Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball [Hardcover]

Norman L. Macht (Author), Connie Mack III (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2007

Connie Mack (1862–1956) was the Grand Old Man of baseball and one of the game’s first true celebrities. This book, spanning the first fifty-two years of Mack’s life, through 1914, covers his experiences as player, manager, and club owner and will stand as the definitive biography of baseball’s most legendary and beloved figure. 

 

Norman L. Macht chronicles Mack’s little-known beginnings. He tells how Mack, a school dropout at fourteen, created strategies for winning baseball and principles for managing men long before there were notions of defining such subjects. And he details how Mack, a key figure in the launching of the American League in 1901, won six of the league’s first fourteen pennants while serving as manager, treasurer, general manager, traveling secretary, and public relations and scouting director (all at the same time) for the Philadelphia Athletics.

 

This book brings to life the unruly origins of baseball as a sport and a business. It also provides the first complete and accurate picture of a character who was larger than life and yet little known: the tricky, rule-bending catcher; the peppery field leader and fan favorite; the hot-tempered young manager. Illustrated with family photographs never before published, it affords unique insight into a colorful personality who helped shape baseball as we know it today.

(20071126)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The tale Macht offers is often riveting.”—Library Journal

(Robert Cottrell Library Journal 20080818)

“[A] comprehensive and interesting portrait of one of baseball’s most successful managers. . . . A compelling look at a legend and an era.”—Kirkus Reviews

(Kirkus Reviews 20070313)

“A mother lode of data, stories, perceptions about one of the legendary figures in the history of the national pastime. . . . If you are into baseball, get into this tome.”—Harvey Frommer on Sports

(Harvey Frommer on Sports 20060821)

“[Includes] many fascinating details of baseball from the 1880s to 1914.”—Boston Globe

(Katherine A. Powers Boston Globe )

“Richly enjoyable.”—Roanoke Times

(Bob Willis The Roanoke Times )

“Masterful. . . . A must read for all historians of the national pastime, particularly those with an interest in Philadelphia sports.”—Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography

(Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography )

“No other baseball manager is going to win—or lose—as many games as Connie Mack did in his fifty years managing the Philadelphia Athletics. A biography of Mack cannot help but be a history of baseball in the first half of the twentieth century, and this biography is a feast of interesting facts and judgments.”—George F. Will, syndicated columnist and author of Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball

(George Will )

“As a catcher and manager, Connie Mack deserves much of the credit for writing ‘The Book’ on baseball strategy and the managing of men. How he did it all is told here for the first time.”—Roland Hemond, three-time winner of Major League Baseball’s Executive of the Year award

(Roland Hemond )

About the Author

Norman L. Macht is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research and the author of more than thirty books, including biographies of Rowdy Richard (with Dick Bartell) and Rex Barney's Thank Youuuu (with Rex Barney).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 742 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press (September 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803232632
• ISBN-13: 978-0803232631
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #477,401 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Connie Mack and the Early Years of baseball, November 11, 2007

By 

Thomas Zocco - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball (Hardcover)

This is a well researched, well written,
detailed book on the life of Connie Mack. The author states he spent twenty-two years working on this book. The book is interesting from the start. In the forward, former United States Senator Connie Mack III tells about being a youngster and helping take care of his grandfather. It begins with the birth of Connie Mack and ends seven hundred pages later with the 1914 season. Connie Mack was not only very intelligent as a manager but also as a player in the National and Players Leagues. Mack had a large hand in helping form the American League and this book gives an account of how the American League was formed. Mack sent scouts or scouted on his own as he built the Philadelphia Athletics dynasty. Players such as Eddie Plank and Rube Waddell are brought to life. Also, Mack was very kind and giving, supporting many members of his family and friends. Several long standing beliefs about Mack are debunked. This book is a must read for baseball historians. Here is hoping 1915- is in the works.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for anyone interested in baseball history, May 1, 2008

By 

Barry Sparks "freelance writer" (York, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball (Hardcover)

After researching Connie Mack for more than 20 years, author Norman Macht definitely knows his subject. Macht masterfully weaves the story of Mack and the early years of baseball in this 675-page biography, which covers the time from Mack's birth in 1862 through 1914.

Mack is the ideal subject to use to tell about baseball's early years because he was involved, in one way or another, in virtually every development. Macht chronicles Mack's childhood, his family, his days as a player and manager.

Macht spends much of the first part of the book dispelling myths about baseball's early years and Mack.

As a catcher, Mack was underrated. Writer Hugh Fullerton described him as a "better hitter than credited and dangerous in the pinch. He was a perfect backstop; cool, unhurried, deadly in throwing."

Wilbert Robinson called him "a little tin god behind the plate."

Macht writes that "It's difficult to reconcile the later image of Mack the public remembers--dignified, kind and soft-spoken--with the sharp-tongued, hot-headed manager of the 1890s, which he was."

Macht does an excellent job of capturing what the times were like, both on and off the field. A reader will learn a lot about the issues of the times and how the rules changed during baseball's early years.

Macht is extremely knowledgeable about the personalities of the players associated with Mack. He has a habit of adding little details, insight and color that bring the players to life. He does the same with Mack's family life. You truly feel you are in Mack's shoes.

While Macht is a noted baseball historian, he is also an excellent writer. He avoids the pitfall of getting bogged down in too many details, and he tells the story in an easy-to-read manner.

Although Macht explains why his book doesn't have a bibliography or footnotes, their absence is disappointing, particularly since Macht is a baseball historian.

Macht plans a second volume which will cover 1915 through Mack's death.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars These Stars ARE for Norman Macht, March 4, 2008

By 

Tom Swift - See all my reviews

This review is from: Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball (Hardcover)

This trove of valuable information and entertaining stories is must-read material for those who want to know about the old Philadelphia Athletics and Connie Mack's pre-eminent role in baseball history. A salient and exhaustive examination of the teams he built and the dynasty he started, this book was written with an authority only Norman Macht could have brought to the task.