11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
From Stash to Stan: The MAN-in-Full, December 9, 2004
This review is from: Musial: From Stash to Stan the Man (MISSOURI BIOGRAPHY SERIES) (Hardcover)
This book is head and shoulders above the average baseball biography. Most sports biographies fall into one of two categories: either they're superficial, hero-worshiping treatments that present the subject as a faultless paragon and give little space to anything other than the subject's on-field exploits, or they're efforts to tear down the hero image and dig up as much dirt on the athlete as possible.
Giglio's study of Musial avoids both these pitfalls. Since Giglio is a professional historian, rather than a sportswriter, he brings a historian's thoroughness and depth to his research on Musial. We learn a great deal about Musial's ethnic background, his family, and his personal attitudes and character. Although the author emphasizes what a genuinely good man Musial was and is, he presents a nuanced portrait that accepts and analyses his subject's faults and foibles as well as his many virtues.
Unfortunately, there are always a few hard-core sports fans who flee in horror from this kind of book. All they want to read about is their hero's exploits on the playing field. There are others who live and breathe statistics and sneer in contempt when a book about a baseball star isn't full of Sabrmetrics. It's true that this book is statistically unsophisticated, but the author makes no claims that he's writing that kind of book. This is a book about a MAN who PLAYED baseball-- not a "baseball book."
I give it a four-star rating only because the writing is at times a little dry and professorial--but only a little. This is a great read for anyone who dreams of getting to know a baseball immortal, and one of baseball's genuine gentlemen.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Biography of Musial, August 30, 2002
This review is from: Musial: From Stash to Stan the Man (MISSOURI BIOGRAPHY SERIES) (Hardcover)
Giglio, a professional historian, spent many years researching his subject and produced, in my view, the first serious examination of Musial's life.
Given Musial's well-desrved reputation as a perfect gentleman and role model, many biographical accounts of his life slip into hagiography, but Giglio carefully avoids this trap. He cuts through much of the Musial mythology, and assesses the facts (laboriously compiled from archival research and interviews with many of Musial's contemporaries) in order to present Musial as a real human being.
You wont find much dirt in this book--Musial really was a good guy for the most part. About the only blemish Giglio uncovered from Musial's personal life was that he impregnated his wife 6 months before they were married--a mere peccadillo by contemporary standards, especially considering that Stan and Lil Musial have remained happily married for over 60 years.
Musial's only serious character flaw, according to Giglio, was an unwillingness to take provocative and controversial positions publicly on important issues of his time. For example, although Musial personally detested racism and bigotry, he never publicly condemned racist teammates like Enos Slaughter. According to at least one second-hand account, Musial and Slaughter once came to blows over the matter in private, but Giglio couldn't substantiate this, and publicly Musial has always denied that he and Slaughter, who died just a few weeks ago (12 August 2002), fought over the issue.
The only criticism I have of Giglio's book is his embarrassingly amateurish statistical analysis. In comparing Musial to the other greats of his era (Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Mickey Mantle), Giglio uses a simplistic ranking methodology incorporating some common statistics like batting average, home runs and RBIs among others, but he ignores walks and on-base percentage completely, and he doesn't even attempt to account for fielding statistics or ballpark affects. Anyone familiar with serious scientific analysis of baseball (e.g. the work of Pete Palmer, Bill James or the gang at Baseball Prospectus) will laugh out loud at obvious lack of sophistication in Giglio's analysis. Mercifully, Giglio's statistical analysis only takes up a few pages.
Overall though, I give Giglio high marks for producing an excellent biography of Musial. I feel I know Musial much better than I did before, and ultimately that's the best test of any biography.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Giglio's book on Musial is a winner, June 9, 2001
This review is from: Musial: From Stash to Stan the Man (MISSOURI BIOGRAPHY SERIES) (Hardcover)
James Giglio's recently released book on Stan "The Man" Musial is a winner in my opinion. Anyone can write a book quoting stats and on the field accomplishments, but Giglio goes back to the style that I most appreciate in a biography. He actually started at the beginning. Learning about Stan's childhood, his life in small town Pa. and his acsension into stardom was what I wanted when I bought this book. I always feel I know a little bit more about a person when I get to see what effects that person has had from events along the way. Certainly in Stan Musials case the depression, WWII, and the good years in the 50's and 60's shaped Stan into the man that he is.
I give the book 5 stars and ask Mr. Giglio to find another superstar from yesterday to write about.
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