Customer Reviews

Lefty Grove: American Original

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Finally, an informative biography of the greatest pitcher of all-time. For the most part the bio is well written and covers the breadth of the long career and life of the greatest southpaw whoever pitched. There are a few grammatical mistakes that take away from the flow of the book, but overall it's clean. Definately well researched. The author interviewed former teammates, his family, and former friends from his hometown in Maryland. This is the only book I've ever seen on Lefty and I would recommend this book if your interested in learning about this tempermental baseball star.

When I told friend of mine (a sports fan) that I was reading a book about Lefty Grove, he asked "Who is that?" Considering Grove was probably the greatest pitcher who ever lived, this public ignorance is unfortunate. Robert Kaplan in American Original does a very good job of letting us know who Grove was. Grove's terible temper and hatred of losing are brought to life in this book. Kaplan also includes a statistical breakdown of Grove's career and a detailed comparison between him and some other great pitchers. No true baseball fan should miss this book!

I just joined SABR and enjoyed reading the Kaplan book about Lefty Grove. It covered his entire life, and some social background about his home area in Maryland and the places he played ball. The book flowed and I did not put it down. Interesting read about how a great pitcher is made.

Jim Kaplan sets out in this well-researched book to resurrect the figure of Lefty Grove, a 300-game winner whose career spanned those of Walter Johnson and Ted Williams. For the most part, he convincingly makes his case that Groves deserves to be included among a handful of baseball's elite pitchers and that he was perhaps the best lefthander hurler ever.

Whatever shortcomings the book may have, the reader is bound to be impressed by Kaplan's knowledge of Grove's career (he takes us through each of his 17 big league seasons and four that he spent at the minor league level) and his painstaking efforts to convey a sense of the time in which Grove played. When he describes one of Grove's many confrontations with Babe Ruth, the writing has the ring of truth. Particularly effective is his recounting of the famous 1929 World Series game in which Grove's Philadelphia A's scored 10 runs in one inning to wipe out an eight-run Chicago Cub lead en route to winning the world championship.

Kaplan brings to life several key figures of Grove's time, most notably Connie Mack, Grove's manager with the A's and a man who not only strongly influenced the lives of his players but also the organizational direction of baseball. Long before the 1997 Marlins were broken up to save money, Mack was doing the same thing, jettisoning big names and large salaries to build teams anew. He also offers a valuable analysis of Mack's and Grove's 1929-1931 Philadelphia A's, convincingly arguing that these teams (that also included Hall of Famers Al Simmons, Mickey Cochrane, to name a few) were the equal of the more celebrated 1926-1928 Yankees, whose 1927 edition is generally considered the greatest in baseball history.

Also of note is the final section, which analyzes the careers of Johnson, Grove and Sandy Koufax and offers the reader statistical food for thought in considering who was the greatest lefthander ever.

Kaplan's writing is solid but unspectacular and he lapses at times into a cheerleading tone, particularly when he discusses Grove's great achievements (which included nine ERA titles, a 31-4 season, a career .680 winning percentage and a 1935-1939 resurrection of his craft, during which he transformed himself from a fireballer into a finesse pitcher.)

Kaplan's otherwise fine description of the last day of the 1941 season, in which Williams secured his .406 average by going six-for-eight after refusing to sit on the bench for a doubleheader, is marred by the writer's tone of breathless admiration for the player's feat. Nothing wrong with being a fan when you write a baseball book, but I prefer that the author for the most part let the facts speak for themselves.

All in all, Kaplan produces a portrait of a driven, often disagreeable man who hated losing and was impatient with the shortcomings of mere athletic mortals. The picture of Lefty is convincing, but Kaplan uses the same strokes pretty heavily to produce it.

The baseball fan/historian will find this a very useful look at this undeservedly obscure figure and will find it particularly interesting to revisit an era of the sport that differs so radically from the present one.

I was particularly happy to receive this book on Lefty Grove because, as with a number of pre-World War II stars, a meaningful biography has been lacking about them. Jim Kaplan's version of Grove's life isn't perfect, but it's close enough, filled with stories about Grove, his teammates and the times. It's an interesting, well-written, thoughtful biography about an outstanding pitcher and one of the best ballplayers ever, and fills a gap in baseball literature that needed to be addressed.

I enjoyed this book thoroughly. It fills in the gaps that most baseball fans have regarding Lefty Grove, whom most confuse with Lefty Gomez. That's a shame becasue Lefty Grove is arguably one of -if not the - best pitchers in baseball history. Some has stated that his personality was rather dull and that explains why he is often overlooked. After reading this book, I'd characterize his personality as more eccentric than dull.

...And what a great pitcher! Read this book - you won't regret it.

just reading through the reviews and note a complaint that the character in question - Lefty Grove - seems a little dull. Did you read the book?

It has been a habit of mine to credit my sports heroes with character traits and achievements that are almost god like. I am of the age when Babe Ruth was still considered the premier baseball player. Yet as I have gotten older and wiser - I hope - it has become apparent to me that my heroes are just human. I think the author (and the SABR) does a great job paying tribute to an outstanding athlete...and they haven't left out any of the stuff that makes folks uncomfortable with Lefty - the temper tantrums, and verbal abuse to his fellow players and managers being the most compelling issues. The book makes it clear that for some of his contemporaries, it was an effort to play with and tolerate Lefty. But if you were trying to field a winning team and needed an intimidating pitcher who "brought the heat," Lefty was your man. For those of you who are statistically bound - review the record - his work and results speak for him. Finally I appreciate not being spared the details of his eventual decline and passing. Lefty is allowed to be human.

I enjoyed this book and if you are a fan of the Boston Red Sox, the Philadelphia Athletics and of Lefty Grove, you may enjoy it as well.

I first developed an admiration for Lefty Grove when doing some of my own statistical research. I was trying to come up with a simple way to compare players across eras and across offense and defense. What I came up with was counting the number of times players led their leagues in some basic, universally recognized categories like wins, strikeouts, ERA, homers, runs, and RBIs.

Surprisingly, Lefty Grove came in number 2 among pitchers, right behind another underappreciated player, Walter Johnson. Think about it - Grove led the league in ERA nine years, K's seven years (all in a row), and wins 4. In all, he led the league in major categories 20 times. Cy Young only did that 9 times. The other Lefty, Lefty Gomez, only comes in with 7.

Once I started reading about Grove, though, he did not come across as a very attractive character. Basically, he sounded like a very talented 9-year-old. Lots of tantrums, lots of sulking, lots of blaming other players on the team. Despite all his accomplishments, he started to sound like just another flawed athlete - another Cobb or Rose or Bonds.

Kaplan's book, however, let me see Grove in his entirety. Yes, he could be a jerk on the field (or, more likely, in the locker room). But it was mostly because he wanted to win so badly. In fact, I got a real feeling that the guys he played with really respected that. Between that and his amazing talents, Lefty was the kind of ballplayer other ballplayers seemed to be happy just to be on the field with. He really struck me as a ballplayer's ballplayer.

Off the field, he sounded like a regular guy. I got the feeling he was just a country boy who was a bit of a loner. Back in his home town or around people he knew and trusted, he was a very different person.

One thing, for sure - he was a very down-to-earth guy. I think that's something to really admire about him. I really didn't find him "boring," as another reviewer did, at all. No, he's no Babe Ruth, but who is?

There are a lot of parallels between him and another Red Sox icon, Ted Williams. It really is a shame he doesn't get anywhere near the press Teddy Ballgame gets. Hopefully, Kaplan's work will get Grove more of the attention he deserves. It's an excellent look at a very complex character and absolutely incredible pitcher. Highly recommended.

If you think Sandy Koufax was the greatest left-handed pitcher or if perhaps you've placed Randy Johnson on that pedestal, you've probably done it without reading about the greatest pitcher ever born in Maryland, maybe the greatest pitcher ever born. Lefty Grove is overshadowed all to often by Hall of Fame teammates and the other stars of his era, but his dominance over several seasons will likely never be replicated.

Jim Kaplan does a creditable, very readable job of telling Lefty's story. I read it in Paris on vacation and it brought me back to America every time I cracked it open.

The text is not bad but something is really missing. I think the plain fact is despite Lefty Grove's greatness, he was a dull uninteresting guy himself. He's not even loathsome and looney like Ty Cobb to make for a "the glory meets the train wreck of a life" read. As far as pitchers of his era, check out "Walter Johnson: The Big Train" by Henry Thomas which is a far better book. Although "Lefty Grove: American Original" is an extremely well researched book giving it a good feel for the times, a better bet is probably to check out the books on manager Connie Mack and his A's of the '20s.