Customer Reviews

All Century Team

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

From the moment I knew this book existed I knew that I had to have it. I immediately set to work procuring this book for my collection. I waited in earnest as the days went by and my anticipation was only heightened after watching the movie version of the book. After waiting a month the book finally arrived and it turned out to be one of the biggest literary disappointments I've ever seen. The book is almost completely "style" and is composed of very little "substance". The pictures are just incredible. There are hundreds and most are full page or multi-page and they are just stunning. You couldn't have asked for a better grouping of photos but the writing was very poor. I didn't particularly care for the author's style and several times I became so bored that I had to stop reading. There is hardly any writing in the book to begin with and much of what is written is repeated several times within the specific stories or somewhere else in the book whittling the already sparse amount to even less. There are almost no stats in the book as well. This was a major disappointment in itself. They could have at least put a box that had the players lifetime stats our something. I found that many of the fast facts were things that would be considered general facts among baseball fans and would only impress those with little knowledge of the game. There were a few fast facts that I genuinely enjoyed but the vast majority were very poor. The book also lacked any general flow and the writing seemed to be very choppy. There were roughly 3 places in the book where my hopes were raised as to the outcome of the rest of the book as it began to flow quite nicely but these were soon dashed as the story meandered back into a disrythmic pattern. The ending quotation of the book was also relatively poor leaving the reader trying to figure out why it was used. I know they could have found a better ending. From start to finish the writing just seemed like it was thrown together and wasn't very well thought out. It seemed disorganized and in some places it left you feeling confused. Again the pictures are incredible but the writing is absolutely sub par. Basically what you'll be buying is a 40.00 picture book and if you have the money to spend the photos just might be worth it. My reccomendation to you; however, is to buy the video instead. It is 20.00 cheaper and a world better than the book. What you lose in the still pictures of the book you infinately gain in the marvelous video clips that range from brand new back to some of the earliest films of baseball. I gave the video a 5 star rating but I would have given it a 500 if that were possible. I would definately reccomend buying the video instead.

This is book is the most impressive photographic collection I have ever seen in book about the great American game of Baseball. I found the writing to be very well done in a way that was enjoyable to read. It had the right amount of amazing statistical info that was well presented graphically without having an extreme amount of statistical data. After my father and brother saw it...they had to have their own copy for their coffee tables also. It was a great book to give to my friends as a gift.

I saw this book at the local bookstore and browsed through it. It looked really cool so I bought it. After watching the ESPN video-version of the book, I assumed the book would have been of the same caliber. It isn't. Although there are many excellent photos the composition and the editorial is weak. Where is the Beef! This book lacks statistics and a continuity that would make you believe this book was made for the non-baseball fan. Because of the fluff and "image" of this book, the video is a much better value. I should have spent I few more minutes in the bookstore browsing before I wasted my 40 bucks!

I Was Expecting big things from this book but came away disappointed with both the packaging and content of the book. The packaging because the pictures were nothing exciting and the order seemed out of sync,like they put this together quickly to meet some deadline.As for the content or selection,it baffled me that Roger Clemens was on this team.In big games,I'll go with Whitey Ford any day of the week.Apparently,the selection was based less on performance and leadership in clutch situations than on strikeouts and statistics.Also,people who picked this team have short memories and attention spans because when you look at the whole century instead of the 80s and 90s,you will find much better pitchers than Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens who despite the many strikeouts and good stats,never led their teams like a Ford,Koufax,or Gibson.These guys knew how to win the big one.I'm surprised Randy Johnson,another good stats man wasn't voted in by the judges,12 yr olds.

As soon as I heard this book was coming out, I knew I had to get it. After I finally did get it and opened it up, I was stunned. The pictures are absolutely wonderful, and the writing is good also. Remember, the majority of these players were voted on by the fans in 1999 to comprise The All-Century Team, so don't blame the writers of the book for the over-abundance of current players. They actually added five players that were, remarkably, overlooked--including Honus Wagner, far and away the best shortstop of all-time--to make the book even better. The pictures and presentation of the book are very good, and the writers make sure to confirm that Babe Ruth was the greatest player of all-time. A great baseball coffee table book.

A great baseball book for all fans! Truly one of the classics

Of course there would be controversies.Starting with a premise to namethe 100 greatest ball players would be difficult.Theseselections,though border on the absurd.Nolan Ryan{?]ROGERCLEMENS{?!}Ken Griffey,Jr. Mark Mcgwire??????Wher are the graet negroleague players?Cal Ripken Jr. Who voted on this?These selections arelaughable....Hank Greenburg, Buck Leonard,Joh Henry LLoyd[Babe Ruthsaid he was the greatest player he ever saw}Tom Seaver,JuanMarichal.Sigh.Home Runs and strikeouts rule.This is a list forchildren.Simply terible.That said, the publishers have done a fine jobwith the presentation. The pictures are fine,of excellent quality, thebook, a coffee table tome,actually, is nice to hold and look at,thewriting is fair,not great,simply adequete.With what they had to workwith,they could have done much much more.

Great jobb.. reccomend it to all base ball fans.. Well done..