like taking this strange, wonderful, sometimes immensely frustrating life journey. “Malcontent” . . . “greedy” . . . “selfish” I’ve had plenty of adjectives lobbed my way, and believe me, they’ve stung. There are a lot of stories to tell from a life lived on and off the field: some sweet, others horrific. Everything from soaking up Little League glory to nearly being shot to death, from learning the startling truth of how I came by my last name to playing with and for characters like A-Rod, Jeter, Lasorda, Leyland, and Torre. And, yeah, I’ll finally set the record straight about a guy named Steinbrenner and a guy named Bonds.
It’s a story Grandpa would want me to tell. It’s a story I need to tell.
Customer Reviews:
2 Thumbs up for Gary Sheffield.......2007-08-24
If you like baseball, then read this book. This book describes most owners and GM's are just business men. It shows really how cruel the Yankees baseball staff is and how great the players. It shows how baseball is unfair to a lot of players and how it is becoming more of a racist sport. This book also shows inspiration and how money isn't everything. This book also shows that Barry Bonds is a really egotistical power-hungry maniac(no offense Giants fans). This is a great book. I picked it up and i didn't put it down until I finished it.
Great Book.......2007-06-18
Gary Sheffield Is one of My Favorite Players and David Ritz is One of Favorite Writers as well. bring there two Worlds together and you have a strong Book. what I dig about Gary Sheffield is that He is One of the very Few true Soul Brothers around who speaks his mind. I miss that from so many cats who are only too happy to grin and get the Money and Be Bought off. Sheff stays on the real.I dug what he said about his Grandpa I can relate to that. Great mentions of his Uncle Dwight "Doc" Gooden. a Strong Book from a Strong Minded Soul Brother.
Among the better Sports books.......2007-06-17
This is among the better sports-related books written recently. Gary Sheffield's story is about what makes a player tick -- and the motivation and self-hype that goes with it. A fast and entertaining read, it has some inside insights into the game of baseball. Sheffield, now playing for my Detroit Tigers, is someone I have never admired, nor liked. This book makes me neither like him more, nor admire him more - once a Yankee, always a Yankee -- but it certainly presents a slice of life into the world of baseball, big egos, and (thank God) ghost writers. A good sports book, that reads in about three hours. Don't look for any amazing revelations. Don't look for anything surprising about any of the (now 7) teams that he has played for. This is about pure ego and how it helps you excel.
inside power.......2007-06-08
the book was awesome Iam a Wrestling coach and i have asked all my Wrestlers to read it to see what a real work attic is all about
Good Read.......2007-05-27
This was a good read. Sheffield wasn't as outspoken as I thought he was going to be, but you learned a lot about what makes him tick in this book. He's a very intense person, who will go to great lengths to prove his worth, both to himself and to others. He doesn't like authority, doesn't like being told what to do or how to do things. This is the basic message you will get from after reading this book. The whole "Bonds" chapter was interesting. Not sure if I believe the steroids issue (I mean, come on, there's no way on Earth he's going to admit to using them--he's got MILLIONS of dollars and his legacy to worry about). He was definitely on juice back when everyone else was. He was IMMENSE! Now he's strong, but not even close to what he was back in 2000 or so. Other than the juice issue, the rest was fairly interesting. It was the kind of book that I read in its entirety in one day, because I didn't feel like putting it down.
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- Cycles of Time and Meaning in the Mexican Books of Fate (Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Series in Latin American and Latino Art and Culture)
- Dereliction of Duty : Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam
- Different Voices: Women and the Holocaust
- Down the Great Unknown: John Wesley Powell's 1869 Journey of Discovery and Tragedy Through the Grand Canyon
- Ellis Island: Ghosts of Freedom
- Event Planning : The Ultimate Guide to Successful Meetings, Corporate Events, Fundraising Galas, Conferences, Conventions, Incentives and Other Special Events
- First Responder Handbook: Fire Service Edition
- Foundations and Adult Health Nursing
- Gunpowder Green
- Hallmarks of the Southwest (Schiffer Book for Collectors)
Books Index
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