Damn Senators: My Grandfather and the Story of Washington's Only World Series Championship [Hardcover]

Mark G. Judge (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2003

Mark Judge has written a book that is at once a touching memoir of his grandfather, star first baseman for the Old Washington Senators; a history of baseball in its golden age and an exciting account of the Senators' 1924 World Series victory.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Judge eloquently recalls the team's finest times, when Joe Judge played first base and Walter Johnson was on the mound." -- William Gildea, The Washington Post

"Judge tells a love story about our Nation's Capital and his grandfather, the legendary first baseman of its "'Damn Senators.'" -- Bowie Kuhn, Commissioner of Baseball (1969-1984)

About the Author

Mark Gauvreau Judge's work has appeared in the "Wall Street Journal," the "Washington Post," the "Weekly Standard" and other publications. He is the author of "If It Ain't Got that Swing: The Rebirth of Grown-Up Culture."

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Encounter Books; 1 edition (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893554708
• ISBN-13: 978-1893554702
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,751,374 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A well-written, concise history of D.C. baseball & more, May 23, 2003

By 

B. F. Satterwhite (Glen Burnie, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Damn Senators: My Grandfather and the Story of Washington's Only World Series Championship (Hardcover)

When I bought this book, I expected to read about one man (Joe Judge) and one team (the 1924 World Champion Washington Senators). I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the author had actually written much more: a condensed yet thorough history of the Washington Senators franchise; a nice biographical sketch of the legendary Walter Johnson, as well as numerous anecdotal insights about many other baseball players of the early 20th century; and a glimpse of life in Washington, D.C. as it was almost 100 years ago.

Because I am an amateur baseball historian, I loved the accounts of the players, games, franchises, and even stadiums of the early 1900's, and the detailed descriptions of the 1924 World Series games made me feel like I was there. The author wrote quite a bit about Walter Johnson, and did an excellent job of illustrating his superlative career and the enormous amount of respect and admiration that teammates, opponents, and fans had for "Barney."

I really enjoyed the author's writing style and his skill in weaving descriptions of baseball games, personal information, historical anecdotes, and cultural background into a smart, well-flowing narrative- something that is difficult to do without sounding awkward or uneven. Possibly the best example of this is the story from which the book derives its name, about the retired Joe Judge serving as the inspiration for a famous play and movie.

The included history of the Senators franchise is great- even though the franchise had painfully few highlights during its existence, the author covers them all, as well as some of the more infamous moments such as the record-setting futility of the 1909 team, Clark Griffith's attempt to buy Ty Cobb, and the mess surrounding the team's departure in 1971. There are plenty of nuggets of baseball lore to savor within these 170 pages (including some great photos).

If you are an old-school baseball fan, or a resident of the Washington D.C. area who remembers baseball in the nation's capital (or waits patiently for its long-overdue return), I strongly recommend this book. Mark Gauvreau Judge successfully combined the histories of a family, a city, and a sport into an excellent work.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Hope the sloppy mistakes have been corrected, July 9, 2007

By 

Andrew C. Sharp "senators24" (Cream Ridge, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Damn Senators: My Grandfather and the Story of Washington's Only World Series Championship (Paperback)

Although I found parts of this book enjoyable, I was appalled at some of the factual errors that easily could have been checked out and corrected. Judge borrows and quotes extensively from both Shirley Povich's 1954 team history "The Washington Senators'' and from Tom Deveaux's 2001 "The Washington Senators, 1901-1971'' without crediting either book. He didn't even spell Deveaux's name correctly ("Devaux'') nor did he spell longtime Senators beat writer and Sporting News columnist Bob Addie's name right ("Adie''). The cover jacket photo is appropriated, according to the title page from "a baseball card'' -- It's from the 1961 Fleer set of old-timers, which is popular with collectors and images of which are easy to find on the Web. When an author can't spell names of well-known people correctly and doesn't bother to give proper credit to his sources, it calls into question the accuracy of the rest of the book. These mistakes were in the edition I bought in 2003. If there have been subsequent printings, I hope the errors have been corrected.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 1924: the year the senators won without help from the devil, February 1, 2004

By 

stan opdyke (tacoma, wa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Damn Senators: My Grandfather and the Story of Washington's Only World Series Championship (Hardcover)

Mark Judge's book, Damn Senators, is as finely executed as any 3-6-3 double play turned by the author's grandfather, Washington Senators first baseman Joe Judge. The book focuses on Joe Judge and the Senators victorious season in 1924. In addition to writing about his grandfather, Mark Judge includes fine descriptions of Senators owner Clark Griffith, legendary Senators pitcher Walter Johnson and a superb sketch of Washington D.C. and its citizens at the time of the Senators all too brief ascendency.

Those who believe game six of the 1975 World Series is the best game ever played in the fall classic should read Damn Senators. Mark Judge does a fine job depicting the excitment of game seven of the 1924 World Series, when Walter Johnson came out of the bullpen to gain victory for the Senators in their one and only World Series triumph. I saw game six of the 1975 World Series on television. After reading Damn Senators I almost feel as though I have seen game seven of the 1924 Series as well.

Damn Senators is well worth its purchase price. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys the winning combination of baseball and fine writing.