Baseball, Chicago Style: A Tale Of Two Teams, One City (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: bleacher bums, last pennant, major league status, White Sox, World Series, Chicago Style (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Baseball, Chicago Style explores the exciting, enticing, enduring and frequently frustrating panorama of our national pastime. For the first time the colorful saga of Major League Baseball in Chicago is wrapped between the covers of a single book sure to appeal to both Cubs and White Sox fans. No writers are better suited to survey it than Holtzman, a Hall of Fame member and the first official historian of Major League Baseball, and partner Vass, both of whom covered the teams for many seasons. When it comes to baseball tradition, Chicago is second to none, the sole city to embrace two major league teams without interruption from their founding to the present. The Cubs haven't missed a beat since 1876 as the oldest uninterrupted franchise in all pro sports, while the White Sox have challenged them without letup since 1901 for the backing of Chicago's vast fandom. The Cubs' best known exploit of the last 55 seasons may have been to not win the pennant in 1969, the year of the Great Collapse. Not even division titles in 1984 and 1989, or a "wild card" post-season excursion in 1998, all of which ended in tears, have displaced the soorow of 1969 in the collective momory of Cubs fans. But those who scoff at Cubs' tradition willfully ignore several glorious periods of their history. It's true they've won only two World Series (1907-08), but they've played in 10, far more than most teams. And their 1906 records of 116-36, for a percentage of .847, is unmatched in major league history. What's best-known nationally about the White Sox is that they "threw" the 1919 World Series to the cincinnati Reds. The dastardly act, commemorated in history, literature, film and television, transformed their previously innocuous nickname of Black Sox, based on the hue of their uniforms in previous seasons, into an invidious epithet which clings to them like a burr to corduroy. The tale of stinginess, greed and the betrayal of "the faith of 50 million people" forms the book's first chapter. It has never been told so fully and objectively without glib sentiment obscuring its uglier aspects. Even if Chicago's teams have waged war by frequently marching to the rear since the White Sox last brought the World Series to the city in 1959, more than four decades ago, they've played the game with a gusto that belongs solely to Baseball, Chicago Style.

About the Author

Author Jerome Holtzman was named the first official historian for Major League Baseball in June 1999 by Commission Bud Selig. He lives in Chicago, IL. Author George Vass served in the sports department of the Chicago-Sun Times and has contributed a monthly article to Baseball Digest magazine since 1965. He lives in Chicago, IL. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 424 pages
• Publisher: Bonus Books (November 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566251702
• ISBN-13: 978-1566251709
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,450,734 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A GREAT READ, May 2, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

THIS BOOK IS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE CUBS AND WHITE SOX. I WAS TRULY AMAZED BY ALL THE DETAILED INFORMATION AVAILABLE BY THE AUTHORS. I WAS TOTALLY CONSUMED BY THIS BOOK. I DIDN'T WANT IT TO END AND HAD A HARD TIME PUTTING IT DOWN. AS PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED BY ANOTHER REVIEW IT HAS A GREAT DUST COVER AND COULD BE USED AS A TYPE OF NOSTALGIC DECORATION. THIS IS A MUST FOR ALL CHICAGO BASEBALL FANS ESPECIALLY. THE ONLY THING I WOULD ADD TO THIS BOOK WOULD BE MORE PICTURES. THIS IS A TREMENDOUS ADDITION TO ANY COLLECTION OF BOOKS ABOUT THE GRAND OLD GAME. GET IT.

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice book about Chicago Baseball, June 11, 2008

By	Books-n-Collies (Midwest) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Baseball, Chicago Style, Revised Edition (Paperback)

I enjoyed this book very much. Despite the few typos, which were the only thing wrong with this book, I found this book a real pleasure to read. If you want a great book to begin to study the history of the Cubs and Sox this is the book to begin with. Wonderful stories of the early days mixed with reminisces from those who were there helps this book tell of the many great, the many no so great moments of the two teams from Chicago who have risen to greatness and crashed into times of despair and yet kept the loyalty of the great fans of Chicago. If your a Cub fan you'll cheer the glory days of 1906-10 when the Cubs won more than any other team in history for a five year period! If your a Sox fan you'll revel in the glory days of 06, when the hitless wonders upset the mighty Cubs, and the last world championship in the 20th century in 1917. There is a lot of great history in this book and if your a Cubs or Sox fan this is a must have. The only thing I wish this book would've had is a year-by-year record of both clubs and some statistics. But, even without these this is one excellent book and it should be on your bookshelf.

4.0 out of 5 stars wonderful book about the great teams of chitown, December 21, 2001

By	michael hammonds (lawton ok) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

being a lifelong cubs fan, this book has everything for both the cubs and sox fan. the book does a wonderful job of going back and forth between both team through the good times (which is few) and the bleek times (more often). the book was one in which i couldn't put down. the dustcover is absolutely gorgous with the blue for the cubs and the black for the sox. the only thing that was wrong with the book it did have a few typo errors in it. ie., it stated that cap anson led the league in hitting in 1991. well, i think they meant 1891. he was dead for 35 years before 1991. anyway, other than the "few" typos the book was OUTSTANDING!!!!