Customer Reviews

Deadball Stars of the National League: The Society for American Baseball Research (Photographic Histories)

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I've been a member of SABR (The Society for American Baseball Research) for eight years, and I have always enjoyed the publications that they put out and send to their members. Many of the members of SABR work very hard on the projects that interest them, and the books that get put out reflect a lot of love, if not always a ton of quality.

This book is an exception. This is the best book I've ever received from SABR, and it's the sort of thing that makes me proud to be a member. Meticulously researched, beautifully laid out, and compulsively readable, this book offers profiles of over 100 players, managers, and executives from the Deadball Era of Major League Baseball (1900-1920). A few of these guys are still well-known today (Christy Mathewson, Honus Wagner, Rogers Hornsby) but the majority are players who, despite long, successful careers, have been forgotten by all but the most die-hard fan. I've been a baseball fan all my life, and I couldn't tell you the first thing about Armando Marsans, Howie Camnitz, or Homer Smoot until I read this book.

Thanks to the work of the members of the Deadball Committee, though, now I feel like I know these guys. I applaud the members of the committee for putting together such a well-written book, and I eagerly anticipate the AL edition!

The Society for American Baseball Research rarely turns out a bad book, and "Deadball Stars of the National League" continues that trend. It is an excellent book, with short biographies of the major stars for each of the franchises active between 1901 and 1919, complete with photos rare and common. The book was an enormous undertaking, with a huge amount of people on the "Deadball" Committee of the organization taking part in the writing, editing and fact checking. It's a wonderful book for those wanting a feel of the game in the first decades of the 20th century, and of the players of that time, and I highly recommend it.

Fantastic book chronicling stars of the most misunderstood era of baseball. I really enjoyed learning of some of the lesser known stars like Orvie Overall and Mike Donlin. Great work by the SABR members. I can't wait to get the companion book for the American League.

I bought this along with the American League version. I like to pick it up and read about an older player or two each week. Interesting stuff. My friends who like baseball like to browse through it as well.

This is the kind of book you pick up, read a few stories (biographies) and then put down and kind of let them digest in your mind. Then, another day....and another and so-on....you keep doing the same. I have found I've read several of these bios multiple times but found them so interesting each time I didn't mind if I'd read them before.

The short bios of these Deadball Era players each have a couple of interesting things about the men who played this great game about 100 years ago. Some of the tales are sad, some are funny. To me, it noteworthy to discover how few truly big men played the game and how the Irish took to this sport.

After reading about all of the bios by now, I have a better picture of Deadball Era baseball and find that time period utterly fascinating. The same, of course, goes for the companion book detailing players from the American League. Both of these books are essential for anyone who loves baseball history.

An informative and sometimes personal look at the early stars of baseball in the National League. As so often happens, these pioneers are too frequently forgotten and their accomplishments lost to histoy and memory. Today we tend to measure things and remember things in terms of immediate memory, last week, last year and what was last on ESPN.What have you done for me lately? This volume helps restore some perspective.

The product was shipped and received as promised. I enjoyed reading the biographies of the these players.

This book is a must have for Baseball historians like myself, chronicling the careers of players who played before the "long ball" was fashionable and at a time when the game was "becoming" the National Pastime! SABR writers have given us a valuable insight into the lives of these players of yesteryear. We cannot appreciate what it must've been like to play baseball back then, when salaries were extremely low and players had to take off-season jobs to augment them. One bad injury could cost you a career and if you strayed off the straight and narrow and put your lot in with the gambling element, banishment was always a possibility, as was the lure of alcohol. The stories of these gentleman are told with affection and with such clarity that we might just as well be reading about a long deceased family member than a ballplyer from the distant past. After reading this wonderful book you will find yourself re-evaluating your thoughts on today's star players, who want for nothing and are able to dictate in what direction their careers take. Such was not the case in the years between 1895-1920. It is sad to relate that we never got a chance to see these fine players in their heyday but thanks to magnificent books like this one, we can at least read about their exploits, some happy and mostly sad but always interesting and entertaining. A glorious book, I can't wait to recieve the American League edition.