Scan barcode
scottjbaxter's review against another edition
4.0
Frank DeFord's book gives a look at what he considers the founding of modern baseball with the New York Giants in the first decade or two of the twentieth century. I have mixed feelings about the book because it had many enjoyable incidents and I feel like I learned a good amount; at the same time, DeFord tends to ramble and swithc without warning from journalistic to the vernacular. Here was my favorite line from the book:
[h.L.] Menchen held no more regard for McGraw's occupation [baseball]. "I hate all sports," he once wrote, "as rabidly as a person who likes sports hates common sense."
[h.L.] Menchen held no more regard for McGraw's occupation [baseball]. "I hate all sports," he once wrote, "as rabidly as a person who likes sports hates common sense."
blevins's review against another edition
3.0
Baseball book that looks into early 20th century era's legends Christy Matthewson and John McGraw. It's a familiar story to me as I love this era of baseball history but I enjoyed it all the same. Deford has a crisp, simple style that I like but I was annoyed he kept calling McGraw "Mugsy" when he didn't like that nickname. Kind of disrespectful.
komet2020's review against another edition
4.0
As a baseball fan who has had virtually a lifelong love of the game and its history, this was an enjoyable book to read. Both John McGraw, the pugnacious manager of the New York Giants and one of baseball's great minds of the early 20th century, and Christy ("Matty") Mathewson, the great pitcher and moral paragon among players, helped to lift up the stature of the game and broaden its national appeal. (In the process, baseball became the national pastime til football supplanted its claim to the title in the 1960s.)
The book also is a dual biography, informing the reader about the lives of both McGraw and Mathewson. Both men, given their disparate backgrounds and temperaments, could not be more different. Yet when they both became part of the New York Giants, they worked very well together. In fact, McGraw, who could be a bit of a control freak in terms of how he managed his players, gave Mathewson considerable latitude in the games he pitched. "Matty" was free to pitch as he saw fit and became one of the most successful pitchers in major league history. Long before the New York Yankees became the pre-eminent team of the major leagues, it was the New York Giants who were one of the great powerhouse teams of baseball. They dominated the game between the early 1900s and the immediate post-First World War era.
Any person who loves a good human interest story or who loves baseball will enjoy this book. It's easy to read and is not at all taxing.
The book also is a dual biography, informing the reader about the lives of both McGraw and Mathewson. Both men, given their disparate backgrounds and temperaments, could not be more different. Yet when they both became part of the New York Giants, they worked very well together. In fact, McGraw, who could be a bit of a control freak in terms of how he managed his players, gave Mathewson considerable latitude in the games he pitched. "Matty" was free to pitch as he saw fit and became one of the most successful pitchers in major league history. Long before the New York Yankees became the pre-eminent team of the major leagues, it was the New York Giants who were one of the great powerhouse teams of baseball. They dominated the game between the early 1900s and the immediate post-First World War era.
Any person who loves a good human interest story or who loves baseball will enjoy this book. It's easy to read and is not at all taxing.
More...