Title/Author:
“Hairs Vs. Squares:
The Mustache Gang, the Big Red Machine and the Tumultuous Summer of ‘72” by Ed
Gruver
Tags:
Baseball, history, Athletics,
Reds, Pirates, Tigers
Publish date:
May 1, 2016
Length:
408 pages
Rating:
4 of 5 stars (very good)
Review:
1972 was a year filled with many newsworthy events in sports,
politics, culture and music. The baseball season that year mirrored the rest of
the world with its unusual course. From the first player’s strike that wiped
out the first two weeks of the season to an exciting postseason that was capped
off by the closest World Series in history, the 1972 baseball season is
captured in this book by Ed Gruver
The best analogy for the book is that reading this book is like
watching a ball game that looks like it will be a good one because of the
starting pitchers, it starts out to not live up to expectations, but gets
better in the late innings, capped off by a great finish.
When I saw this book offered for review, the subject really excited me as this was the start of the dynasty of one of the best teams outside of New York in baseball history. This was the year that the Oakland Athletics won the second of their five consecutive division titles and first of three consecutive World Series.
When I saw this book offered for review, the subject really excited me as this was the start of the dynasty of one of the best teams outside of New York in baseball history. This was the year that the Oakland Athletics won the second of their five consecutive division titles and first of three consecutive World Series.
After a great opening chapter, the writing in the book felt
choppy and hard to follow. For example, when the author was writing about the
strike that delayed the start of the 1972 season, the topics jumped all over
the place. At one point, there was more talk about the near-walkout by the
Pittsburgh Pirates in 1946 than there was about the 1972 strike issues. Still,
I kept reading as the research was good (although there was one notable error
about Dick Allen and the Phillies) and there was still a lot of material to
cover.
As the season wore on, the baseball and the reading got better.
Gruver’s account of that year’s all-star game was excellent. The excerpts from
the broadcast of the game added to his text.
This was something Gruver did regularly throughout the book – a nice
touch. Of course, most of the material covered the teams that ended up winning
their respective divisions – Oakland, Detroit, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. However, unlike many other books on baseball
seasons that I have read, Gruver covered notable achievements by players on
other teams that did not win the divisions. He mentions Nolan Ryan’s strikeouts
for the Angels, Rod Carew winning the batting title without hitting a home run
for the Twins, Steve Carlton winning 27 games for a last-place Phillies team, and even the Montreal Expos giving their fans some excitement
when Bill Stoneman threw a no-hitter.
But the best writing of the book and best baseball of 1972 was
the postseason. Both of the League Championship Series had great games and Gruver
covered those in good detail, including the bat throwing incident of game two
between the Athletics and Tigers. This part of the book and the season is
capped off by a thrilling seven game World Series between the Athletics and
Reds. That series featured six games decided by one run, including game seven. The
stories of these games were just as exciting to read about 44 years later as
they were to watch as an 11-year-old kid on TV that fall. If there was any doubt about this book’s
quality, that chapter alone made it worth the time to read. If a reader enjoys
books that recap a season, this one on the 1972 season is one that comes
recommended to add to the library.
I wish to thank the
University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for
an honest review.
Book Format Read:
Hardcover
Buying links
(pre-order at time of posting):
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