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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Wrigelyville Plus, March 20, 2005
This book is about the Chicago Cubs. But it is not about purely the Chicago Cubs of the Wrigleyville era. So the subtitle A Magical History Tour of the Chicago Cubs is a more accurate title of this book. Some reviews complain that there is not enough coverage of the more recent past.Well I have read Cub histories and other team histories that seem to elaborate on the more recent- what is more familiar. This book contains 498 pages of text. It starts the Cubs History from 1876 through the early 1990's. This book is anthology. Not skimping on the premodern era of 1876 -1899, but includes it. I found each era covered about the same amount of time. the author had a clear goal about writing balance history about the Chicago Cubs. Balance in the sense of covering the whole historically. Yes this book is a promotion for baseball, critical analysis of baseball and socity problems need look elsewhere, but I enjoy getting losed in a good read.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
If you grew up with the Cubs, you need to own this book., March 23, 1998
By A Customer
I have to admit a bias in that I am an insufferable Cubs fan, one who spent more than a few childhood days at Wrigley Field. Despite that, Golenbock's book enlightened me to things I am ashamed to say I did not know. For instance, I had no idea the Cubs' original name was the White Stockings. I had assumed all along they were the Cubs. That revelation took some getting used to, for if you're a lifelong Cubs fan, you can't admit to accepting anything White Sox. That aside, Wrigleyville isn't exactly filled with heretofore unknown information, but it does go into particular detail about pre-1900s Cubs history that you're unlikely to find anywhere else. Golenbock seems to have spent the bulk of his energy on the pre-WWII period, and appears to assume the reader is already a Cubs fan with post WWII knowledge. That isn't a complaint, merely an observation. The chapters devoted to Cap Anson, Albert Spaulding, Mike Kelly and Frank Chance are filled with stories even Ernie Banks couldn't have known. Which brings me to my next point. While the passages from Dickie Noles, Darold Knowles and Gene Oliver were entertaining, where were Ernie Banks, Jim Hickman, Phil Regan, Joe Amalfitano, Don Kessinger, Paul Popovich, Bill Madlock etc....? The one paragraph attributed to Joe Pepitone appeared verbatim in his own book. However, as someone who grew up with the Cubs since the late Sixties, it was extremely enlightening to hear from Glenn Beckert, Randy Hundley and Ron Santo. That, however, made the dearth of information from Ryne Sandberg, Shawon Dunston, Andre Dawson, Keith Moreland, Leon Durham, Jody Davis and Jim Frey all the more glaring. But please don't get me wrong, I wouldn't be without this book. Until now, the idiosyncrasies of P.K. Wrigley were only a rumor, and while we always had him to blame for the College of Coaches and the Lou Brock trade, I would now like to thank him for holding out on night baseball and thereby adding to the considerable charm of Wrigley Field. One last thing. In light of the recent passing of the legendary Harry Caray, and the obvious reverence in which Golenbock holds him, it is lamentable there isn't more from him here. Golenbock ends the book with what amounts to a mini-tribute to Harry, and since he makes the correct observation that the current editions of the Cubs are synonomous with Harry, it would have been nice to have had him flesh out that concept to its conclusion. Because, to paraphrase more than one interviewee, my idea of Heaven is being at Wrigley Field on a weekday afternoon in July with Grace in the on-deck circle and Harry at the mike, warbling yet another rendition of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" as I order another Old Style and tell the story of how I saw Hank Aaron make the final out for Ken Holtzman's no-hitter in 1969. Ahhh, you can't beat fun at the ol' ballpark....
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Wonderful for any fan, March 10, 2001
By A Customer
As a life-long Cub fan, I always wanted this book. I finally got it for Christmas a couple years ago and had it finished in 3 days. I was lost in this book, from the early days of the White Stockings, right up to the Ryne Sandberg era. I saw the updated version at a bookstore and had to have it. I've read it countless times, but I always anticipate what's up ahead. Peter Golenbock did a tremendous job!
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
A Great Baseball Book!, April 4, 2002
Being a baseball fan but not necessarily a Cubs fan, I was a little worried that I might not enjoy this book. But you soon find yourself captured in the history of the Cubs organization. Much of the "corporate" attitude that the Cubs front office holds today was started well before many of us were born. The book is a great historical record of not only the Cubs, but of Major League Baseball itself. Every baseball purist would love this book and it's a must read for any die-hard Cub fan.
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shipped to wrong address, October 15, 2008
this book was shipped to wrong address. I tried to reorder but was told there was no more copies available. I am supposed to have a credit on my account.
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Any Team Can Have a Bad Century, June 7, 2008
Peter Golenbock found a winning formula in his previous baseball books ("Bums" and "Fenway"), so it was only natural that he would return to it again. As the oldest franchise in professional baseball to have played consecutive seasons in the same city, the Chicago National League Ball Club presents the author with numerous challenges. First of all, the team has been in existence since 1876 (the sole charter member of the league to remain in existence without interruption) and its first forty-one seasons were not played in Wrigleyville, but in several other Chicago neighborhoods. Although the team principally made its home on the West Side prior to its move, there were times when the team played on the lakefront and, briefly, on the South Side. There is an awful lot of editorial compression required to make the length of the text manageable and greater emphasis is given to more recent years with players who were actually alive to be interviewed. Earlier chapters were drawn from secondary sources.
All in all, it was an enjoyable read. It is difficult for contemporary fans to appreciate how good a team the Cubs were once upon a time.
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Only lack of modern history prevents a 5-star rating, February 9, 1999
I heartily recommend all of Mr. Golenbock's works, Wrigleyville as well as Bums and Fenway. The author shares my passion for the greatest game ever invented, and it is especially heartening that he chose to write about the Cubs. This book shares much of its content with many recent epics about baseball, such as Ken Burns' Baseball, and Our Game by Charles C. Alexander. The relatively recent trend in emphasizing baseball's traditions and history render this book to be judged as a nice find; but if it weren't for the above mentioned books, it would be a treasure. Unlike the above mentioned books, however, the author has chosen a topic that forces him to look away from developments that occurred on the East Coast. I understand that baseball was invented pretty much on the East Coast, and a substantial portion of its history evolved there. But one thing I found maddening about Ken Burns' masterwork was the notion that New York City was the Sun which all the other baseball planets revolved around. Mr. Golenbock, as well, chose first to write about New York and Boston teams. It is to his credit that he has shown the same love and passion in his chronicling of Cubs history, which is every bit as long, involved, and passionate as Dodger or Red Sox history. As I noted above, there is very little attention paid to recent times...as any Cub fan knows, there has been very little to cheer about for the last half century. The author does a admirable job in analyzing the transition from William Wrigley, a baseball man, to his son Phillip, a gum man, and the long term harm on the franchise. I just wish he could have went one step further, to similarly dissect the "cost-benefit" approach the Tribune Company has used since it took over in 1981.
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Wonderful history, with a couple of omissions, August 11, 1998
By A Customer
Naturally, it's a must-read for any Cubs fan. I'd recommend it for any baseball fan...I enjoyed Golenbock's Fenway, so his reverance for the game of baseball is not limited to the Cubbies. I was most interested in the stories from the Cubs teams of the early 1900's. I enjoyed the personal accounts by players from the era--a time often ignored by many baseball writers. I was a little dismayed, though, by the lack of attention given to players from more modern times. I would have loved to have heard Ernie Banks' take on his position as the first black Cub. Likewise, I would have liked more input from the Cubs of my era. I'm 21, so the earliest Cubs of my memory were Keith Moreland, and Gary Matthews. Hearing from Rick Sutcliffe was a real plus; I think Golenbock should have compounded upon that. All in all, though, this was a good read. 4 out of 5 because of the lack of modern Cubs input.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
A great book about how important baseball used to be, December 19, 1997
By A Customer
Peter Golenbock, though a thorough history of the Chicago Cubs, brings us back to the beginnings of Chicago baseball and teaches us how baseball became such a passionate past-time for many, many people. Baseball and the Cubs were such an important part of so many people's lives from the late 19th century through the 1930s. And Golenbock traces this fanaticism right through the lean decades, basically mirroring the demise of the team and the sport. Make no mistake about it: baseball was king and the Cubs ruled Chicago. The author takes you right into the hearts and minds of the fans and players as he weaves through the history with many great interviews. Not to be overlooked is P.K. Wrigley's major contibution to baseball and his determination to keep Wrigley field "beautiful." Oh, to be at a Cubs game on a summer afternoon (of course) in 1935!
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