Five Seasons: A Baseball Companion (Paperback)

by Roger Angell (Author) "IT WEIGHS JUST over five ounces and measures between 2.86 and 2.94 inches in diameter..." (more)
Key Phrases: very first inning, Five Seasons, World Series, Red Sox (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"A book for people who miss good writing, who miss clarity, lucidity, style and passion. It's a book for all seasons."-New York Times Book Review (New York Times Book Review )

"No one writes better about baseball."-Boston Globe (Boston Globe )

"Roger Angell is our best writer on baseball."-Newswee (Newsweek )

"Angell's passion for baseball is enough to convert the heathen."-Time (Time )

"Roger Angell is a stunning writer.. A writer who can translate the nuances of the game with perfect clarity."-Tim McCarver, Wall Street Journal (Tim McCarver Wall Street Journal )

"Fans know that Angell, fiction editor for The New Yorker, is one of the heavy hitters of baseball writing. Dating back to 1977 and 1972, respectively, these are two of his finest collections. Essential for public and academic libraries."-Library Journal (Library Journal )

"Angell is best known for ''The Summer Game,'' in which he revolutionized baseball writing by bringing an essayist''s eye to the ballpark. This collection, though, is even better, tracking the sport through the mid-1970s and opening with one of Angell''s signature efforts-an evocative meditation on the ball itself."-Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles Times ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

Five Seasons covers the baseball seasons from 1972 through 1976, described as the “most significant half decade in the history of the game.” The era was notable for the remarkable individual feats of Hank Aaron, Lou Brock, and Nolan Ryan, among others. It also presented one of the best World Series of all time (1975), including still the greatest World Series game ever played (Game Six).

Along with visiting other games and campaigns, Roger Angell meets a trio of Tigers-obsessed fans, goes to a game with a departing old-style owner, watches high-school ball in Kentucky with a famous scout, and explores the sad and astounding mystery of Steve Blass’s vanished control. Angell’s Five Seasons is a gem and a gift for baseball lovers of all ages.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446311030
• ISBN-13: 978-0446311038
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,246,156 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How much we've lost, June 30, 2005

By	J. C Clark "eanna" (Overland Park, KS United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Five Seasons: A Baseball Companion (Paperback)

This is a depressing book. Not because its subject is depressing; we're not talking about the Ukranian famine of 1932 here. No, this is a "You are there" book written at the end of baseball as we knew it. We weren't aware of that at the time, though we could see that things were changing. But we thought, and were repeatedly assured, that the changes would work themselves out. However, if you're over 40, you know they didn't, and baseball is a far less fun activity as a fan than it was then. There are innumerable little tidbits that make you see how much things have deteriorated. Tom Seaver pitches 12 innings. 12! A manager today would have the talk radio hordes ready to unman him for that, but it is only one of many. Steve Carlton threw 30 complete games in 1972. Contemplate that. 30. More than most teams, heck, probably more than most divisions today. He won 27 games on a team that won 59 total. Unfathomable. But unlike the managers who fear their million dollar boys will throw out their arms, Carlton came back and achieved that for more than another decade. Sure he was a great. But there are innumerable tales through here of guys who weren't greats, just solid players, performing in ways that would be unheard of, or at the minimum, worth millions of dollars, today, and doing it happily, without whining, griping, complaining, simpering or gloating.

Angell chronicles 5 wonderful seasons in the history of baseball, the years of Finley's Athletics and the Big Red Machine, and a new owner for the Yankees named George Steinbrenner, the arrival of Robin Yount and Mark Fidrych and George Brett and oh so many others. But because it is reporting, he also documents the arrival of guys who flashed briefly and then vanished. Baseball is like that.

But it is the creeping arrival of ugliness that hurts to read. Reggie's showboating. Young kids who don't respect their manager. And big money. The sports page went from stories about hits and errors to tales of contract negotiations, threats, and free agency. I know money has always been a part of the game, and there were drunks, wife-beaters, and thugs in baseball since the beginning. But the big contracts and big payrolls have made all the teams change their perspective, and though throughout this book the players assure us we won't think differently about them as a result of these changes, we do. Teams are no longer teams as they once were, a reliable group of guys who continued for years together and added the missing piece or replaced the aging veteran incrementally. They are an assemblage of whomever can be gathered up to make a winner. Because we still want a winner, but we no longer care about the guys who do the winning. How sad. And for me and many of my generation, how boring. Baseball just isn't what it was, and it isn't the DH or the long season or frigid World Series games. No, it's money, and the game has been permanently corrupted by it. So read this to see how it once was, how glory and honor could be achieved on the field rather than in the contract.

And feel disheartened for what we've lost, with nothing good to replace it.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The Master" does it again..., October 22, 2001

By	Thomas Moody (STEPHENVILLE, TEXAS United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Five Seasons: A Baseball Companion (Paperback)

Part two of Roger Angell's 15 year written love affair with baseball...this book picks up where "The Summer Game" left off and doesn't miss a beat, covering the 1972 through 1976 seasons. Each chapter has all the classic written/observed anecdotes that Angell is famous for, as well as expert detailed coverage of the game(s) and the ever-discouraging front-office activities that the 70's were famous for (the Reserve Clause, the advent of Free Agency...etc). Still, Angell's ability to write insightful and elegant observations are what make this and The Summer Game standout and really makes all other baseball writing pale by comparison. For this book, he also adds something different when he takes on small projects such as following a Major League scout around the country, visiting with three Detroit Tiger fanatics and detailing the almost tragic rise and fall of Steve Blass, the Pittsburgh Pirate hero from the 1971 World Series. Each of these off-normal stories essentially "tells" itself, but Angell frames each in his own inimitable style that really defines "story-telling". I have such high regard for his writing that I wish he'd take on other projects (like history writing in general), as I'm sure that he'd excel there too (of course, being in his 80's probably has a lot to do with which projects he chooses to undertake). I read recently that Angell hates being called the "Poet Laureat" of baseball writing, but I can't think of a finer term for so marvelous a writer. This book should be combined with "Summer Game" and re-issued as a single volume for future writers to use as a model for taking a subject and turn it into expert storytelling. Highest recommendation!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Baseball fans who haven't read this book are missing out!, June 30, 2001

By	ROBERT KINGSLEY (Fort Collins, Colorado USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Roger Angell's love for the game flows throughout this fine book. Every bit of his prose is a joy to read, and the tales are enchanting. Covering five seasons, Angell brings to life the ebb and flow of the game and the people who make it great - from the players, the coaches, the management personnel and not the least, the fans.

If you want to read a book that captures what baseball means, pick up this one. You won't be disappointed!