Train rides to the ballpark, in this case Citi Field, often result in plenty of reading time for baseball books. That was the case for this one as I finally had the time needed to fully immerse myself in the book as it requires careful reading but is worth the time to do so. Here is my review of "Red Barber"
Title/Author: “Red
Barber: The Life and Legacy of a Broadcast Legend” by Judith Hiltner and James
Walker
Rating: 5 of 5 stars (excellent)
Review: In the
1940’s and 1950’s when baseball was at the height of its popularity in New York
City, people associated with the city’s three teams were celebrated as much as
anyone else. Red Barber, who was the play-by-play
commentator for the Brooklyn Dodgers through a good portion of this “Golden Age”
of New York baseball, was one of those people. He not only had a good career in
broadcasting, but he also had an interesting life outside baseball and his
complete biography has been written by Judith Hiltner and James Walker.
No matter what part of Barber’s life interests a reader,
painstaking detail went into writing about what shaped Barber into the person
that he would become during that time. It starts with his upbringing in the
southern United States. Born in
Columbus, Mississippi and later moving to Sanford, Florida, Barber saw how Black
people were held to different standards than white people and it would later shape
his professional career when Jackie Robinson became the first Black player in
modern Major League Baseball.
From his upbringing, the book shifts to his broadcasting
career and the values that he brought to the broadcasting booth. Barber always felt that he was more of a
reporter whose objective was to tell the listeners what was happening on the
field more than anything else. This was his style whether he was doing work for
the Cincinnati Reds, his first job with a Major League Club, the Dodgers, or
later for the New York Yankees. His ending
with the latter two teams were both painful and he was not happy with the
ownership teams at the time of his departure.
Through it all, the book reads very well as the reader will
learn much about Barber the broadcaster.
One of the better sections on this time in his life was how his
catchphrase “sitting in the catbird seat.”
The book also talks about what he did to promote not only baseball, but
other worthy endeavors. Blood donation during
World War II was a passionate cause for Barber – just one of many examples of
how the authors brought the complete picture of Barber into view for readers.
This is also true for Barber’s life outside of baseball,
whether his personal life or his other endeavors. The latter included shows on National Public
Radio (NPR) and writing books, most notably on the thrilling 1947 World Series. The former takes a very detailed look at not
only his long marriage to his wife Lylah, but also how he and Lylah reacted
when their only child, Sarah, came out as gay.
Again, just two examples of the painstaking detail and complete research
that the authors of this book did to give the reader one of the best looks into
the life of one of the most legendary baseball broadcasters.
Barber’s full name was Walter Lanier Barber and the start
of the prologue of the book is a great way to summarize the scope of the book,
this review and Red’s life. There are “three
consistent threads of Barber’s personality with his name: Walter, the ambitious achiever; Lanier,
the humanist; and Red, the lively performer.”
I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing
a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
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