Customer Reviews

Seasons in Hell: With Billy Martin, Whitey Herzog and "The Worst Baseball Team in History"-The 1973-1975 Texas Rangers

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I happened to stumble upon this book while searching on Amazon. I'm glad I found this. The book ostensibly is about the 1973-1975 Rangers but most of the book is on the 1973 team, which was one of the worst teams in MLB history. Whitey Herzog, who managed the team for most of the '73 season, is a source of numerous great quotes in the book. While discussing a pitcher nearly throwing a no-hitter against the team, he says if anyone threw a no-no against the Rangers, "they oughta slap an asterisk on it." He discusses the plan for pitching phenom David Clyde, and wraps it up by saying, "then we're gonna bottle his sperm."

Speaking of Clyde, his sad saga is expounded upon in great detail here. Then-Rangers owner Bob Short, desperately looking for a way to get fans into Arlington Stadium, rushed Clyde to the majors at the age of eighteen shortly after he was drafted. Clyde's career got off to a good start, but he soon faded and he was done in the majors by 24. In another attempt to get fans, Short dumped Herzog and replaced him with Billy Martin. Martin's story is all too familiar: Takes over a team, quickly snaps them into shape, almost as quickly wears out his welcome with the front office and his players, gets fired, lather, rinse, repeat. Amazingly, Martin took the Rangers who finished last in the AL West and went 57-105 in '73 to a second place finish and a 84-76 record in '74. However, both the Rangers' players and front office tired of his act and fired him in '75.

Shropshire's fantastic memory and biting sense of humor makes this an enjoyable read. The book's only drawback is the terrible editing job. Don Larsen's last name is misspelled "Larson." Even worse, Muhammad Ali's first name is mispelled "Mohammad." In the afterword, he refers to Aaron Sele as a left-hander. One problem: Sele is a right-hander. Despite these blunders, this is a fun, quick read. Recommended.

As a Texas Rangers beat reporter for the "Fort Worth Star-Telegram" in 1973 Mike Shropshire thought he had a great gig, following a major league baseball team around America with a good expense account. Perhaps so, but it was gig that required him to follow and write about what could arguably be called the worst team in MLB history. In 1973 the Rangers compiled a 56-105 record. Among other standouts that year retread pitcher Jim Merritt pitched a three hit shutout and then promptly called a press conference to announce that he had doctored the ball with KY jelly to throw the outlawed spitball. Also during 1973, high school phenom David Clyde made his MLB debut with the Rangers just 22 days after being drafted. He did well in that outing, striking out the side in the first inning after walking the first two batters and winning the game 4-3. But David Clyde never lived up to his hype and lasted only five years in the major leagues and won only 18 games in his career.

At some level Shropshire's book is more of a comedy routine than a baseball book. It chronicles, but without much attention to dates, circumstances, etc., the crazy experiences of covering this lousy team. Whitey Herzog--who had a gift for saying what he thought, led this group, whom Shropshire calls F-Troop, Whitey's Menagerie, and other less complimentary names throughout--was fired near the end of the 1973 season and replaced by Billy Martin for the 1974 campaign. Martin was a hard-driving, hard-drinking, cantankerous personality who knew how to win baseball games and he seemed to work his magic with the Rangers as well. They finished 84-76, placing second in the division; probably as good as anyone could have done with that team. Of course, Martin did have one great player that Herzog had traded for just as he left the Rangers, Ferguson Jenkins, who won a team record 25 games in 1974. No one has topped that record for the Rangers since.

But Billy Martin was a problem and in 1975 he was sacked about halfway through the season when he got into trouble with team management. He was forever in this kind of trouble and he then went on to manage the New York Yankees, where he would continue that pattern, eventually serving five different but equally turbulent tenures as teh Bronx Bombers' manager.

This is an enjoyable book, somewhat in the style of Jim Bouton's "Ball Four" but not so revelatory. I was also reminded of the whole gonzo journalism trend of the era, and also of the egotism of a Norman Mailer or a Truman Capote who always made himself the central character in his works. It talks about what you might already anticipate. These Rangers were not very good, and the players were neither particularly talented nor inspired. They tended to carouse, drink, and get into trouble, sometimes being led by Billy Martin in accomplishing all three. If you want reminders of these horrific seasons in Rangerland, this is the book for you.

I absolutely loved this book. It rivals Moneyball in terms of recent excellent baseball nonfiction. The author adeptly describes his experience following the absolutely awful 1973-75 Texas Rangers and their sad existence at the time. Great info on what goes on behind a ball club's closed door. And what is most priceless are all the witty quotes and one liners from 1973's manager, the great Whitey Herzog. Get this book. It's a great read. You won't be sorry.

I thought this was one of the most interesting takes on a team often overlooked in discussing bad baseball. The topper is both Whitey Herzog and Billy Martin managed the Texas Rangers during this period so that's what makes it all the more puzzling.

I got into it especially the whole drafting of high school pitching phenom David Clyde as a real life metaphor for all that went wrong with this Rangers team. Enjoyable fun read for frustrated fans of any team. You're not alone in your misery and it's fun to laugh at the twists and turns of fate (so many "if onlys" is this for the Rangers).

This is one of my all-time favorite basebal books. It hearkens back to a time of total irreverence, when athletes and managers did not have to watch every word leaving their mouths, and things were ostensibly off-the-record.

He chronicles the move from Washington, when the Senators became the Texas Rangers, from a boozy, loose jointed perspective of a beat writer covering an awful team in a steam room of a ballpark in Arlington, Texas.

There are some insightful revelations here, such as when the former vice-president, Spiro Agnew shows up, we can transcribe the letters of his name to spell "Grow a Penis".

Whitey Herzog comes off as a personal favorite, while managing the hapless team during the inaugural year. When asked by the writers about his starting pitcher Steve Hargan's control problems after a woeful start one evening, Whitey explains simply that his pitcher lost focus staring at the great set of tits in the front row behind the dugout.

The flavor of the book changes after the arrival of Billy Martin, but Martin had that effect almost everywhere he went.

The exploits of the sportswriters, alternately idle and drunk, are equally hilarious.

We will never get another major league baseball story like this again, and Schropshire has graced us with a baseball classic.

Anyone who thinks baseball is the overly groomed, PR conscious, coddled player, outrageous money game we see today has missed the true glory days of the sport. Not that the Texas Rangers of 1973 through 1975 were anywhere near glorious....they were wretched. When the Washington Senators were sold down south and arrived in the old orange monstrosity that was home to the Texas Rangers, baseball fans in the metroplex thought they were in heaven. It only took a seson or two to disabuse them of this belief. I was in the stands at Arlington stadium nearly every home game.....not as a fan, as an employee. Mike Shropshire was along for the ride as a sportswriter for a local paper and was front row for the wreckage that was the early Rangers. Castoff players, oddball owners, pugnacious managers were all part of the scene. Back in the day, players weren't sequestered and standoffish, stadium staff often found them in the same watering holes we frequented after games. This is a hilarious look at the early days of the Rangers, the emergence of Billy Martin as their manager, the beginning and end of David Clyde and a cast of unbelievable players. It is a must-read for anyone who yearns for the "good old days" of the sport and who remembers the 70's.

I really enjoyed this book. I am old enough to remember the 1973-1974 Rangers, although until I read this book I had no idea how bad they were (especially in '73). The book is an easy read, but that's not to say it's dumbed down. It is hilariously funny in many parts and gives you a great idea of what it must have been like to play on that team for either of those years.

Nobody gets off unscathed in Seasons in Hell -- the managers, the owners (the team gets sold to a new ownership group during the telling of the story), traveling secretaries, hangers on, groupies, umpires, players, fans, etc. They're all here and they help make this a lively, funny read.

Many of the quotes attributed to Whitey Herzog and Billy Martin are laugh-out-loud funny. So are many of the descriptions of the goings-on, whether in the clubhouse, on the field, plane, bus, hotel bar, etc. -- there are so many are humorous passages here. I actually laughed out loud many times while reading this book. There are lots of anecdotes about the characters, as well as the author's habit of drinking too much.

I would say that any baseball fan would appreciate this book -- more so if you are a fan of baseball from the seventies and remember some of the players from that era. There are lots of star players named here, as well as those who you probably never heard of before. All of them are incorporated to make this a highly enjoyable read. I would recommend this book to just about any baseball fan. I should probably mention that there are a lot of profanities in the book -- lots of usage of the f-word, plus it is VERY un-politically correct. I have to say that to me it added to the "funniness" of the book.

AUTHOR MIKE SHROPSHIRE DOES A GOOD JOB DESCRIBING THE SORRY EVENTS THAT WENT ON WITH THE RANGERS IN THE MID 70'S. HE HAS A GOOD SENSE OF HUMOR AND MUCH IN THIS BOOK IS LAUGHABLE. WHITEY HERZOG WAS IN CHARGE OF THIS LOAD OF GARBAGE EARLY IN HIS MANAGING CAREER. THERE WAS NOT MUCH HE COULD DO WITH A SORRY TEAM AND AN OWNER WHO WANTED TO KEEP COSTS DOWN SO HE COULD SELL IT FOR PROFIT. ALONG THE WAY THEY DRAFTED A GREAT PROSPECT OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL WHO THE OWNER PROCLAIMED WAS THE SAVIOR OF THE FRANCHISE NAMED DAVID CLYDE. CLYDE WAS BROUGHT STRAIGHT TO THE RANGERS WITH NO MINOR LEAGUE HELP. HE PITCHED SOME TRULY GOOD GAMES BUT THE PRESSURE AND LACK OF EXPERIENCE DID HIM IN. WHITEY GETS FIRED AND THEN ILLY IS BROUGHT IN TO TURN IT AROUND. HE DID THE FOLLOWING SEASON AND KEPT THE RANGERS IN CONTENTION ALL SEASON. THE NEXT YEAR THE TEAM FAULTERED AND BILLY BECAME A HUGE PAIN THE BUTT. HIS DRINKING AND ABRASIVE SELF DID HIMSELF IN AS USUAL. THE TEAM DID NOT BECOME A CONTENDER UNTIL LATE 90'S AND THEY FINALLY MADE IT TO THE WORLD SERIES LAST YEAR. IF YOU ARE A RANGERS FAN THIS IS FOR YOU.

Shropshire presents a hilarious look at covering the sad-sack Texas Rangers after the franchise relocated to Arlington, Texas. The book is on par with Jim Bouton's Ball Four as a baseball classic. A must read for all sports fans who remember Clyde Wright's brief glory as a pitcher, the heat at Arlington Stadium, Whiteyball, Billy Martin's insanity and genius as a manager.

Shropshire writes with satire, but it's not bitter or biting. Instead, it's a funny front row seat in to press coverage. Some of the sports writers he names are still at it in Dallas and Fort Worth.

I read it each baseball season and enjoy it every time.

I bought this book several years ago based on the recommendation of Don Imus on his morning show. It is laugh out loud funny. With comments from Whitey Herozg like "I've seen better knees on a camel" or "Our pitchers act like they're going to get the clap if they throw strikes." To the author getting input from Mickey Mantle and Billy Martin about his drinking too much. It will have you laughing like crazy.