Review of "The Ultimate Cleveland Indians Time Machine"

Whether or not I am a fan of the team, it is always fun to read about the history of a sports team.  This is especially true of those teams who have had a long dry spell without a championship and the Cleveland Indians certainly fit that description right now.  This book captures some of the more memorable and crazy moments in the history of the team.  Here is my review of "The Ultimate Cleveland Indians Time Machine"

Title/Author:

“The Ultimate Cleveland Indians Time Machine Book” by Martin Gitlin

 

Tags:
Baseball, history, Indians

Publish date:

April 1, 2019

Length:

224 pages

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

As one of the charter teams of the American League, the Cleveland Indians have a long list of exciting seasons, interesting stories and wacky moments.  This book by veteran writer

Martin Gitlin relieves some of them in a fun, page turning book.

Most baseball fans know that currently the Indians have the longest title drought in major league baseball, having gone 70 years since their last championship in 1948.  That of course leads to many heartbreaks and frustrations for the team and its fans. I mention this because while the book certainly tries to remain upbeat, it was puzzling to me to see so many negative or embarrassing stories about the team.  Even when a season or player was successful, some part of the chapter was less than positive. 

 

One example of this was the chapter describing the 1920 season, one in which Cleveland won a thrilling pennant race over the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees and then they easily defeated the Brooklyn Robins (later the Dodgers) five games to two in the World Series.  However, what produced the most talk in that chapter was the death of Ray Chapman after being beaned by a Carl Mays pitch.  This story, like many others in the book, was described well in this book and if a reader wants to learn more, there are other books that go into greater detail about this and some of the other stories.

 

It should also be noted that the many seasons in which the team did well in the regular season and postseason only to fall short in the end are covered and a reader will feel either frustrated or sad, depending on the ending.  Many memorable eliminations from postseason are shared in the book – the demoralizing World Series defeats in 1995, 1997 and 2016 are all there, but told in a mostly positive tone as the wins are fondly remembered as well as the soul-crushing losses.

 

This isn’t to say that all is doom and gloom in the book.  Indeed, even some of the less-than-positive stories are told in either humor or good cheer.  One example of this is the story of “Super Joe” Charboneau, a one-season wonder who was the Rookie of the Year for the Indians in 1980 and never was a productive player in the major leagues again.  By the end of the chapter, the reader should be happy to learn that he has done well for himself after his baseball career flamed out.  These types of stories and that type of writing make the book a very fast read.

 

Indians fans will certainly want to add this book to their shelves as will any other fan who wants to relive highs and lows of the team.  It does include the absolute low, which came before the team was named the Indians. The first team described in the book is the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, who still hold the record for the worst winning percentage in baseball history. That does set a tone that at least doesn’t stay quite so sad.

 

I wish to thank Lyons Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

 

Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)

Buying Links:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1493040227/ref=x_gr_w_bb?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1493040227&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ultimate-cleveland-indians-time-machine-book-martin-gitlin/1129321192?ean=9781493040230#/