Review of "The Whiz Kids"

With summer winding down, I'm trying to catch up with copies of books sent to have reviews posted before the fall season of new publications.  Here is one that was sent that was a good look at the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies.

 

Title/Author:

“The Whiz Kids: How the 1950 Phillies Took the Pennant, Lost the World Series and Changed Philadelphia Baseball Forever” by Dennis Snelling

Rating: 

3 ½ of 5 stars (good)

Review:

Before 1950, the Philadelphia Phillies had not won a World Series and had only been to one other Series in 1915.  They certainly played second fiddle in their own city to the Athletics and Connie Mack who had 9 pennants and 5 championships under their belt.  But a surprise National League pennant in 1950 changed the perception of the team and this book by Dennis Snelling gives a good look at the team and at Philadelphia baseball history.

The book can be considered to have three separate sections.  The first third of the book deals with Philadelphia baseball prior to the mid 1940’s, primarily about the Phillies of course.  I found this section to have some good information but was somewhat dry.  Admittedly, I was getting antsy to read about their magical 1950 season, especially when Snelling would talk about members of that team in their performance before they gelled that year.

Then came a complete rundown of the 1950 season up to game 4 when the New York Yankees completed a four-game sweep of the Phillies.  From spring training to the last out, Snelling gives a thorough and excellent look at the team, their performance on the field and their chemistry and interactions during the season.  Far beyond focusing on the stars of the team like Robin Roberts and Curt Simmons, just about anything you wanted to know about the “Whiz Kids” are covered there.

The third part of the book then describes how baseball in Philadelphia changed after that 1950 season.  It started off by describing what each player, coach, manager and owner did during that off season.  Also covered is the departure of the Athletics to Kansas City, Connie Mack stepping down as manager and then further talk about Philadelphia baseball.  Much like the first section, I found the information good, but the reading fairly dry, especially when compared to the actual baseball talk in the second section.

Any Philadelphia baseball fan will enjoy this book, dry or not, as this will cover just about anything they will want to know about that team that is one of the most beloved teams that lost a World Series.

I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.

Link: The Whiz Kids: How the 1950 Phillies Took the Pennant, Lost the World Series, and Changed Philadelphia Baseball Forever: Snelling, Dennis: 9781496242686: Amazon.com: Books