Customer Reviews

Game Six: Cincinnati, Boston, and the 1975 World Series: The Triumph of America's Pastime

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First, in the interest of truth in packaging, I was living in Cincinnati in 1975 and watched Game Six on TV.

After Fisk hit the home run, I went and woke my wife up to tell her that she had just missed the greatest baseball game ever. She was not amused.

This is fine book. Frost not only thoroughly chronicles the historic game, but interweaves the game with all that was going on in the world at the same time. He also weaves a lot of baseball culture and history into the telling of the story. For instance, even though I have read a ton of baseball writing, I had never heard that there were significant rumors that the first World Series was fixed.

Frost documents the lives of the players involved, and tells not only how they got to Fenway Park that evening in October, but also what happened to all of them.

This book has the makings of a classic baseball book not unlike The Boys of Summer. If you enjoy baseball even a little bit you will enjoy it. Or, even if you don't, but like a really well written small piece of sports history, you will like Game Six.

Author Mark Frost has done a commendable job in reliving game six of the 1975 World Series. Any self-respecting baseball fan old enough to remember can tell you where he was when Fisk hit that 12th inning home run into the night to force a game seven. My only complaint with the book is when the author begins to digress back into the game's history with tidbits of Ban Johnson, Minnie Minoso, Nuf Ced McGreevey owner of the 3rd Base Bar in Boston, Cy Young, and a history of each player who is presently at bat or on the mound. I have hundreds of baseball books in my library, and they have been read. However, I felt it was too much of an interruption in the flow of the game to be off on a rabbit trail between pitches detailing each player and whoever else he wanted to introduce into the text. I enjoyed the book much more once author Frost reached the 8th inning when the game itself became the principle focus.

Bosox owner Tom Yawkey confided to Yaz how much it would mean to him to win a world championship, yet it was Yawkey's attitude towards signing African-Americans and hiring like-minded individuals such as Mike "Pinky" Higgins as manager that Yawkey had only himself to blame for the lack of a World Series winner. How would Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson have looked in Red Sox flannels? The opportunity was theirs for the taking, but they chose to pass on it. Instead they became the last team to sign an African-American with the signing of Elijah "Pumpsie" Green in 1959. There never was a curse of the Bambino. The problem was the curse of Yawkey and his cronies.

I enjoyed the section of what became of the individuals who played a part in this historic game whether it be the managers, coaches, or players both superstars or supernumeraries. It was enjoyable reliving this historic game once again. It's hard to believe it took place thirty-nine years ago. Not only do the years fly by, but the decades as well.

One of the first things that stood out in "Game Six" for this reader was the final sentence in an early chapter where the author mentions an increase in the number of people who claimed to be in attendance by twenty times. Having been a college senior who actually WAS at the game, this doesn't surprise me at all. What is good about Mark Frost's book is that he builds the tension nicely and in the meantime reminds those of us who are old enough to remember, the key players on both rosters. One great memory for me after that game was the hundreds of Bostonians singing "Roll Out the Barrel" as people poured from Fenway Park.

"Game Six" begins with a look at George "Sparky" Anderson, the indefatigable Reds' manager... and indeed, Anderson becomes the focal point of the book. But the side stories are appropriate to revisit. The whole episode of Luis Tiant's mother and father coming from Cuba, the alcohol problems of Bernie Carbo and his manager, Darrell Johnson, the effervescence of Pete Rose and the heroics of Carlton Fisk, all serve as a walk down memory lane. Frost spends time discussing the reserve clause and its importance to baseball in 1975, which is a necessary addition, excellently explained.

Finishing up, the author has a lengthy "afterward" regarding the players and staff of each team. This is a terrific way to wrap up a crisp and poignant book about "Game Six" of the 1975 World Series. I highly recommend it.

Mark Frost's compelling style recreates Game Six of the 1975 World Series between Cincinnati and Boston - probably the most thrilling ball game ever played. I still remember that night's thick tension lasting from the first pitch until Carlton Fisk "waved fair" his 12th-inning homer well after midnight to win it for the Red Sox. In between the fans saw Fred Lynn's blast, the Reds comeback, eight Cincinnati pitchers, Bernie Carbo's game-tying homer, Dwight Evan's game-saving catch, etc., all captured here in moving prose. The author intersperses his compelling account with narratives about Johnny Bench, Carl Yastrezemski, Ken Griffey (Sr.), Luis Tiant (and his parents arriving from Cuba), Tom Yawkey, Pete Rose, etc. We see the competing strategies of managers Sparky Anderson and Darrell Johnson, the latter foolishly staying too long with the valiant Tiant. Readers come away with a deeper understanding of the game's participants, and drained from the marvelously recreated tension. This is clearly baseball at its best; the author does a superb job capturing the game's feel with moving, readable prose.

Sadly, he also makes errors. Bucky Dent was then with the White Sox (not Yankees), Carbo didn't pull his blast (it went to center), by October of 1975 Jimmy Carter had been out campaigning for months, etc. Also, the author slobbers praise on Bench but ignores Fisk, and while Bench and Joe Morgan may have been the best ever at their positions, others would choose Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella or Eddie Collins.

Despite these minor flaws, this is a riveting account of what was probably the greatest baseball game ever played.

My how time flies! I still wonder at the fact that this game was played almost thirty-five years ago, and that I had the good fortune to have seen it on TV and it still retains a lasting imprint on my mind as one of the greatest games I ever saw. But now, thanks to author Mark Frost, I have been able to revisit almost every minor detail of the game that had slipped away.

I admit to being a life long Boston Red Sox fan, and yes I am one of those old fashioned people who still believes the World Series is the greatest show in all of sports, so a critic of the critic may not agree with my assessment, but I wish the game was still played the way it was in 1975. There were obviously smaller salaries, there were at least a few day games (weekends) played in the Series, there was far greater longevity on one's team, as evidenced by Carl Yastrzemski, Dwight Evans, Johnny Bench and Sparky Anderson, in the pre-free agency days, there were no baggy pants down to the ankles and players still wore stirrups, and there were no steroids to distort the record books, although it comes as no surprise that there was smoke blowing around the game. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn was often criticized during his tenure, but made the right decisions regarding rain delays leading up to "Game Six." Compared to the dreadful decisions made by today's commissioner and the TV networks it is doubtful that anything like the suspense leading to game six could ever be repeated today.

Mark Frost does a praiseworthy job of reporting the game pitch-by-pitch and out-by-out, but often gives more details than this baseball fan needed to know. The pitches, outs and innings are interwoven with biographical information about each individual player, managers, announcers and even the umpires. The news of the day is also included with unwelcome appearances by Jimmy Carter and Richard M. Nixon. Fidel Castro also makes an appearance regarding how Cuban politics affected Luis Tiant's career. The book could have been titled "The Life and Times of Game Six."

The history of the greater game, the "other six" 1975 games, ownerships, Babe Ruth, and what happens during the subsequent thirty-five years are all touched upon. The individual players were household names then and remain some of my personal favorites of all time: Yaz, Fisk, Evans, Freddy Lynn, Joe Morgan, Sparky Anderson and yes, Pete Rose who played every game with maddening intensity. Even the NBC broadcasters evoked nostalgia. Maybe NBC should try baseball again, they did it so well back in 1975. The book also includes two good photo sections.

Was this the greatest World series game or greatest World Series ever played? Who can say? There have been so many great ones and the answer is so subjective. I will say that it was the greatest game I ever saw, but perhaps that is because of the iconic images of Carlton Fisk's (my favorite player) 12th inning home run. Ironically I felt like the author spent less time talking about Fisk than Johnny Bench and other players from both teams. Fisk was not included in the acknowledgments in the back of the book. Could it be that the man who who made the final run of the game did not contribute to the author's effort?

There is a vast catalog of good baseball books, more than any other sport. This one belongs high on that list. The author has done a skillful job.

"Game Six" by Mark Frost is an awesome book! Being a diehard Red Sox fan, I just had to read this book. It's about the greatest World Series game ever played: Boston vs. the Reds. The whole book focus is on this game. What makes this book for me is the background on the players who played in this game. The writing is superb! It feels like you are right there. I really enjoyed this book a lot and recommend it to any Red Sox fan.

Mark Frost's "Game Six" gives a pitch-by-pitch account of the sixth game of the 1975 World Series - one of the most memorable games ever played in what is largely considered the greatest series ever.

Given that a plethora of books have been written about the players, the teams and series itself, Frost has to walk a fine line between merely adding to the already large volume tomes versus adding something new. I'm happy to say he added something new. Without diving too deeply into any one character or player, Frost manages to uncover some nuggets of information that even the most studious baseball history nut is unlikely to be aware of.

One of my favorite parts of the book is the brief 'where are they now' aspect of the final chapter. Everyone knows what happened to Charlie Hustle and baseball fans surely know what became of the Spaceman. But the whereabouts of Pat Darcy and Bernie Carbo (now a devout Christian) were unknown to me.

The most tiresome part of the book is simply Frost's penchant for putting words into the mouth of the players (called out in italics). He relies on it heavily early on and it becomes tedious. Thankfully, that technique is largely missing from the final 2/3 of the book.

Well I wasn't really there, in fact I was not even a figment of my parents imagination during game six, but Mark Frost allowed this life long Reds fan to re-live the past. Written with a great understanding of the game of baseball, Frost takes readers on the inside. From the life of Louis Tenant to the broadcast booth of Marty, those of who couldn't have been at the game, now know. We can now say we get it, we understand how great game 6 was.

Frost packs the pages full of insight and thought process to allow the reader to think like Sparky or to feel the emotion of the Tenant family. Wonderfully written and easily read this book is a must read for all of those who wish they would have been at Fenway for game six of the 1975 World Series.

This is a fine description of the wonderful 1975 series, but it is far more. It places the series in the context of baseball and series history, and also shows how baseball changed after 1975 with the advent of free agency and bonehead actions by management (and some players). A great read and very profound, compared to the usual sports writing to which we are subjected.

Book arrive ahead of promised date. this is a great review of the events leading up to the game that many describe the best ever played in baseball and the greatest world series ever played. A must read for every baseball fan.