Title/Author:
“Ten Innings at Wrigley: the Wildest
Ballgame Ever, with Baseball on the Brink” by Kevin Cook
Tags:
Baseball, history, Cubs, Phillies
Publish date:
May 7, 2019
Length:
272 pages
Rating:
5 of 5 stars (outstanding)
Review:
On May 17, 1979, the Chicago Cubs and
the Philadelphia Phillies played one of the biggest slugfests in the history of
the game, with the Phillies winning the game 23-22 in ten innings. The two teams combined for thirteen runs in
the first inning (Phillies 7, Cubs 6) and the Cubs came back from a 12 run deficit
(21-9) only to lose the game in extra innings.
This game, along with some history and follow-up stories on some of the
players in that game, is shared in this very entertaining book by Kevin Cook.
The actual events of the game make up
the bulk of the book, but Cook sandwiches the inning-by-inning description by
first giving the reader a background history check on the two teams involved
and finishes the book with stories about key players such as the Cubs’ Dave Kingman
(who homered three times in the game) and Donnie Moore and the Phillies’ Bob
Boone and Tug McGraw.
These players are featured in the
post-game writing but what is truly impressive about this book is that EVERY
player who made an appearance in this game gets his just due. Of course, there is more coverage of players
who had a great game hitting (or had a terrible game on the mound) but no
matter what contribution that player made to the historic game, Cook made sure
to mention him. The reader will also get a true feeling of what it was like to
see a game at Wrigley at that time – all day games, plenty of empty seats as
Wrigley was less than half full on that Thursday afternoon, people waiting in
the street on Waveland Avenue for home runs, fans camped on the rooftops - it’s
all there and is a terrific trip back in time for readers who remember when
only day games were played at Wrigley.
While the brief histories of the teams
before the chapters on the game are enjoyable to read, the stories on some of the
players following the game are even better.
What is really interesting is how intertwined the stories of that game
became and Cook’s reference to them. For
example, it was interesting to read about how two Cubs teammates in that game,
Donnie Moore and Bill Buckner, ended up crossing paths on different teams in
the 1986 American League Championship Series.
Most baseball fans know what happened to both men after that season, so
I won’t rehash it here, but Cook’s prose will leave the reader emotionally
spent when reading about them, especially Moore.
Any reader who is a fan of baseball of
that era, a Cubs fan or a Phillies fan, this book must be added to his or her
library. With rich detail and a knack
for easy-to-read prose, Kevin Cook has written another excellent baseball
book. It is certainly one that will stay
in my library and will be pulled out when I want to remember the first Cubs
game I saw on that relatively new industry called cable television.
I wish to thank Henry Holt and Company
for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest
review.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)
Buying Links:
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