September Streak: The 1935 Chicago Cubs Chase the Pennant [Paperback]

Doug Feldmann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2003

With the recent success of the Gas House Gang as backdrop, the National League prepared for the 1935 season. The United States was still in the Great Depression, but executives in baseball predicted a financial comeback during the year, and Chicago’s "windy" politicians demanded a pennant-contending ballclub. Yes, there was a time when the Cubs were expected to win.

This book chronicles the Cubs’ 1935 season and the many on- and off-field events that impacted the game for years to come: Fans who had once turned to baseball for heroes and men of character now laughed at players’ uncouth antics and fun-loving carousing reported in the morning newspapers; Babe Ruth debuted in the National League with the Boston Braves, and retired soon after; the first major league night game was played in Cincinnati; the chewing gum king Phil Wrigley was the first to broadcast all of his team’s games on the radio; and the Cubs won 21 games in a row in September to take the pennant—the last Cubs team to win 100 games in a season.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Doug Feldmann is also the author of Fleeter Than Birds: The 1985 St. Louis Cardinals and Small Ball’s Last Hurrah (2002) and Dizzy and the Gashouse Gang: The 1934 St. Louis Cardinals and Depression-Era Baseball (2000). An assistant professor in the College of Education and Psychology at the University of Southern Mississippi, he also works part-time as a scout for the Seattle Mariners.

Product Details

• Paperback: 247 pages
• Publisher: Mcfarland & Co Inc Pub (July 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786415916
• ISBN-13: 978-0786415915
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,223,247 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Doug Feldmann is a professor in the College of Education at Northern Kentucky University and a former scout for the Cincinnati Reds, Seattle Mariners, and San Diego Padres. He completed his Ph.D. in Curriculum Studies at Indiana University, his master's degree in Secondary Education at Rockford College, and his bachelor's degree in English and History at Northern Illinois University (where he played baseball and football). Dr. Feldmann has written extensively on baseball history and the sport's sociological impact on urban and small-town America. He has been a multiple-time nominee for the Casey Award and the Seymour Medal from the Society for American Baseball Research. A former coach of baseball and football at the high school and college levels, Dr. Feldmann is married and lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real gripper, December 10, 2006

By 

Jonathan Brookner - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: September Streak: The 1935 Chicago Cubs Chase the Pennant (Paperback)

Though I was interested in reading about the Cub 21 game winning streak late in 1935 that gave them the upset pennant win, I feared that I would pick up a dull game-by-game enlargement of box scores. Not at all. Doug Feldmann has put together an entertaining read, even for those of us who are quite familiar with the characters of thirties baseball, and anecdotes surrounding them.

The book places its stories in context, and does range more broadly than the 1935 Cubs, or even the baseball season. But not so braodly that the book ever loses focus. The focus is the '35 Cubs, and to a lesser extent, the '34-35 Cardinals and Giants. Every game of the '35 Cubs season is covered, but never in a dry box-scorish fashion. Every page is peppered with background and anecdotes that bear on the season and on thirties baseball - most of them ones I've never read anywhere else before. Perhaps best of all, Doug Feldmann is a real writer. He keeps the pace up and the reader interested.

Two little errata. Page 41 has Babe Ruth's first 1935 home run as his 724th - it was his 709th. Page 135 has the Cubs meeting the Giants on July 19 in what Feldmann says "was the first win for the Cubs in five tries against the Giants on the year." The Cubs were actually 3-7 against the Giants entering that day's contest. (They ended the season 14-8 against New York.)

Enjoy this book!