Pennant Races: Baseball at Its Best [Hardcover]

Dave Anderson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1997

The renowned Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist delivers dramatic descriptions of fifteen suspense-filled pennant races from 1908 to 1993, in this insightful look at the drama of America's pastime.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

New York Times sports columnist Anderson ( In the Corner ) scores a double coup here: he presents an original subject and recreates the tension and drama that characterized baseball's most suspenseful pennant drives. Anderson sets forth his criteria for suspense in his introduction, explaining that he eliminated such teams as the 1969 New York Mets, who won the pennant by eight games, in favor of those races with "the most theatrical dimension." He begins with the two races in 1908, won by the Tigers and the Cubs--the latter after the famed "bonehead" play by Giant Fred Merkle--and includes the St. Louis Cardinal Gashouse Gang of 1934, the St. Louis Browns' only pennant in 1944 and the Cleveland Indians' victory in the first American League playoff game in 1948. Anderson also discusses the Giants win over the Dodgers thanks to Bobby Thomson's "shot heard 'round the world" in 1951, the "Phillies' Phlop" in 1964 and the Atlanta Braves' triumphs in 1991 and 1993. Every entry is gripping and smoothly written. Photos.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

If baseball championships are sprints, the pennant races that lead to divisional playoffs and/or the World Series are marathons during which literally hundreds of little-remembered events or moments can play important roles in determining outcomes. Anderson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The New York Times who appreciates the summer game's long-haul appeal, offers a marvelously evocative reprise of 15 major league seasons noteworthy for their stirringly competitive and climactic flag chases. By no coincidence, perhaps, all but three of the pennant races he singles out for tellingly detailed attention occurred before 1969, after which the American and National Leagues were each split into two divisions. In the leadoff spot is 1908, a doubleheader of a year when Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers won a close three-way battle (with Chicago and Cleveland) for the AL title while the Windy City's Cubs copped the senior-circuit crown in a first-ever playoff with the New York Giants (managed by John McGraw). Further down the order are 1934 (the Gashouse Gang, aka the St. Louis Cardinals, triumphs in a down-to-the-wire finish), 1944 (the St. Louis Browns luck into the AL franchise's only pennant with players too young, old, or debilitated to make the WW II roster), 1951 (the Giants nose out the Dodgers when Bobby Thomson takes Ralph Branca deep, breaking almost every heart in Brooklyn), and 1964 (the Philadelphia Phillies blow a big lead with but a dozen games to play, allowing the Cards to pass them in the stretch). Closer to the present, there are 1978 (the come-from-behind New York Yankees best the Boston Red Sox in a playoff recalled for the light-hitting Bucky Dent's decisive homer) and 1993 (the Atlanta Braves beat out San Francisco's Giants on the regular season's final day). This latter matchup, Anderson points out, will be the last pure pennant race because, starting this year, second-place clubs will be participating in two-stage championship series in both leagues. Whatever joys or sorrows this new format brings fans of the national pastime, they'll have the author's touchstone accounts to remind them of the times baseball was inarguably at its best. There are contemporary photos throughout the consistently absorbing text. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Bbs Pub Corp; Reprint edition (March 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0883659816
• ISBN-13: 978-0883659816
• Product Dimensions: 4.7 x 2.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,220,098 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Riling Giants and Other Stories, August 22, 2002

By 

William Hare (Seattle, Washington) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Penant Races: Baseball At It's Best (Paperback)

Pulitzer Prize winning sportswriter Dave Anderson of the New York Times supplies readers with a wide variety of stories about the leading pennant races in baseball history. His succinct sportswriter's prose is ideal to depict time ticking events in the hot, humid days of summer as races move toward dramatic climaxes. The winners will go on to the World Series while the losers go home to contemplate what went wrong.

Two crucial pennant races which came down to the wire involved instances where the Dodgers and Giants respectively became aroused as a result of slights. The first instance was in 1934, when New York Giants' first baseman and manager Bill Terry was summarizing his view of the upcoming National League pennant race with New York reporters. When asked about the Giants' bitter Gotham rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers, then experiencing hard times, Terry smiled and exclaimed, "Are the Dodgers still in the league?"

As the pennant reached its crucial closing stages, and Terry's Giants were locked in a tight race with the "Gashouse Gang" St. Louis Cardinals with the Dean brothers, Joe Medwick, and playing manager Frankie Frisch,they concluded the season with two games at Ebbets Field against the Dodgers. Remembering the Terry slight, Casey Stengel, who would later win five straight world titles from 1949 to 1953 with the New York Yankees, relished the opportunity along with his players to knock their New York rivals out of the race. Stengel's Dodgers won both games and the Cardinals won the pennant, defeating the Detroit Tigers in seven games in the World Series.

The Dodgers failed to profit from history, since in 1951, seventeen years later, they defied the adage, "Never rile a Giant." After sweeping the Giants at Ebbets Field, the Dodgers taunted the team they believed to be out of the pennant. In the small Ebbets Field clubhouse the home and visiting teams were separated by a tissue paper wall. The Giants listened in helpless rage as Dodger manager Chuck Dressen and his team sang, shouted, and taunted the Giants. Jackie Robinson pounded a bat repeatedly against the wall.

Leo Durocher's Giants then came back from their presumed demise, winning 37 out of their last 44 games to finish in a first place tie with their hated rivals as the regular season ended. The immortal three game playoff ended with Bobby Thomson's 3-run homer off of Dodger pitcher Ralph Branca for a 5-4 victory and a Giant pennant, a blast known as "the hit heard round the world."

Another example of a presumed slight which helped change baseball history was in the second to last game of the 1949 season at Yankee Stadium. The Boston Red Sox moved into New York up one game, needing only a split with the Yankees to qualify to play the Dodgers in the World Series. Boston catcher Birdie Tebbets, a legendary bench jockey, chided Yankee shortstop Phil Rizzuto in the first game that the Red Sox would be starting their rookie fresh from college the next day. An angry Rizzuto walked back to the bench and repeated the comment. The inspired Yankees won both games and went on from there to defeat the Dodgers in five games in the World Series.

Anderson has plenty of interesting races to write about in addition to the aforementioned, including Gabby Hartnett's home run in the darkness in 1938 which propelled his Cub team to victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, and ultimately the National League pennant, along with the 1908 pennant races, when Detroit won a cliffhanger in the American League and the Cubs prevailed in a playoff game against the Giants of John McGraw, a contest resulting from Johnny Evers's protest over Fred Merkle failing to touch second base after the apparent winning hit had enabled the Giants to prevail.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Down to the wire, September 18, 2008

By 

Borowy26 "Hank" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Pennant Races: Baseball at Its Best (Hardcover)

Nothing is more enjoyable than watching your favorite baseball team playing meaningful games during the month of September. While other teams are playing out the string and preparing to clean out their lockers, your team is in a pennant race.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book despite the fact that it is less than perfect. Some will be upset that the author did not choose to select the particular race which captivated them the most, but overall there are some good ones included here.

While I was familiar with the story of Gabby Hartnett's celebrated home run, Anderson provides details of the events in the three weeks leading up to the critical series between the Pirates and the Cubs that determined the 1938 pennant. I also enjoyed the coverage of the American League race of 1967 which saw the Red Sox, the Tigers, the Twins and the White Sox battling to the finish.

Revelations have been made concerning the New York Giants amazing comeback in 1951 (serious allegations of sign stealing at the Polo Grounds), but this does not detract from the dramatic account of that storied season. Brooklyn still cannot forget losing out to their former manager, Leo Durocher, on the strength of Bobby Thomson's late inning home run off of Ralph Branca.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Worth maybe a library rental, but not a purchase., July 1, 1999

By 

A.G. Bassett - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pennant Races: Baseball at Its Best (Hardcover)

The author makes some good choices on which seasons to profile,such as 1908, 1951, 1991, etc. Also, he makes a pertinent point for all 1998-nuts, titling his chapter on 1993 "The Last Pure Pennant Race." However, the author is obviously prejudiced toward the era he grew up in, selecting no less than FIVE of the fourteen profiled from the 1940's. Indians only won the pennant because the Black Sox were throwing games down the stretch! 1964? You've got to be kidding! The Phillies experienced one of the all-time "crash-and-burn" moments in baseball history, losing their final ten games, allowing St. Louis to "back into" the pennant! The major factor in weighing the "all-time greatest pennant races" should hinge mainly on the fan excitement they create. Here, Anderson spends two of his choices on great collapses, where only the eventual winner's fans benefit; rather than picking two other races where BOTH teams played great ball down the stretch, giving fans in BOTH cities something to cheer about! The 1904 Boston-N.Y. American League race , or the 1915 Boston-Detroit AL race would have been much better choices. At any rate, I wasn't all that impressed with Anderson's writing style. It lacked tension, organization, and failed to present some of the really great races in a wider historical context. Mostly valuable for it's details of baseball's greatest and most suffocating pennant race, 1908.