Christy Mathewson Review

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Christy Mathewson ReviewI recently purchased a few modern biographies of baseball players, and this was the best of the lot by a wide margin. It's not the most exciting biography I've ever read, but it covers Mathewson's career without a lot of extraneous personal life fluff or other modern biography madness. Short, easy, enjoyable read which manages to stick to baseball; it probably helps that Mathewson never got involved with any movie stars and wasn't able to sell autographs for seven kazillion dollars each.
But quite frankly, the publisher's proofreader needs to be beaten with a cluestick. (I strongly suspect Word was the sole proofreader.) Far too many spelling errors (rather, "correctly" spelled but incorrect words), partially-duplicated sentences, cut-up sentences which don't make any sense at all, and several other minor nits. This sort of mess is difficult to excuse, as it looks as if the book were published straight from the writer's final manuscript with little or no editing. It's certainly not unreadable, but the errors are a surprise.Christy Mathewson OverviewChristy Mathewson made headlines in the summer of 1905 for his amazing pitching exploits for the New York Giants, but the 25 year old already had an exalted place in public opinion because of his classic handsomeness, his reputation as a college man, and his moral stance in refusing to pitch on Sundays. Mathewson benefited from a strict Baptist upbringing, natural intelligence, and superb athletic ability. He excelled in tense situations—"pitching in a pinch" he called it—and won 373 games in 17 seasons, all but one of those victories for the Giants. After his playing career, he was a manager, army officer and baseball executive, played a role in the unraveling of the Black Sox, and fought a courageous battle against tuberculosis. He did not have a flawed personality like Ty Cobb, nor was he larger-than-life like Babe Ruth; rather, he was a man with a keen sense of honor and responsibility for both private and public obligations. This biography documents in great depth his life on and off the baseball field, and draws from sources, old and new, to let Mathewson's life speak for itself. Not many sports figures can withstand such scrutiny.

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Branch Rickey (Penguin Lives) Review

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Branch Rickey (Penguin Lives) ReviewThe wonderful "Penguin Lives" series has hit another home run with Breslin's insightful, entertaining and revealing treatment of the man who, as GM of the Brooklyn Dodgers in the late 1940's, had the courage and foresight to facilitate Jackie Robinson's extraordinary breaking of the sport's color bar.
These "Lives" books are not meant to be exhaustive biographies. Generally, there are no indices, source notes. Rather, the author provides a quite selective bibliography for readers wanting fuller treatment. The mission of the "Lives" books, rather, is to sketch the full life, and home in on significant, inspiring acts of the subject that truly made a positive difference in the world. The several I have read, including this one, have the sense of a masterful story-teller chatting knowingly with me across a kitchen table.
Enter Breslin, an icon himself, who for more than 55 years has moved us to tears and laughter and greater understanding. His selection to treat Rickey really is "beautiful." By story's end, Penguin's choice of Rickey as the inaugural sports figure in the series--ahead of Robinson, Ruth, Thorpe--also seems totally appropriate. As Breslin shows, without Rickey doggedly pursuing his vision of integration against many foes, a decade (or more) might have passed unchanged.
What led Rickey to dissent from all 15 other baseball owners (Breslin provides their ridiculously pious and hypocritical "Statement on Race") and dedicate himself and his team to integration? Breslin reveals Rickey as a dedicated Methodist, a proponent of fairness for all, with an eye for talent (he champions a lanky young freshman named George Sisler; years later, Rickey and super scout Clyde Sukeforth seize on Robinson, but only after subjecting him to a four-hour grilling, "Will you have the guts to turn away?"; the recounting of that meeting is riveting). As do a number of others in the Penguin series, Rickey radiates as a true visionary. Not only was breaking the color bar the right thing to do morally; it also was great business. Rickey's every act in that direction was purposeful, as Breslin shows us a man who never relied on luck. "Luck," Rickey said, "is the residue of design."
So before Robinson could take the field in a Dodgers uniform and triumph over so much hostility, Rickey carefully built a new infrastructure. He steadfastly courted politicians to pass first a fair employment law and then to mobilize their constituencies; he spoke to African-American groups; he courageously ignored the racist sports writers of the time; he reasoned with some of his own racist players. "Proximity" was part of his vision for success--by being proximate to a player of Robinson's immense talent and focus, the rightness of integration would manifest itself. He was in his late 60's by then, had a long and successful career in baseball, but was determined to make this happen. And in Robinson he had a great chance.
With his unique style, wry humor and grace, gift for incisive anecdotes and riffs, and flair for embellishing dialogue without taking undue liberties, Breslin succeeds in letting his remarkable subject's life achievement show and tell itself. In so doing, Breslin's gem takes a rightful place among Penguin's other lives who really mattered.Branch Rickey (Penguin Lives) Overview

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Uppity: My Untold Story About The Games People Play Review

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Uppity: My Untold Story About The Games People Play ReviewIf you enjoyed listening to Bill White broadcast Yankee baseball you will want to read this book. If you are a baseball fan (or, for that matter, a follower of any sport) & want to get a better perspective on what life was like trying to break into the "big leagues" in the fifties & deal with the biases he faced... from the fans, other players as well as management you will love this book.
White, respected both as a unbiased broadcaster as well as a man with strong opinions, tells the story of his life & his story parallels many of the major changes in that occurred in American society in the 1950's & 1960's. When he left college to play minor league baseball in the south, blacks could not eat in restaurants, ride in the front of a bus nor attend schools with whites. Bill White gives the reader an idea of what life was like for him. It makes you realize that whatever he faced, blacks that lived in the south went through this everyday with little hope for improvement. He talks about how sports helped change our society and he was pleased to be a small part of some of these changes.
His stories on working for the Yankees as a broadcast partner of Phil Rizzuto brings some humor into the book and
the reader sees that Bill White does have a great sense of humor to go with his integrity. He discusses his role as National
League President and provides some insight into the inner workings of baseball. It is interesting to hear his thoughts and opinions on issues that arose and how his opinions sometimes differed with the majority opinion that we read about in the paper or saw on television.
This book is an easy read because White tells a story that, as Howard Cosell used to say "tells it like it is". It flows and
seems to be written from the heart. He pretty much leaves no stone unturned, yet it is a book that does not try to get back at anyone, but tells of the accomplishments of a very proud and honorable man...and along the way the reader is privy to a lot of interesting inside stories.
He seems to be the kind of person you would enjoy sitting down with and discussing anything and everything with over a nice long dinner.Uppity: My Untold Story About The Games People Play Overview

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The Gashouse Gang: How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-from-Behind Bal Review

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The Gashouse Gang: How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-from-Behind Bal ReviewWhen I was a boy, I used to watch Dizzy Dean and Buddy Blatner (later, Peewee Reese) on the "Game of the Week" every Saturday afternoon. I remember Ol' Diz driving the English teachers crazy with his fractured English.
The Ol' Diz in Heidenry's book isn't quite so loveable. He went on strike in the middle of the 1934 season, demanding a larger salary for him and his brother Paul; he was a braggart, and he laughed at Hank Greenberg's futility against his pitches in the World Series. I find that last example rather hard to believe since a hitter can always drag bunt and take it out on the pitcher at first base.
The title of Heidenry's book is somewhat misleading. Most of the book is about Dizzy, I would imagine because Heidenry had the most information about him and because Diz was the most colorful of the Gashouse Gang. Heidenry refers to Ducky Medwick as a solitary loaner who picked fights with his fellow Cardinals, but the only evidence he gives us is a fight with Paul Dean that Dean started. The second most talked about player is Leo Durocher. Heidenry details his many marriages, his pool hustling, and his bench jockeying capabilities, but there's not that much detail. Heidenry limits himself, for the most part, to play-by-play, especially in respect to the 1934 World Series. About the most interesting segment was Heidenry's explanation of how the Gashouse Gang got its name. Apparently they were named after a New York street gang from the gashouse district of New York, an especially depressed area of the city. They were generally unshaven and their uniforms were dirty and in need of repair.
We also get a brief look at Dizzy's childhood as a sharecropper and his time spent in the Army, which helped him get onto a semi-pro team, which in turn led to an eventual contract with the Cardinals. Dizzy also had an older brother named Elmer, whom Branch Rickey gave a job as a peanut vender at Sportsman's Park. Dizzy and his wife Pat were embarrassed and demanded an office job for Elmer. Rickey wouldn't relent and Elmer wound up back in Arkansas.
The epilogue also leaves quite a bit to be desired. Heidenry tells us Dizzy only had four good years in the majors because he got hurt, but he doesn't tell us how. Legend has it he was hit in the foot by a come backer, broke his toe, and came back too soon, damaging his arm. Heidenry also leaves out the beaning incident that ruined Ducky Medwick's career. He was able to play but he was never the same player.
If you're a baseball fan, there's enough in THE GASHOUSE GANG to keep you turning pages. There's an occasional tidbit I didn't know, such as the beaning Dizzy took when he tried to take out the second baseman during the World Series. That's where the famous quote, "They ex-rayed my head, but there was nothing there," came from. Heidenry also provides a bibliography that may provide some answers. Try St. Louis sportswriter J. Roy Stockton's THE GASHOUSE GANG AND A COUPLE OF OTHER GUYS. It was published in 1945, and Stockton was actually alive to see the Gashouse Gang play.
The Gashouse Gang: How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-from-Behind Bal Overview

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