This is a book about the early days of baseballIt is a book about what it was like and how it felt to be a baseball player at the turn of the century and tin the decades shortly thereafter.
At least that way my intent when I bean working on the book five years and 75,000 miles ago. But now that it has been completed, I am not so sure..
Description:
I grew up collecting baseball cards, listening to my hometown team on the radio, and reading biographies of the great players from past ages: Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, Lou Gehrig, Yogi Berra, and many, many more.
I seemed to be fascinated by baseball historic figures, especially in the eras in the glory days of the early 1900s through the 1930s. I particularly loved trivia books with oddities that occurred during games as recounted by the players themselves: the batter who held a match over his head in a darkening game "so Bob Feller could see him;" the pitcher who tossed a complete nine inning no-hitter, then lost; Ted Williams when he hit a home run in his very last at bat; Home Run Baker who hit a high of 12 homers in one season; etc, etc. etc.
You can imagine my joy when I discovered Lawrence Ritter's The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It. Here is a book with narratives from the greatest players from the late 1800s and early 1900s: Wahoo Sam Crawford, Rube Marquard, Smokey Joe Wood, Chief Meyers, Wee Willie Keeler, Three-Fingered Brown, Dummy Taylor, Greasy Neale, Specs Toporcer, Babe Herman (I had his son as my high school math teacher!), Goose Goslin, Hank Greenberg, and Big Poison Paul Waner.
Just the nicknames alone are enough to tickle the curiosity of even a passing fan. To read their recollections in their own uniquely-colored words is breath-taking,. Their descriptive language range from college graduate diction to forgotten colloquialisms offered by those who left school before the sixth grade.
They tell of a wide range of topics: the dead ball era where all homer were inside-the-park; trying to hit spit balls, licorice balls, shine and emery balls which became almost immediately blackened and difficult to see (only 6 or 7 balls were used in a game compared with 60-70 balls nowadays). No wonder they choked way up on huge 48 oz. bats, just trying to make contact and poke out hits rather than trying to swing from their heels.
Here's just a random sampling of the personalities and the stories:
I could go on and on. Here are primary source stories of playing with balls of tape, gas lamps and cinders in team train cars, taking up collections from fans to meet expenses, riding to the ballpark in a horse-drawn bus. These men comfortably narrate their memories in their unique voices, the ups and downs they experienced trying to make a living playing the game they love next to respected teammates and hated rivals.
There is a deep-felt passion for the game, the players and managers, and intricacies of daily life on and off the field that comes across on every page of their narratives. For any lover of baseball or a bygone era of the turn of the century sports, The Glory of Their Times is a peak into this world by the men who lived it. Highly recommended.
I seemed to be fascinated by baseball historic figures, especially in the eras in the glory days of the early 1900s through the 1930s. I particularly loved trivia books with oddities that occurred during games as recounted by the players themselves: the batter who held a match over his head in a darkening game "so Bob Feller could see him;" the pitcher who tossed a complete nine inning no-hitter, then lost; Ted Williams when he hit a home run in his very last at bat; Home Run Baker who hit a high of 12 homers in one season; etc, etc. etc.
You can imagine my joy when I discovered Lawrence Ritter's The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It. Here is a book with narratives from the greatest players from the late 1800s and early 1900s: Wahoo Sam Crawford, Rube Marquard, Smokey Joe Wood, Chief Meyers, Wee Willie Keeler, Three-Fingered Brown, Dummy Taylor, Greasy Neale, Specs Toporcer, Babe Herman (I had his son as my high school math teacher!), Goose Goslin, Hank Greenberg, and Big Poison Paul Waner.
Just the nicknames alone are enough to tickle the curiosity of even a passing fan. To read their recollections in their own uniquely-colored words is breath-taking,. Their descriptive language range from college graduate diction to forgotten colloquialisms offered by those who left school before the sixth grade.
They tell of a wide range of topics: the dead ball era where all homer were inside-the-park; trying to hit spit balls, licorice balls, shine and emery balls which became almost immediately blackened and difficult to see (only 6 or 7 balls were used in a game compared with 60-70 balls nowadays). No wonder they choked way up on huge 48 oz. bats, just trying to make contact and poke out hits rather than trying to swing from their heels.
Here's just a random sampling of the personalities and the stories:
- Rube Marquard (pitcher) - after jumping trains, walking, and hitching rides to get to a tryout at age 16, he told his father he signed a contract to become a professional ball player (a disreputable profession in 1907). His father said "You're breaking my heart, and I don't ever want to see you again;"
- Specs Toporcer (second base) - Earned 50 cents a week in 1912 posting running scores on a chalkboard at a corner saloon using the Western Union ticker tape and a blackboard. He later had four operations on his eyes that made him lay completely still in bed for 30 days after each operation, but all failed and he went completely blind.
- Big Ed Delahanty (outfield) - first player to hit four homers in a game and also 6 hits in another game. He stepped off his team train that had stopped before crossing a suspension bridge over Niagara Falls and somehow fell to his death into the water;
- Walter Johnson (pitcher) - threw 56 consecutive scoreless innings and was virtually unhittable with his fastball, the best pitch ever thrown according to these players;
- Fred Snodgrass (outfield) - the truth behind the famous play where he neglected to touch second base and lost a World Series game;
- Luther "Dummy" Taylor (pitcher) - taught everyone on his team sign language so he could become a full-fledged member of the team. Also caused umpires to physically signal balls and strikes and safe/out with their arms so he could understand the calls;
- Harry "Giant Killer" Coveleski (pitcher) - spitball-pitcher who won three games in a single week to knock the Giants out of the 1908 pennant race;
- Smokey Joe Wood (pitcher) - started his career as a Bloomer Girl masquerading as a woman on an "all-female" traveling team, as did several other male players (in wigs and skirts);
- Lefty O'Doul (pitcher, outfield) - hit a lifetime.349, fourth best all time, but when he led the National League in hitting in 1932 with a .368 average, his salary was cut $1,000 from his original $8,000;
- Christy Mathewson (pitcher) - pitched 68 consecutive innings without walking a man in 1913 and only walked 25 for the entire year;
- Grover Cleveland Alexander (pitcher) - pitched 16 shutouts in 1916 and won 30 games three years in a row - and probably would have won more had he not been an alcoholic;
- Bob Feller (pitcher) - one of the greatest fastballers ever, was so wild early in his career that batters feared to step up to the plate, especially after Feller, a righty, accidentally threw a smoking pitch behind a left-handed batter;
- Paul Waner (outfield) - got 6 hits in one game using six different, randomly selected bats just on a whim that seemed to be lucky for that day (it didn't work the next game, though)..
There is a deep-felt passion for the game, the players and managers, and intricacies of daily life on and off the field that comes across on every page of their narratives. For any lover of baseball or a bygone era of the turn of the century sports, The Glory of Their Times is a peak into this world by the men who lived it. Highly recommended.
If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
Parry, Danny. We Played the Game: Memoirs of Baseball's Greatest Era
More wonderful recollections from Hall of Fame baseball players from the years 1947 - 1964, including Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Roger Maris, Yogi Berra, and many, many more.
Tye, Larry. Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend
One of the best, most painstakingly researched biographies of a baseball player ever. Paige, the irrepressible fast-ball pitcher lived during the Negro League days, jumping from team to team, year after year, living the flamboyant life, naming his different fastballs with peculiar monikers, and striking out everyone who faced him. Fantastically entertaining reading.
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