Customer Reviews

Catfish, Yaz, and Hammerin' Hank: The Unforgettable Era That Transformed Baseball

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

 

 

For anyone interested in the history of baseball or who grew up in the 1970's loving baseball this is a great book. It is a good survey of the 70's baseball at its best. It does not delve deeply into personality issues or the failings of players but keeps to the point of telling the story of the greatest game on earth.
The accompanying cd is fun to watch.

This book is an enjoyable nostalgic read from the decade of the 1970's. It is more enjoyable having been a fan of baseball since the early 1950's, and being able to appreciate those players who made up the game of baseball during the decade of the 1970's. I would like to point out a few mistakes I found. The forward by Bucky Dent lists the two owners he played for in his career namely, as he said, Bill "Vicki" and George Steinbrenner. The "Vicki" may well be a typo, since I'm sure he must have known it is Bill Veeck. The spelling wasn't even close, however. Also, on page 84 author Phil Pepe mentions that Roberto Clemente became the only player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame without having to wait the required five years. Lou Gehrig was voted into the Hall of Fame in 1939, the same year he retired from the game. Finally on page 167 author Pepe states that the Baby Ruth candy bar was named after former President Herbert Hoover's daughter when, in reality, it was named after former President Grover Cleveland's daughter. Like the previous reviewer it's true there was a lot of space devoted to the New York Yankees, but to be fair, the Yankees did dominate a lot of the 1970's. Considering the amount of coverage Reggie Jackson was given his name should have been included somewhere in the title of the book. The accompanying DVD was interesting in hearing of the experiences of Brooks Robinson, Catfish Hunter, and Max Lanier from the 1940's and early 1950's as they give their views of working under the reserve clause. Catfish Hunter was expecially interesting in relating anecdotes from his years with the Athletics and Yankees. I rate the book four stars and the DVD five stars.

Rather than break the book up into "innings," it should be arranged into "halves." The first half is "How the Players Finally Cracked the Owners' 'Reserve Clause' Wall," and the second half is "The Yankees."

I know Pepe was the Yanks' beat writer so he is more intimately familiar with their story than anyone else's, but the book purports to cover the history of baseball in the 1970s in its entirety, and many other dramas are given short shrift. There is no mention AT ALL of Padres' sinkerballer Randy Jones (except in the stats section), Brewers' phenom shortstop Robin Yount, Angels' hotshot lefty Frank Tanana, San Francisco's near-loss of the Giants to Toronto in 1976, nor the Giants' "God Squad" of 1978. A little more on Tug McGraw and Al Hrabosky would've been nice, too.

This underserved treatment of stories under the radar of the New York media just adds fuel to the fire to those who believe that MLB is simply a feeder system for the Yanks.

However, the recollections of players and others that Pepe included definitely make this book a worthwhile read.

IF YOU LIVED THRU THE 70'S AND FOLLOWED BASEBALL, THIS IS A GREAT REMINDER OF THE EVENTS THAT SHAPED THAT DECADE OF BASEBALL. FROM THE OAKLAND DYNASTY, BIG RED MACHINE, AND HAMMERIN HANK OVERTAKING THE BABE THIS WAS A GREAT 10 YEARS OF THE GRAND OLD GAME. THIS BOOK TAKES THE READER ON A NOSTALGIC TRIP THRU TIME. PHIL PEPE DOES A GREAT JOB RECALLING THIS MUST READ BOOK. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS FOR BASEBALL HISTORIANS AND ALL BASEBALL FANS.