Customer Reviews

An Indian Summer: The 1957 Milwaukee Braves, Champions of Baseball

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

 

 

Counting shipping, this book set me back $41.82 ... and after reading it, I'd say its worth is best described by moving the decimal point one column to the left.

The author claims to have spent 30 years as a sportswriter, yet he did not do a single interview for this book - nor, it would seem, did he even bother to set foot in Milwaukee (where many people still remember the Braves bittersweetly). All the information in the book is culled from other books, from New York Times excerpts (not even a mention of the Milwaukee Journal or Sentinel) and various websites. Not one former Milwaukee Brave is quoted directly, and there is no mention whatsoever of the Milwaukee/County Stadium environment during those heady days. Nor is there any attempt to put the Milwaukee phenomenon - which, next to the Giants and Dodgers moving, was baseball's most important development during the 1950s - in perspective, or even try to create a tableau that can help people sense what it was like being there.

Most of this book is a very bland, matter-of-fact and often meaningless day-by-day narrative of the Braves' 1957 season, and by the third or fourth chapter I found myself skimming completely over this material. The only things that save this book from a 1-star rating are occasional detours into some of the players' talents and personalities, which provided some - but hardly enough - of the insights for which I paid $41 for this book in the first place. Alas, these were far too few and far between - and again, there is not a single in-person interview.

I finished this book knowing scarcely anything about the 1957 Milwaukee Braves, and their players, that I didn't know before. This book's only value is as reference material in case one is researching that season and wants to look up what happened on a specific date. Otherwise, it's a complete waste of money, and I'd like very much to get my $41 back.

An Indian Summer is a must read for baseball fans interested in the game during the 50's and early 60's. And especially if you are a Braves' fan. The Braves' 1957 season is portrayed in detail and a reader can basically re-live the pitch by pitch of the Braves-Yankees World Series. Mr. Mumau gives a bio on all the major players for the Braves that season to include Spahn, Burdett, Buhl, Aaron, Mathews, and Logan and describes the dynasty that the Braves had between 1956 and 1960. Unfortunately, like the modern day Braves, this team only had one World Series Championship to their credit. This reader highly recommends.

Statistical lists, articles from newspapers and interviews with players would have spiced up this lifeless literary work. Players stats are thrown into the text haphazardly and at times the reader finds himself going into "flashback". There is an absence of "drama" in the writing also, even the chapter on the World Series' games is pretty bland, ("the Yankees went down one,two,three in the sixth", is a prime example. This book should've included separate stat pages so the reader could cast an eye on them at various stages through the book. It would have been better for one whole chapter to handle the players biographies rather than have them scattered throughout the book with only a few lines or paragraphs for each. Whole box scores of crucial or memorable games printed here and there would have been a nice touch as would actual action photographs taken by the Milwaukee papers of the time.
This is a competently written book and if you are after just the "nuts and bolts" of a teams glory season then you won't find a problem. However,i was expecting more for my money. The 1957 Milwaukee Braves were one of baseball's finest teams and their story should've been told with a little more insight and in a less confusing manner. It's the kind of writing you see in a baseball magazine rather than a well-intended baseball book. A shame because this could have been a terrific book!

This book was extremely well-written and very informative. I highly recommend thi sbook to any Braves fan or, for that matter, any baseball fan in general.