TBR Tuesday - Review of "The Machine"

This book, while not on my list of books that I have purchased, has been on my list of books that I wanted to read for awhile.  When it was published in 2009, long before I started reviewing books, I did make a mental note to pick this one up.  Between the usual forgetfulness, everyday life and the passage of time, I had forgotten about it until the baseball book group on Goodreads talked about this one.  Then with a sudden bout of memory, I did recall wanting to pick this up.  So I took the walk to my library and I was able to borrow a copy.  I am glad that the guys and gals at the Goodreads group mentioned it because it was well worth the wait.  Here is my review of "The Machine"

Title/Author:

“The Machine” by Joe Posnanski

Tags:

Baseball, history, Reds

Publish date:

September 15, 2009

Length:

302 pages

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (outstanding)

Review:

During the mid-1970’s, the Cincinnati Reds, nicknamed “The Big Red Machine”, were one of the best teams in baseball, winning four National League titles between 1970 and 1976, including back to back World Series titles in 1975 and 1976. The 1975 season stands out as it was considered to be the finest of them by this team and also had a memorable World Series victory over the Boston Red Sox. 

Stories of this 1975 team both on and off the field are woven together in this excellent book by Joe Posnanski.  Using in-depth interviews and extensive research, he not only recaps the baseball season for the Reds that year, but brings the reader into the minds of many of the stars of that team. These include Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez and manager George “Sparky” Anderson.

There are some items about the team that may come as a surprise to the reader who was not familiar with the team. One such nuance is that Anderson had a caste system in place and readily stated it to the players and the media. He did play favorites with the stars of the team such as Rose, Morgan and Perez. If a player wasn’t in this category, then he had better do exactly what the manager wants or he will not be happy.  This was very much the case for the third baseman that started the season with the team, John Vukovich.  He was the weak link on the team in Anderson’s eyes and was demoted from the team when it was struggling the first two months. 

The team caught fire after this when Anderson made out his lineup card on July 4 and from that point, the Reds were the best team in baseball.  That is a fitting analogy for the book as a whole, as the stories of the players and their personalities and how they interacted with one another were terrific. Some of the baseball history written may be a little dry for some readers, but it makes for a nice balance and is mingled with the personal stories in an easy-to-read manner. 

What set this book apart from most books on a particular team or season was how Posnanski was able to capture the inner spirit and feelings of the players. There were several passages about the turmoil Johnny Bench was having with an injury and his troubled marriage after only a few months.  The playful insults hurled at each other provided comic relief, especially when Morgan and Rose would be hurling insults as Tony (Big Dog or Doggie) Perez. There were even poignant moments. One especially telling passage was when the author interviewed Morgan at the funeral of owner Dick Howsam.  Morgan spoke about Howsam and the team he assembled, saying that “I don’t think there will ever be a team like us. We cared about each other. We still care about each other.” Posnanski then penned “He (Morgan) looked around the room. He was the only member of the Big Red Machine there.”

This is an excellent book that anyone who likes baseball and wants to learn more about The Big Red Machine should include in his or her baseball library.   

Did I skim?

No

Pace of the book: 

This book read very quickly as the good mix of player stories, news of the time and the baseball blended very well. 

Do I recommend? 

Baseball fans, especially Reds fans, will want to pick this one up if they have not already done so as it paints a wonderful picture of one of the best teams in modern baseball history.

Book Format Read:

Hardcover

Buying links:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/machine-joe-posnanski/1103237922?ean=9780061582554

http://www.amazon.com/Machine-Joe-Posnanski-ebook/dp/B002MZUPYM/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1434902671&sr=8-1&keywords=the+machine+a+hot+team&pebp=1434902677410&perid=1TDY969V07RRGX3XBD86  

TBR Tuesday - Review of "Blue Mondays"

I attended the last game in Montreal Expos history, when they played the New York Mets on the last day of the 2004 baseball season.  I have been interested in the team history for a long time, and last year, I found this short book for a decent price that I thought would be a gem.  I put off reading it as I got to other books provided by authors and decided to go back to this one for a TBR Tuesday post.  It didn't turn out to be as good as I hoped.  Here is my review of "Blue Mondays." 

Title/Author:

“Blue Mondays: The Long Goodbye of the Montreal Expos” by Jeff Stuart

Tags:

Baseball, history, Expos

Publish date:

November 10, 2010

Length:

134 pages

Rating: 

2 of 5 stars (disappointing)

Review:

While I waited a long time between purchasing this book and actually reading it, I should have waited or better yet, I should have looked for a different book on reading about the demise of the Montreal Expos. This fairly short book will not only take the reader game-by-game into the last season the franchise was in Montreal (2004), but also gives a brief history of the entire history of the team, including some pictures of the old Jarry Park.

For having been published for awhile, I found the book fraught with editing errors and a few factual ones as well, such as stating that Josh Beckett was the 2002 World Series MVP for the Florida Marlins (it was actually 2003, as the Marlins were not in the 2002 World Series).  Often scores of games would be stated without a hyphen (“54” instead of “5-4”) and whenever a monetary figure was stated, there was no dollar sign or the word “dollars” in the statement, just a numeral like “two million.”  These took away from the reading experience.

Also, the recap of the 2004 season itself was a disappointment to me.  I wanted to read about anecdotes, stories, how fans and players felt about the team leaving Canada, and other such writing.  Instead, it was mostly a recap of every game played written in a manner that is like the one or two paragraph game recaps printed in the morning newspaper.  That was certainly not the type of book I expected.

One positive, though, was the story of the last game ever played in Montreal (the longest story in the book) and also the recap of their final three games played in New York.  While those were the types of chapters I was hoping to read, they came far too late and there were far too few of them.

For all these reasons, I would recommend to readers that are looking for books on the Montreal Expos to search elsewhere.

Did I skim?

No

Pace of the book: 

Fortunately, this one was pretty quick.  Even though I wasn’t enjoying the book, I did want to read the entire book so I could give a complete review – and hopefully find a golden nugget or two along the way.  The last sections were okay and that is the closest to good reading I found..

Do I recommend? 

If readers want to learn about the Montreal Expos, both the entire team history and their final years, it is best to skip this book and look elsewhere

Book Format Read:

E-book (Nook)

Buying links:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blue-mondays-jeff-stuart/1120367692?ean=2940150430471  

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Mondays-Goodbye-Montreal-Expos/dp/160474295X/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1433241114&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=blue+mondays+expos

TBR Tuesday - Review of "My $50,000 Year at the Races"

This book was offered as a freebie for my Nook a LONG time ago - sometime in 2012 I think - and I never got around to reading it.  But that means it is the perfect book for TBR Tuesday - and it wasn't too long either.  Here is my review of "My $50,000 year at the Races."

Title/Author:

“My $50,000 Year at the Races” by Andrew Beyer

Tags:

Horse Racing, memoir, handicapping, gambling

Published:

April 1, 1980

Length:

163 pages

Stars: 

3 1/2 of 5 stars (good)

Review:

Andrew Beyer was already established as a respected writer on horse racing and on handicapping the sport in order to have regular success on betting.  During the 1977 racing season, he had a very good year and chronicles this season in this book that was originally published in 1980.

Beyer highlights his successes and failures at four tracks – Gulfstream Park in Florida, Pimlico in Maryland, Saratoga in upstate New York and Berkshire Fair in Massachusetts.  During his tales at each venue, Beyer talks about the methods he used to bet, what was working at the time and what wasn’t, and also how inside information is crucial to being able to win consistently.  This is not just from reading the daily racing programs, but also obtaining whatever information can be received from trainers, jockeys and owner.  He also talks about different methods of studying and analyzing statistics such as the times for each horse at different distances. 

However, this book is not simply a manual, a how-to book or one that promises to make someone rich by betting on the horses.  This is a memoir and recounting of that magical year of 1977 for Beyer when he was able to earn a nice wage for an entire year (keep in mind this is in 1977 and he earned over $50,000).  He spins tales of his interactions with various people, including a “kid” who was learning how to hone his handicapping skills.  The book is entertaining as a whole, and those readers who are horse racing fans or bettors will especially appreciate these stories. For readers like me who are not as invested in this type of gambling, it is still worth the time to read as it is fairly short, entertaining and some of the tricks Beyer uses are explained in layman’s terms.  If a reader is looking for a change of pace that will be a fairly quick read, this will do the trick.

Pace of the book:

As someone who does not bet on horse racing regularly, I found parts of the book a little slower to read, but the overall story of Beyer’s season is a good read.

Do I recommend?

I would recommend this book to anyone who is seriously considering trying to improve his or her success on betting at the track. The author mentions regularly throughout the book that this is not a how-to manual but instead a compilation of recording and sharing his success in 1977.  That advice should be taken and the book read as a story, not a manual.

Book Format Read:

Ebook (Nook)

Buying Links:

http://www.amazon.com/000-Year-Races-Harvest-Book-ebook/dp/B005IQ2OQ4/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1428942295&sr=1-1&keywords=50000+year+races

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-50000-year-at-the-races-andrew-beyer/1000738704?ean=9780547839783

TBR Tuesday - Review of "The Greatest Game Ever Pitched"

Continuing to slowly whittle away at the large pile of older books I have yet to read, I picked this one that I have had in my Nook library since 2012.  Just from the title, I was anxious to read this, as a good pitching duel is my favorite type of baseball game.  Here is my review of "The Greatest Game Ever Pitched."

Title/Author:

“The Greatest Game Ever Pitched: Juan Marichal, Warren Spahn and the Pitching Duel of the Century” by Jim Kaplan

Tags:

Baseball, history, Giants, Braves

Published:

February 1, 2011

Length:

256 pages

Stars: 

3 of 5 stars (okay)

Review:

On July 2, 1963 two future Hall of Fame pitchers, Juan Marichal of the San Francisco Giants and Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves, took the mound at Candlestick Park in San Francisco for a regular season matchup that would become a historic game for many reasons.  Sixteen innings later, the Giants won the game 1-0 on a Willie Mays homer – hit off of Spahn.  He and Marichal pitched all 16 innings, each throwing over 200 innings.  There has not been a pitching duel quite like this before or after.  Given the status of pitchers in today’s game with relief specialists and pitch counts for starters, it is very unlikely we will see another game like this again.

Given this synopsis, I was very interested to read about such a historic game.  The accounts of the game are woven into a duel biography of both pitchers.  The information on Spahn and Marichal, while well-written, was not terribly in-depth as there are more complete biographies for both pitchers, as well as books on Marichal’s famous incident with Dodgers catcher John Roseboro.  In this book, Kaplan gives it some attention, but not as much as other books. 

There are also stories interwoven throughout the book about other famous games that featured great pitching performances on both teams, including game 7 of the 1991 World Series, a double no-hitter in 1917 and Harvey Haddix throwing 12 perfect innings in 1959 only to lose the game in the 13^th inning.

While these and the biographies were interesting and showed good writing and research, I felt they took away from the main theme of the book and that was the terrific game on July 2, 1963.  There were times I had to go back to a previous chapter because there were long stretches between mention of the game accounts and what Spahn and Marichal did to get this far.  I don’t think it was a totally bad read, but I would have liked to have seen these each have their own section instead of interwoven like they were.  Especially the other game accounts – those would have been better listed after the main book in an addendum or appendix.  As a result, this book was at best three stars since it wasn’t a nice clean read. It did have good writing and as such, it doesn’t deserve an overall negative rating, but I believe it could have been organized better.  

Pace of the book:

Because of the jumping between the game, biographical information on the pitchers and the frequent stories of other pitching duels in baseball history, I felt that it was a slow read.  Had these all been placed in separate sections, I believe the flow of the book would have been much better.

Do I recommend?

Baseball fans who want to learn more about this game and its significance might want to read this.  Also those who want to learn more about the two pitchers, although there are more complete biographies on both of them available. 

Book Format Read:

Ebook (Nook)

Buying Links:

http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Game-Ever-Pitched-Marichal-ebook/dp/B00795X6ZK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427822626&sr=1-1&keywords=greatest+game+ever+pitched  

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/greatest-game-ever-pitched-jim-kaplan/1100409764?ean=9781600788215

TBR Tuesday - Short review of "The Game"

If you are an avid reader like me, you probably have a lot of books either on your bookshelf or on your e-reader that have been sitting there a long time as you collect even more books.  We call that the TBR, or to-be-read, pile.   A fellow book blogger (http://deesbookblog.com/) came up with an idea to reduce this pile by creating "TBR Tuesday" in which she would review a book that has been on her TBR pile for at least one year and post that on Tuesday.  I decided to do the same thing with some of the book on my TBR list.  These reviews will be shorter, and not always contain all the information in my usual reviews, but it is still a great way to find some of those older books and finally get around to read them.

For my first TBR Tuesday review, this is one that I picked up way back in 2009, when I first recieved my Kindle. I explain the circumstances in the review why I took so long, but considering Jack London is one of my favorite all-time authors, it was worth the wait.  Here is my review of his short story about a boxer, "The Game"

Title/Author:

“The Game” by Jack London

Published:

1913

Rating:

5 of 5 stars (Outstanding)

Review:

I stumbled across this book by accident as Jack London is one of my favorite classic authors and I have read “Call of the Wild” multiple times.  When I received my first Kindle and saw that book was available, I jumped on the chance to pick it up.  However, I also saw that London also wrote a novella titled “The Game” about boxing.  Well, never one to miss the chance to pick up a free book on sports and add the fact that one of my favorite authors wrote it, I picked that up too. Then it sat in the TBR pile for almost 6 years until I decided to reduce this list of books. 

Originally published in 1913, this is a tale of a boxer named Joe who loves his job as a boxer.  He loves the competition in the ring and doesn’t ever stray from that.  Until the night his fiancée Genevieve attends one of his matches. She has loved Joe from the start, but never felt comfortable with his chosen profession. Nevertheless, she goes to his latest bout and the story of what both of them are feeling is a terrific short story. 

The boxing passages are well-written as London gets into the mind of the fighter.  That is why I enjoy books on the “sweet science”, whether fiction or non-fiction.  Good boxing writers will tell about a boxer’s mind and spirit and London does that well for Joe.  It doesn’t stop there, however, as Genevieve is also portrayed as a loyal and loving woman. The portion of the book that tells how they meet and fell in love is a passage any romance reader would enjoy. 

This is a wonderful story of two people in love and yet in deep conflict at the same time.  The language is appropriate for the early 20^th century and is one that I would recommend to any reader.  It is a wonder addition to London’s more well-known works.