Customer Reviews

The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While Golenbock has a stellar reputation for sports writing and the chronicling of oral sports history, and that shines through in parts of this book, he has to be embarrassed by the failure of editors to remove numerous typographical, editing, and factual errors contained in this book.

For example, in speaking of the move of the Cardinals from Sportsman's Park (by then also called Busch Stadium) to the current Busch Stadium, he states, "the new stadium meant saying goodbye to a small intimate ballpark with few amenities but great sightlines and saying hello to a gleaming metal bowl carpeted with artificial turf. . ." While it's an interesting juxtaposition, fact of the matter is, when the Cardinals moved to Busch Stadium in 1966, there was no artificial turf; the new stadium originally had natural grass. As well, when speaking of John Tudor's turnaround during the 1985 season, he tells how Tudor started the season 1-9, then won 20 of his last 21 decisions, and led the league in shutouts with 14. In fact, Tudor did win 20 of his last 21 decisions; however, he started the season 1-7 and recorded 10 shutouts in 1985. Finally, it was Greg Mathews, not Gary Mathews, who started game 1 of the 1987 NLCS for the Cardinals.

If one can accept these and other glaring errors, the "read" itself is entertaining and enjoyable for any St. Louis baseball fan. In the end, I'm left with the lingering thought of what else, if anything, is factually wrong about the accounts of the Browns and Cardinals.

Peter Golenbock is known for his oral histories of such teams as the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs and Brooklyn Dodgers, and this latest book on St. Louis baseball is a worthy addition to the collection. The Cardinals have a storied history, from Rogers Hornsby to Dizzy Dean, from Stan Musial to Bob Gibson, and from Lou Brock to Willie McGee. From a ragtag organization to one of the storied franchises in baseball, this book also details the people who owned and managed the Cards, such as Branch Rickey, Sam Breadon, Gussie Busch and Bing Devine. What makes The Spirit of St. Louis even more of a must-read for baseball fans are the sections devoted to the St. Louis Browns. The Browns were at one time the more popular St. Louis ballclub, and George Sisler was as good a player as any who played in St. Louis. Unfortunately, the Browns suffered through mediocrity, until 1944 when they won the pennant. (and played the Cardinals in the World Series!). The decline of the Browns culminating in owner Bill Veeck putting tiny Eddie Gaedel up to the plate is also of interest.

I admit I'm biased, I grew up in St. Louis and was treated to the great Cardinal teams of the 80's. There's no doubt. baseball fans will love this book, Golenbock does an incredible job of taking readers through the birth of both the Cardinals and Browns in St. Louis. My only criticism, the parts of the book on the Browns did tend to drag.

Actually I'll give the book four stars for the Cardinals sections and two stars for the Browns sections. How could Peter overlook the 1922 Browns and their race for the pennant? Read the book for the Cardinal sections but don't bother if you're interested in Brownie history.

This is the latest in a series of oral history books Peter Golenbock has written about baseball teams. It looks like this time he bit off more than he could chew. Golenbock tries to tackle the histories of both the St. Louis Cardinals and the St. Louis Browns in one book. It would have been better if he would have split these into two books. He misses out on or glosses over several key events in Cardinal history (Musial's retirement, Torre's MVP are examples) as he tries to cram the histories of two teams in one book.

An excellent overview of baseball in St.Louis. The author uses an oral history approach, often letting the major leaguers speak for themselves. Even at 600 pages, it's a quick, attention-grabbing read. A great read not only for fans of St. Louis baseball, but baseball fans in general.

A good book about the St.Louis baseball teams, especially since there's little out there about the Browns. One thing that keeps this one from being as good as Golenbock's best, "Bums", is the paucity of anecdotes from fans.

I had previously read Wrigleyville, so I knew this one was going to be a fine work. The only problem is that trying to cover two teams whose history goes back 125 years, he had to cram too much into too little space. Although I am a Cardinal fan, I thought the Browns were given short shrift. I would also have liked to see an appendix with standings and statistics. However, it is still a very good book, and well worth the price, especially for those who love the Cardinals and who love Golenbock's oral histories. Note that a paperback edition is due out in April 2001. If you're a true Cardinal fanatic, though, you might want the hardbound version.

EXCELLENT.IF YOU ARE A CARDINALS FAN,OR A BASEBALL HISTORY BUFF(LIKE ME), YOU WILL LOVE THIS BOOK. I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE AUTHORS NEXT BOOK.I HOPE HE DOES ONE ON THE GIANTS.

My husband is from St. Louis originally and is a die-hard Cards fan. He really enjoyed this book!