Customer Reviews

John McGraw

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

 

 

This is the first book I have read from the many that Charles Alexander has written about turn of the century baseball players and I have to say that Mr. Alexander is a voracious researcher as he has facts and events of McGraw's life down to every little detail. For this, he is to be commended as he has certainly put to paper, atleast to this point, the definitive book on John McGraw.
However, this is not a short or an entertaining read by any stretch of the imagination as Alexander's book is decidedly bland in its detailed accounts of seasons past. After detailing McGraw's many outbursts on and off the field, Alexander chronicles McGraw's gambling misdeeds and even possible corruption (to the degree of the 1919 Black Sox). But Alexander does not write with a lot of imagination. His work reads exactly like you might expect a chronological account might: vanilla.
Although I enjoyed reading this book and appreciated all of the facts and research Alexander did on McGraw, I cannot say that this is one of the better baseball books I have read. Still, it remains the only book of any substance on McGraw, so if you want to learn about one of the most important men in the history of baseball, this is your book.

John McGraw dominated the landscape of baseball from 1890 until 1933. He came to demolish the enemy in score and spirit- and often succeded. He was the Master of an age where sportsmanship was considered a negative. From his days as a star and ringleader of the dirty & scrappy (NL)Baltimore Orioles until his death soon after managing the first NL all-star team, McGraw played key roles in nearly every major event in baseball's most formative years.

In 1901 he helped formed the American League, then tried to kill the AL in 1902. Why no World Series in 1904? McGraw. Inventor of the Hit-and-run? McGraw. Originator of collarless uniforms? McGraw. First to use Relief specialist in the bullpen? McGraw. First in 3 World Series in a row? McGraw. 4 in a row? McGraw. Only his pupil Casey Stengel has matched McGraw for total pennants. His career placed him in a pennant race NEARLY EVERY YEAR in 5 DECADES! (As Manager 10-1st, 10-2nd, 4-3ed place finishes in 32 years.)

Alexander presents the events of McGraw's life in chronological order- enabling the reader to use 'John McGraw' as a reference book for what happened in baseball in any given year due to the detail provided by Alexander. Charles C. Alexander writes history books about baseball; not mere collections of tales and legends set to prose. His facts are throughly researched and documented. However, even well written history books sometimes become tedious in detail. This book is no exception. Personally, I prefer an overkill of facts to haphazard story telling. Not quite as well written as the masterful 'Ty Cobb' and compelling 'Rogers Hornsby' by Alexander, but still the cream of baseball biographies.

Born in 1873, John McGraw grew up brawling and playing baseball like he was brawling. And he was very good at it. As the scrappy third baseman and manager of the Baltimore Orioles in the 1890s, he gained fame and not a little fortune as an innovative, autocratic field manager whose teams clawed and fought to championship after championship. His teams represented the epitome of the "dead ball era" of baseball, where speed, defense, and aggressive play on the base paths carried the day. He is credited with inventing the "suicide squeeze" and the "Baltimore chop." He moved from Baltimore to New York in 1902 and during 31 years leading the New York Giants, he won 10 pennants and three World Series. Additionally, under his direction the Giants finished second 11 times. As a legendary manager, h entered the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937.

This is the story told in this superb biography by Ohio University professor Charles C. Alexander, whose baseball biographies of Ty Cobb and Rogers Hornsby rank as some of the best ever in the developing field of serious baseball history. Alexander's study is in-depth, thoughtful, and engaging. It is a superb work. Enjoy.

After many, many years of being a huge baseball fan and having heard all of the stories about the great Manager, John J. McGraw; I felt I knew a lot about this very interesting man. But after reading this wonderful book written by Charles Alexander, I find that Mr. McGraw was not only a very complex individual, but a great study into the inside workings of a man who just hated to lose. This is a great book for any devoted fan who has a deep interest in the history of our National Pastime.

Not one of Alexanders's best, but a sturdy enough biography of McGraw. Too often becomes a season-by-season litany with too rare glimpses of the man underneath and / or the times he lived in. As always with Alexander, very well written and quite readable, but McGraw never quite comes alive to us after his youth and early days in the game. Worth reading, but not the five-star work we've come to expect from the author.

I have been a huge fan of John McGraw and really wanted to learn more about him. This was a well-researched book and I did enjoy it very much. However, as others have said, it can be bland at times especially in the latter half. The first half runs well, but the second half seems to be hurried and seasons mix together in a blur. Overall, Alexander does a great job sharing the information he had researched, but he probably could have used some help with the narrative. I highly recommend this book.

I was really excited to learn more about such an important figure in baseball history. This in an unexciting story about a man of fire. It is sad that there is not more energy from this book.

If you are, like me, a serious student of baseball history who never tires of reading about the "old days", you will enjoy this book. If you are a casual baseball fan looking for light baseball reading, this is probably not the book for you.

I think most of the other reviews posted here are on the mark: a lot of factual and interesting research into the life and times of the great John McGraw. People like me love this kind of stuff. But at times it can be bland, uninspired writing that would likely bore the casual baseball fan.

The first half of this is a pretty good read, as the author provides some decent context about the development of baseball around the turn of the last century.

The second half has a tendency to degenerate into repetitive and awfully superficial chronicle, and doesn't bring the 20's and 30's to life in the same way as the earlier sections--even though there were colorful characters galore available.

(I noticed the same flatness in large sections of Alexander's history of baseball, Our Game. There too he often retreats to mere narrative, and away from insight.)

If you've read the 50 or so better baseball books available, or if you enjoy hearing oft-told tales told once more, this is a pleasant enough way to kill two or three afternoons.