Hammerin' Hank, George Almighty and the Say Hey Kid [Paperback]

John Rosengren (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2008

"The vivid story of a young Reggie Jackson on Charlie Finley's A's and the veteran Willie Mays on Yogi's Mets, both destined for the '73 series."
-Library Journal

This was the year that the national pastime underwent an extreme makeover.

In 1973, baseball was in crisis. The first strike in pro sports had soured fans, American League attendance had fallen, and America's team-the Yankees-had lost more games and money than ever. Yet that season, five of the game's greatest figures rescued the national pastime.

Hank Aaron riveted the nation with his pursuit of Babe Ruth's landmark home run record in the face of racist threats. George Steinbrenner purchased the Yankees at a bargain basement price and began buying back their faded glory. The American League broke ranks with the National League and introduced the designated hitter, extending the careers of aging stars such as Orlando Cepeda. An elderly and ailing Willie Mays-the icon of an earlier generation-nearly helped the Mets pull off a miracle with the final hit of his career. Reggie Jackson, the MVP of a tense World Series, became the prototype of the modern superstar.

The season itself provided plenty of drama served up by a colorful cast of characters. The Mets, managed by Yogi Berra, performed another near miracle, rising from last place in the National League East to win the division and take the A's to seven games in the World Series. Pete Rose edged Willie Stargell as the National League's MVP in a controversial vote. Hank Aaron chased Babe Ruth's landmark 714 record in the face of racial threats. Reggie Jackson, the World Series MVP, solidified his reputation as Mr. October. Willie Mays, arguably the best player of the '50s and '60s, hit the final home run of his career and retired, no longer able to keep pace with the younger players of the next generation. Future Hall of Famers Dave Winfield and George Brett played in their first major league games; Luis Aparicio and Mays played in their last.

That one memorable summer changed baseball forever.

"It's a season-ticket to one of the greatest years in baseball history. John Rosengren has given us one of the most enjoyable baseball books to come along in years."
-–Jonathan Eig, author of Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig and Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While many baseball fans likely have a casual knowledge of the subjects Rosengren explores in his latest effort, the depths to which the author travels gives new insight into the 1973 baseball season. Rosengren follows the season chronologically from opening day to the Oakland Athletics' dramatic victory in the World Series, and while he discusses the issues that shaped the game, such as the advent of the designated hitter, more time is given to the personalities of the era. Plenty of fans can tell you that Willie Mays hit 660 career home runs, but Rosengren portrays a different side of the man whose arms and knees ached every time he set foot on the ball field. Rosengren also analyzes the Athletics, notorious for superstar Reggie Jackson but also Charlie Finley, an owner "famous for his megalomania." And as for Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, Rosengren shows that the more things change, the more they stay the same. The author's style is overexplanatory at times, and excessively breezy at others. However, the book is exhaustively researched, and for baseball fans not alive in 1973, an enjoyable history lesson. (Apr.)
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About the Author

John Rosengren is an award-winning journalist and author. He has written five other books, including Blades of Glory: The True Story of a Young Team Bred to Win. His articles have appeared in more than a hundred publications, ranging from Sports Illustrated to Reader's Digest. He is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research and the American Society of Journalists and Authors. A lifelong Twins fan, John lives in Minneapolis with his wife and their two children.

Visit him at www.johnorosengren.net

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks; 1 edition (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402209568
• ISBN-13: 978-1402209567
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #595,766 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Rosengren is an award-winning author of six books. A freelance writer since 1981, he has written articles for more than 100 publications ranging from Reader's Digest to Sports Illustrated. He's a member of the American Society of Journalists & Authors and the Society for American Baseball Research. He teaches in the University of Minnesota's journalism school and at the Loft Literary Center. He earned his master's degree in creative writing at Boston University, where he studied with Saul Bellow and Derek Walcott. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife and their two children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The last good season, April 15, 2008

By 

Jason A. Miller (New York, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hammerin' Hank, George Almighty and the Say Hey Kid (Paperback)

I've always been fascinated with the 1973 baseball season, mostly because I was born hours after the conclusion of Game 2 of the World Series. I've been a Mets fan most of my life and always found it darkly funny that I was born during a year they lost the Series.

There have been a run of books in the past several years by authors celebrating individual baseball seasons: 1964 and 1949 (David Halberstam), 1975 and 1966 (Tom Adelman), 1908 (Cait Murphy); each one has a hook about what makes that year special. John Rosengren's concept for 1973 is that it's a transition year for baseball, a year of firsts and lasts: the first year of the designated hitter, and the first year of George Steinbrenner's ownership of the Yankees; the last year of Willie Mays' career and the first year of Reggie Jackson's superstardom. It was also the year Hank Aaron did not break Babe Ruth's all-time home run record, but any book with Aaron on the cover is likely to do well this year, thanks to Barry Bonds-inspired backlash.

"Hammerin' Hank" is an easy read, as chapters alternate between the book's five principal characters: Willie, Reggie, Hank, George, and Orlando Cepeda (the first great DH in his last great season). Interesting that all the players involved are minorities: three essentially winding up their careers, and one just beginning. Much attention is paid to the AL West and NL East division races, all three playoff series and the All-Star game. As with Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City, some politics are intercut as well: 1973 was a Watergate year as well as a watershed year (and wouldn't you know Steinbrenner was wrapped up in that too).

I only had a few quibbles with the book. There were some odd language choices, with Rosengren inserting some vulgarities in his prose that probably didn't belong. He also dropped in a few Spanish phrases to illustrate Orlando Cepeda's thought processes, over which your mileage will vary. There may have been an overreliance on the author's sourcing to biographies and the Sporting News: the short list of players interviewed for the book included none of the title characters. At least I couldn't find too many obvious factual errors, apart from some typos (after the chapter about the A's-Orioles ALCS, it's written in the next chapter that the A's played the Reds).

On the whole this was a quick but detailed read about a transitional year for MLB: the year of the DH, the year Reggie became a "hot dog", the year George started doing what he does best: tick people off. It's mostly a valentine to baseball and its endless capacity for re-invention. The only real villain of the book is Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, and I certainly don't have a problem with that.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A memorable book for a memorable season, May 4, 2008

By 

S.Fury (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hammerin' Hank, George Almighty and the Say Hey Kid (Paperback)

The research that obviously went into this book would earn the
admiration of any historian, but it's the vivid, engaging writing that makes "Hammerin Hank..." such an appealing read. For fans who remember the 1973 season, and those who weren't even born yet, this book paints a picture with details and a story that live up to the title's hype. The effects of many of the events from that season are still being felt today.

This was the year that George Steinbrenner took over the Yankees, and 35 years later the Boss, and now his son, continue to loom over the game. In the book, we read the type of Steinbrenner tale - him demanding that three Yankees get haircuts - that made him such an easy target, yet Rosengren also shows the lengths he'd go to to make the Yankees a winner, no matter the cost.

The DH went into effect in '73, and years before chicks dug the long ball, Rosengren shows how Oakland owner Charlie Finley pushed for more offense in the game, believing it would bring fans back. The DH rule led Carl Yazstremski to say, "It's legalized manslaughter," because pitchers no longer had to worry about suffering the consequences if they beaned an opposing hitter.

1973 was Willie Mays's final season. Today, whenever an older athlete struggles, it's almost become cliche to say that he should retire because we don't want to see him "stumbling around like Willie Mays." Rosengren details exactly what happened to the baseball legend, and how he struggled through his final days on the field.

The book tells the big stories, as well as the memorable smaller ones - like Gaylord Perry's spitball-throwing antics, and the tale of the two pitchers who switched lives, including wives. The story of the champion A's, one of the game's great dynasties, is perfectly profiled, as is the rise of their superstar, Reggie Jackson. And, of course, throughout the book is the tale of Hank Aaron's pursuit of Babe Ruth's home run record. He'd finish one dinger short of Ruth, and we're there every step with Aaron - from the hate mail (275 letters a day at one point), to the remarkable fact that only 1,362 fans saw Aaron's 711th career homer.

For those who might question whether 1973 really was the year that changed baseball forever, all they have to do is read this book, and they'll be fully convinced that it did.

4.0 out of 5 stars When the Old met the New, December 23, 2011

By 

Scott A. Kallick "Pugwash" (Pittsburgh) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hammerin' Hank, George Almighty and the Say Hey Kid (Paperback)

There is a vividness to the memories of when a boy (or maybe a child) first becomes a baseball fan. The players, the managers, the owners all seem larger than life. In the the 1973 baseball season, it was all for good reason. The personalities, in many ways, were larger than life.

The Oakland A's, and there mercurial owner, Charlie O. Finley dominated the landscape in many ways. Finley, with his out of the box thinking, his boorish behavior and his control tendencies. But also, the team, which had future Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers, as well as many perennial all-stars, like Bert Campaneris, Sal Bando, Gene Tenace and Joe Rudi. They had colorful stars like Vida Blue and Blue Moon Odom rounding out a mini-dynasty.

But the season offered contrasts, and the sad diminishment of Willie Mays, one of the five greatest players in baseball history, was a huge one. Brought back to a city that loved him, but a manager, in Yogi Berra, who really did not want him, his level of performance was that of a journeyman. The World Series ended with Mays sitting on the bench, being bypassed as the Mets were down to their final out, for another journeyman.

The other big story of the season was the onset of the Designated Hitter. The author focuses on the requiem for Orlando Cepeda, yet it was a huge change for the game of baseball.

George Steinbrenner took over the Yankees, and for better or worse, baseball was changed forever.

The feature entree, however, was Hank Aaron's pursuit of the most hallowed of baseball's records. In this season, as Aaron sped toward history, he endured pressures and hatreds which were still very open in 1973. His was a very lonely journey, yet led with heroic dignity.

For the most part, a very well written chronicle of a bellweather time in our National Sport.