Superstars and Screwballs: 2100 Years of Brooklyn Baseball [Hardcover]

Richard Goldstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1991

In a beautifully illustrated chronicle, Goldstein re-creates the heyday of America's quintessential baseball town--a zany, colorful century of larger-than-life characters and classic episodes. 100 black-and-white photos.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Yet another reminder that the Brooklyn Dodgers still live,though not in Brooklyn, this carefully researched history of the teamby a New York Times sports editor is one of the best. Books aroundabout the "Daffiness Boys" of the 1920s, "Dem Bums" of the 1930s andthe 1950s' "Boys of Summer"--and Goldstein ably surveys the stories ofthose teams. Where he excels, however, is in recounting the earlyyears of the diamond sport in the City of Churches, and all thefranchises born and done in during pre-Dodger days--the Eckfords, theExcelsiors, the Atlantics, the Mutuals, the Mets, the Brooklyns andthe Bridegrooms, among them. This should be required reading for allfans still cursing Walter O'Malley for moving the beloved team west in1957. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

From 1857, when Brooklyn was an independent city, baseball thrived until the Dodgers and Giants fled West in 1957. Goldstein, a New York Times sports editor, provides a nostalgic story of glory and pathos. Beginning with the deeds of Brooklyn's pre-major league teams, he chronicles Brooklyn baseball from the Trolley Dodgers, Bridegrooms, and Robins to the Daffiness Boys and latter-day Dodgers. He repeats oft-told tales of Wilbert "Uncle Robby" Robinson, Casey Stengel, Babe Herman, Roger Kahn's Boys of Summer ( LJ 2/15/72), Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson, and even the still hated Walter O'Malley. This fond memorial gives fuller coverage to the Brooklyn years than Stanley Cohen's The Dodgers: The First 100 Years ( LJ 4/15/90) and is recommended. It will be especially popular with New York area fans.--Morey Berger, formerly with Monmouth Cty. Lib., Manalapan, N . J. up at bat, Morey Berger: Watch for LJ' s spring lineup of baseball books, reviewed by longtime LJ reviewer Berger, in the Sports section this February 15.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult; 1ST edition (March 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525249583
• ISBN-13: 978-0525249580
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,720,121 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was 10 years old on an autumn evening in 1952 when the drama of national politics and the sweep of American history first touched me.
I caught a glimpse of President Truman's motorcade as he sped to a rally for Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic presidential nominee, at the Eastern Parkway Arena in Brooklyn. Stevenson would be trounced by Dwight D. Eisenhower that November, but the excitement of that moment left an enduring impression.
I began to read history and I joined my high school newspaper, the first step toward a career in journalism.
After receiving a B.A. from Brooklyn College and an M.A. from the University of Michigan, concentrating in political science and history, I worked at The New York Daily News, Newsday, United Press International, and, for the past three decades, as an editor and writer at The New York Times. I left full-time daily journalism in 2007 but I continue to write obituary profiles for The Times, mostly on figures from the military, sports and journalism.
As a non-fiction author, I have focused on historical themes. I told of the Normandy invasion in "America at D-Day." I looked to convey the whole of American life through the eyes of unforgettable men and women in "Mine Eyes Have Seen: A First Person History of the Events That Shaped America." I recalled a memorable disaster at sea in "Desperate Hours: The Epic Rescue of the Andrea Doria." I turned to baseball history in "Spartan Seasons: How Baseball Survived the Second World War," "Superstars and Screwballs: 100 Years of Brooklyn Baseball" and "An American Journey," written with Jerry Coleman. I looked at sporting traditions in "Ivy League Autumns: An Illustrated History of College Football's Grand Old Rivalries."
Now, melding my fascination with New York City history and with the Second World War, I have written "Helluva Town: The Story of New York City During World War II."
I live in White Plains, New York, with my wife, Dr. Nancy Lubell, a clinical psychologist.