Cracking the Show Review

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Cracking the Show ReviewI have enjoyed reading other works by Thomas Boswell including "Why Time Begins on Opening Day", "How Life Imitates the World Series" and "The Heart of the Order". I found Boswell to be one of the very best baseball writers in America. I guess that's why I was so disappointed in "Cracking the Show". In the aforementioned books, Boswell gives a great and impartial perspective of major league baseball. In "Cracking the Show", he seem to hit nothing but "homers". I realize that Boswell writes from that neck of the woods and it seems logical to write about what you know best. I will also admit that I had a very sincere respect for the Orioles of the late 70's and early 80's when I lived in Milwaukee. As the Brewers were rising to their lone American League pennant, it was the Orioles, not the Yankees, we feared (and respected) the most. Billy Martin was a side show; Earl Weaver was a genius. However, Weaver retired and things changed (boy did they ever for the Brewers!). In his previous books, Boswell was forgiven his occassional excesses of the Robinsons or the Earl of Baltimore because he told us about plenty of other players, teams and events. Indeed, the section that he wrote in this book entitled "Five Octobers" brings his overall genius to enough light so that it enables the rest of us to see it's still there. However, for those of us who failed to recognize that Cal Ripken Jr. (or Sr., for that matter) was the Second Coming, this book is a disappointment. Yes, Ripken is a nice guy and, yes, he was one of the best of his era. However, the emphasis is on ONE of the best; not THE best. He's gotten the record, he single-handedly saved Baseball but through that time he was in ONE, count 'em, ONE post season. Ripken also continued his streak throughout each and every game of the famous 0 for 21 games that the Orioles started the season with in 1988. Many people, myself included, thought that Ripken should have sat at least one of those games after the streak got to double digits. It's called shaking up the team and that's what happened when his own father was fired during the streak. Obviously the son's "streak" was more important than the father's job and reputation. I could go on and on regarding this subject and it usually gets me in trouble. However, consider the example that Ripken set the record for most consecutive All-Star game selections. Keep in mind that there was no All-Star game prior to 1933 so some of the very best missed out on this record. However, does anybody actually believe that Cal Ripken Jr. is the greatest player since 1933? That is, besides Thomas Boswell.
Mr. Boswell seems convinced that the rest of us glory in the Oriole's transformation from the worst team in Baseball to almost clinching the division the very next season. He really talks this up while remaining nonplussed when the Braves and Twins did exactly that a year or so later. I wish I could find the quote where he bemoans the boredom of watching aging veterans chasing down magic numbers such as 500 home runs, 300 wins, or 3000 hits (not to mention 2130 consecutive games). His point was, I believe, that the joy in Baseball is not knowing what will happen next rather than keeping tabs on the inevitable. Still, he does give us some thought-provking essays on Pete Rose and the fall of the commissioner's office.
I guess the point is that we've been spoiled by his previous excellence as a sports reporter with national credentials. Instead of reading like a reporter for the Washington POST, he reads, in "Cracking the Show", like the local sports editor for the Baltimore SUN for too much of the time to make this a book worthy of his talents. Whew!, I'd been holding that in for a long time.Cracking the Show Overview

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