Review of "Five Seasons"

Baseball book readers need no reminder or yet another review to tell them how good a baseball author Roger Angell is.  I just completed another of his books and while there have been scores of reviews written about this collection of essays since its first publication in 1977, I would be remiss not to contribute my thoughts as well.  Here is my review of "Five Seasons." 

Title/Author:

“Five Seasons: A Baseball Companion” by Roger Angell

Tags:

Baseball, professional, essays, classic

Publish date:

May 15, 1977

Length:

413 pages

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (Outstanding)

Review:

Frankly, another review of a book in which the topic is baseball and the author is Roger Angell cannot either a) do justice to the book or b) say anything that hasn’t already been said.  This collection of baseball essays from his days of writing for the New Yorker covers the time period of the 1972 -1976 seasons.

During this time frame, anything a reader can think of is covered.  Scouting?  Yes, a wonderful conversation with a long-time scout for the then-California Angels is retold. Business? Between the strike over player pension funds in 1972 (the first strike by the fairly new Major League Baseball Players Union) and the lockout during spring training in 1976, that’s covered.  Fans?  One wonderful chapter on three lifelong Detroit Tigers fans will have the reader both laughing and crying. 

Of course, there’s plenty about the game on the field as well.  Readers who were fans of the game at that time will enjoy reading about all of the star players.  Everyone from Hank Aaron to Joe Morgan is mentioned as well as the best teams of that era – the Oakland A’s who won the World Series three consecutive seasons, the Big Red Machine otherwise known as the Cincinnati Red and the resurgence of the New York Yankees.  Being a New Yorker, Angell also writes passionately about the New York Mets, which makes for some of the best reading in the book.

This review just scratches the surface of describing how much a baseball fan will enjoy this book, whether or not he or she was a fan of this period of baseball. Angell is an author whose books simply must be read by all baseball fans, no matter their age or team loyalties. Those who have read anything by him know what I mean – those that haven’t, this is one to pick up to get a glimpse into the immense talent he has for writing about the American Pastime.

Book Format Read:

E-book (Kindle)

Buying Links:

https://www.amazon.com/5-Seasons-Roger-angell/dp/0671227432/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1532876031&sr=1-1