The Head Game: Baseball Seen from the Pitcher's Mound [Hardcover]

Roger Kahn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 8, 2000

Beyond the techniques and training, baseball is essentially a pitcher and a batter and the psychological battle between them-the head game. Here for the first time is the story of that battle and the people who changed the course of baseball by throwing one. Roger Kahn investigates not only grips, speeds, and tactics, but also knowledge, maturity, and competitive fire. With the help of some of baseball's greatest pitchers and pitching minds-from Christy Mathewson, Don Drysdale, Bob Gibson, and Bruce Sutter to today's reigning pitching coach, Leo Mazzone-as well as his own deep knowledge of the game, Roger Kahn speaks with authority, and with the authorities, bringing new light to baseball's most pivotal contest. His acute sense of how people make history makes The Head Game a delightful and enlightening tour of baseball through the pitcher's eyes.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Inside the great expanse of a ballgame is the essential core of what Roger Kahn, one of the national pastime's most esteemed chroniclers, calls "chess at 90 miles per hour." That core, of course, is the duel between pitcher and hitter. At its best--which is where Kahn wants to play--it's as cerebral, complex, and psychological a contest as exists in sports, hence the title of this fascinating exploration of how baseball's basic confrontation, told from the pitcher's perspective, has evolved over time.

Drawing from his vast knowledge and long experience, Kahn parses the battle from every angle, dissecting the wizardry of hurlers both ancient--Candy Cummings, Hoss Radbourn, Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson--and modern--Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Bruce Sutter, Tom Glavine. It is vintage Kahn--he manages to mix personal memoir with astute analysis. He examines tangibles, such as the height of the mound, and intangibles, such as the fear factor carried by every pitch, without ever taking his eye off the ball. And he's not above a few laughs and surprises. When he makes out his subjective list of the best pitchers of all time, he naturally includes Matty, Koufax, and Warren Spahn, but he also throws in a guy named Jerry Solovey. Jerry who? Kahn tells us he played in the low minors. So why's he here? "He could," Kahn admits, "almost always get me out." Like an able hurler, Kahn knows how to mix it up. He's got enough command as a writer to know how--and when--to bounce an occasional curveball or scroogie in the dirt for effect. --Jeff Silverman

From Publishers Weekly

Meticulous research about baseball's early days combined with interviews of prominent modern-day hurlers form this lively look at the evolution of pitching. Kahn (The Boys of Summer, etc.) follows the development of such pitches as the curve ball, the slider and the split-finger fastball, and he profiles several successful pitchers, beginning with Hoss Radbourn, who started 68 games in 1883, completed 66 and posted a win-loss record of 49 and 25. Those are amazing numbers compared to pitching standards in 2000 when most pitchers don't start more than 30 games and 20 wins combined with four or five complete games is considered an outstanding season. Kahn devotes the largest section to Christy Mathewson, who pitched for the New York Giants at the turn of the century, won 373 games and threw 80 shutouts. His most impressive feat, however, came early in his career, when, in the 1905 World Series, Mathewson pitched three shutouts in six days. Mathewson is clearly Kahn's favorite pitcher: he ranks him as the best pitcher of all time. Kahn also allots a considerable amount of space to the debate about the effectiveness and morality of the brush-back or knockdown pitch, a particularly relevant topic in light of Yankee pitcher Roger Clemens's beaning of Mets catcher Mike Piazza this summer. Kahn's love and knowledge of baseball is evident throughout this latest work in his baseball oeuvre, and his many fans will be especially pleased by his examination of the head game. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1 edition (September 8, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151004412
• ISBN-13: 978-0151004416
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #135,477 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #71 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Miscellaneous > Sports Psychology

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must For Real Baseball Fans, September 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Head Game: Baseball Seen from the Pitcher's Mound (Hardcover)

Do you think you know baseball? Well, read Kahn's latest gem to really learn the game. Why are baseball's greatest pitchers so effective? They've learned the "head game" and use it to perfection. Kahn uses his great writing ability to pen the greatest book ever written about the most important part of baseball -- the battle between pitcher and catcher. As Kahn so well relates through his profiles of some of baseball's great hurlers, the battle transends the physical and is just as much a mental challenge. If you love baseball and think you really understand the game, then you MUST read this book by one of America's premier writers.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book, a must read!, December 3, 2000

By 

"lallapalooza" (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Head Game: Baseball Seen from the Pitcher's Mound (Hardcover)

Roger Kahn has, AGAIN, written a superb book about the game of baseball! This time turning his keen eye on pitching and pitchers, Kahn brings into sharp focus the art of pitching. So much more than just throwing a ball with amazing speed and pinpoint accuracy, Kahn's analogy of being on the mound and being in a chess game is an apt one. Taking respectful exception to the other lay reviewer, I thought it was marvelous that Kahn found John Tunis and actually interviewed him about his recollections of being at the last game of the first world series, after buying his ticket from Cy Young! Tunis did make a slight mistake in his "The American Way in Sport;" the recounted single to left was actually a single to right . . . forgivable lapse in memory. Other books have been written about pitching, but none as successful, or engaging as Kahn's "The Head Game."

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Roger Kahn is Always Worth Reading, April 10, 2001

By 

C. W. Emblom "Bill Emblom" (Ishpeming, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Head Game: Baseball Seen from the Pitcher's Mound (Hardcover)

I am a big fan of Roger Kahn so I knew I was in for a good read. Yes, the title may suggest the psychological warfare that exists between pitcher and batter, and some of that does exist in the book. I CAN understand why those who expected more of this in the book would be disappointed. I appreciated reading about players from the 19th century in addition to those who dominated during the 20th century. Kahn didn't disappoint me in what he had to say about the pitchers he discusses. It isn't a tired rehash of what other authors have to say. Roger has a way of expressing himself in ways that I appreciate and find interesting. In regard to the whippersnappers at ESPN who voted Michael Jordan as the greatest athlete in the 20th century, Roger asks you to consider the fact that can it be that "the greatest athlete of the century couldn't hit .250 in the minor leagues." Kahn would pick either Jackie Robinson "because no one was as good as Robinson in as many sports" or Babe Ruth because "Ruth might have become baseball's greatest pitcher if he had not changed course and become baseball's greatest slugger." If you are looking for a technical book about baseball try "Tim McCarver's Baseball for Brain Surgeons and Other Fans." If you want a great read about some of baseball's best pitchers you can't go wrong with The Head Game by Roger Kahn. Trust me on this one.