Customer Reviews

The Black Prince of Baseball: Hal Chase and the Mythology of the Game

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It was a time of corruption in the game, where players did not think twice to "lay down" - and I don't mean a bunt - and the larger-than-life mobsters and gamblers not only had the best seats in the stadium, but prime access to clubhouses and - many times - the grand offices of a club owner.

And now - as then - one name seems to stick out as a prime-time player in the years before the Black Sox scandal who epitomizes the sandlot shadows...."Prince" Hal Chase, a slick fielding first baseman, a superstar and - according to many critics - as crooked as they came in the game.

Co-authors Donald Dewey and Nicholas Acocella paint a different portrait in this extensive biography, placing Chase firmly as an athlete in the era - he played for five pro clubs from 1905-1919, being blacklisted from the major leagues at age 36 for allegedly throwing a game in 1918 - and wrongly singled out when the game was rife with vice.

This is a great exploration into the real working mechanics of the National Pastime and the shadows who were kings of the diamond.

I give the authors a big A for effort but this book could have been much more tightly written and edited. A lot of the authors' phrasing was difficult to comprehend and overwritten. Though he was a compelling figure turn-of-the-century, I'm not sure he was worth a 448-page book. Still, it becomes quite clear that he was a dark, enigmatic fellow who was totally self-absorbed. What the authors do well is define how common gambling was during those early days, enough to make one wonder how many games were actually tossed. McGraw comes across as a nasty wheeler-dealer who probably just skirted the rules during his long career.