Customer Reviews

Baseball: A History of America's Favorite Game (Modern Library Chronicles)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you're looking for an in-depth history of baseball you need to look elsewhere. However, if you want a quick history of the game from its different time periods this book of 222 pages is quite good. The writing by George Vecsey is also very well done. If there were any mistakes in the book I didn't find them. You may find anecdotes told here in other books, but for a book covering the history of the game in 222 pages I would recommend it to you.

This book is strictly for casual fans or general readers. While smoothly written, the stories told are well-known and the historical insight negligible. For a serious academic history of the game, read Benjamin Rader, BASEBALL: A HISTORY OF AMERICA'S GAME (second edition) or Charles C. Alexander, OUR GAME: AN AMERICAN BASEBALL HISTORY (a little dated, since it was published in 1991). If you are really determined, try Harold Seymour's classic three-volume history.

BASEBALL: A HISTORY OF AMERICA'S FAVORITE GAME by George Vecsey is not quite a comprehensive account of America's pastime. However, Vecsey pinpoints the major events and people who defined the game on and off the field, and clears the myths from the facts. He intermingles the Abner Doubleday myth with Columbus and Pocahontas, and specifically states that Albert Goodwill Spalding, a pitcher turned businessman, helped typify baseball to how it is recognized today. From Abner Doubleday to the scandalous fervor of 1919 and the Black Sox as well as the so-called Great Bambino curse that was finally broken one day in October 2004, the book places the game within a historical perspective.

Vecsey intertwines baseball with history. He embraces the game as a long-time fan as well as a sports columnist, but with a tinge of romanticism when he recounts his childhood memories of the game during baseball's "golden age" and Jackie Robinson and Stan Musial reigned. The book is a combination of the Ken Burns's documentary and HBO Sports', "When it was a Game." There are several historical references throughout the book, such as his discussion of the First and Second World Wars when team members heeded to the call of duty, and unfortunately, never to return. What is worth noting is that the game boosted morale during and after the war; in 1949 General MacArthur praised the game as a "piece of diplomacy," and decades later, Japanese Ambassador to the United States, Ryozo Kato, stated that the game "helped heal the memories of war" (115). In addition, with emergence of the Civil Rights Movement, baseball became integrated and progressed with the times.

Although BASEBALL is geared towards the general-reading public, this is by no means an introduction to the game. The book is rather a historical commentary that insights readers about this aspect of American culture that is as historic as it is ever changing. Vecsey's narrative is enlightening, and it is amazing to know that the game has existed for over two centuries and continues to draw new followers and spectators.

Author George Vecsey has written a very readable and informative semi-history of the national pastime. He begins with a look at the game's 19th Century evolution (perhaps even 18th Century), and we learn about the game both before and after the Civil War. Then he comes to the modern era, and informs us of starts like Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb, pioneers like Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey, and even looks at the commissioners, and the cheaters from the recent power surge. This book has quite a bit, for both casual fans and hardcore fanatics.

When I was a kid, I couldn't get enough of the game of baseball . . . I
watched games on TV and went to them, and I also read everything
about the subject that I could.

For some reason, I lost interest in it sometime around my teenage
years . . . maybe it was when my mother threw out my collection
of baseball cards (including one signed by Sandy Koufax!) or perhaps
it's when I discovered that girls were frankly more interesting, but
I also forgot many of my childhood memories . . . that is, until I came
across BASEBALL: A HISTORY OF AMERICA'S FAVORITE GAME
by NEW YORK TIMES sports columnist George Vecsey.

What a joy it was to hear this book over the past several days as
I drove to and from work . . . it reminded me of the days when
I followed both the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers, but
it also gave me a mini-history lesson about the Black Sox 1919
scandal (and why it happened), along with an appreciation of
what it was like to have to play in the Negro Leagues.

I also liked hearing about how baseball became popular in the
United States . . . and learning that Abner Doubleday really had
little to do with the game's development.

It was fun hearing about Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson, but
equally interesting to learn about the role of such executives
as Branch Rickey and my personal favorite, Bill Veeck.

And I got a kick learning why Ricky Henderson had so many
doubles in his career . . . it seems he could have stretched many
of them into triples, but held off on doing so in order to then
be able to steal third (and add to his all-time steals record).

I don't know if BASEBALL will get me to return to the ballpark
anytime in the near future . . . yet I'd still recommend
the book to any fan--past, present or future.

My only criticism is that the book is a bit choppy . . . it goes back
and forth in history, whereas my preference would have been for
a straight chronological approach.

Vecsey has written some terrific columns for the New York Times, and this volume includes some very well written vignettes. Of particular interest are the description of Hall-of-Famer Cap Anson's successful lead of the boycott of African American players of the 19th century; the American need to claim baseball as its own unique sport despite evidence of a long international history of bat and ball games; a concise narrative of the Black Sox scandal; the extremely clear explanation of the Curt Flood and Andy Messersmith litigation that led to the free agent era; and an even-handed treatment of the steroid & drug scandals. On this last point, Vecsey is a sensitive observer who is able to admit his own personal fault in looking the other way at a long history of drug and alcohol abuse by players.

But the column method of writing does not translate well to a full volume, and is likely to frustrate most fans who pick up this book.

A more evenly-told chronological narrative would have been more effective.

Every sportswriter has a need to reveal his childhood experiences with the great game - usually baseball but occasionally other sports. This tendency occurs in this volume. How about a different approach, especially in a thin description of the entire history of baseball? I am slightly above novice status as far as baseball knowledge and the history of baseball, yet this slim volume is way too breezy and facile for me. I believe the Modern Library series aims at brief but definitive surveys of its subject, yet this objective is not met in the current volume. I have read magazine articles and essay with more depth of analysis and description in twenty pages or less. Yet this volume assumes a basic knowledge of baseball, so I am not clear on the audience intended for this book.

a good book worth reading by any baseball fan. the author really knows his stuff. my only complaint is that it jumps around a little chronologically, making somewhat difficult to read at times. if you are thinking about buying it, do it. you probably won't be disappointed.

I am not an avid baseball fan, but I do enjoy going to a few games each year. I also enjoy a good read - and this was a good read. What I enjoyed most was learning about the early history of the game, which I had no clue about. I also found the chapters on the negro leagues, the Yankees, and the Curt Flood/free agency era, to be informative.

An objective critique of baseball history separating truth from fiction.
A well written and interesting book showing the unknown conflicts between owners and players. The owners reluctance to expose internal problems with star athletes. It also raises questions about the origins of America's game. Though provoking and insigtful. This writer knows his stuff.