Customer Reviews

The First World Series and the Baseball Fanatics of 1903

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Highly entertaining and informative book about the 1903 series includes historical backgrounds of early baseball.However American history fans will also enjoy stories of the people of Boston and Pittsburgh of that era.Well researched.Only quibble is the lack of footnotes,though a bibliography is included.

As other reviewers have noted, this book's title is rather deceptive.
At first presented as background information, the intense investigation into the ethnic and economic make-up of turn-of-the-century Boston takes up a considerable portion of the book. In the end, I would say that the accounts of the landmark 8-game series are actually a mere backdrop to Abrams' essay on 1903 Boston.
While the details of the Irish and Jewish emmigration are interesting, and do have some place in understanding the fans (or "cranks" as they were known at the time) of those early days of the Grand Old Game, I would have preferred to have more details on the games themselves ... some games are recounted in only a few brief paragraphs ... rather then entire chapters devoted to the social conflicts between the Brahmins and Yankees (no, not the New York American League team) or the search for a Jewish Homeland (in Boston).
Sadly, the most fascinating thing about this book is the fact that the publisher, Northeastern University Press, is located at the site of the Huntington Avenue Base Ball Grounds, home of the first modern World Series game on October 1, 1903.

Although the title of this book would lead you to believe it is just about the First World Series between Pittsburg and Boston in 1903 but it is more than that. Abrams also writes about the ethnic make-up of Boston and its influence on the game.
The people around the game (cheerleaders, politicians) are also talked about. This book is interesting for those interested in the history of Baseball but also very intersting for those interested in the history of Boston around the turn of the century. It's not that long and easy to read.

I found this to be an enjoyable book to read in two sittings. I do think the title is somewhat misleading. The book is only 208 pages long with not a whole lot having to do with the World Series. Some of the book is spent on the Boston Royal Rooters cheering section along with its leaders Mike "Nuf Sed" McGreevey and John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald. This was appropriate, but I found too much of the book to be a description of the ethnic groups that made up the city of Boston at the turn of the century. I suppose the author felt that had to be done to increase the size of the book. The author, Roger Abrams, is a Professor of Law at Northeastern University which sits on the site of the old Huntington Avenue Grounds where the first World Series games were played in Boston. For additional information on the first World Series you may want to read Autumn Glory by Louis Masur.