This book is not one that was on my radar, was not one that I requested nor did I receive a request to review. It was one that was just sent by the publisher when I requested an ARC of a different book. I am glad this one was thrown in, as it turned out to be better than I expected.
Title/Author:
“Suds Series: Baseball, Beer Wars and the Summer of ‘82” by J. Daniel
Rating:
4 of 5 stars (very good)
Review: The 1982 baseball season had some interesting twists and turns. There were the usual player movements, especially when free agency was still relatively new. This was the first season after a disastrous player strike that wiped out about a third of the 1981 season. There were ups and downs for all teams, some managerial firings and an exciting postseason, capped off by the St. Louis Cardinals downing the Milwaukee Brewers in 7 games. This book by J. Daniel recaps that season.
The book has some characteristics that are typical of books that review one particular season and also has some that are different. Like many other books on one year in baseball, the teams that received the most pages of text were those that were the most successful on the field. There was a lot of good material on teams like the California Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Philadelphia Phillies. The first two were also in the postseason during 1982 and the third was battling the Cardinals to the wire for the National League East title.
However, what I did like about this is that these were not the only teams covered – all 26 teams in MLB that year were covered. Even the one team with more than 100 losses, the Minnesota Twins, has some coverage. This was helped because they were the one team who played in a brand-new stadium that year. But the comings and goings of all teams were covered throughout the season in chapters broken up by month. Then comes October and a complete review of the postseason games and series.
The other commonality for this book with others is the frequent pop culture references at the time, which are great for those who were experiencing them at the time. Of course, since the subtitle references it, beer is a frequent topic as well. It only makes sense given the two World Series participants had connections to beer.
The one drawback for the book was the lack of
personal interviews. Just from the sheer
number of endnotes, it is clear that Daniel did extensive research to compose
the book. There are quotes from players,
managers and others in the game liberally spread throughout the book. These came from news articles and while good
to show viewpoints from those involved in the sport, it just didn’t have that insight
that actual interviews will bring.
While at times, probably because of this, the book reads like one very long
news recap of the season, it is a fine book for fans of the sport from this
time period. One doesn’t have to be a
fan of the Cardinals or Brewers to enjoy the book. I am one – even though I am a Twins fan and
1982 was one of the worst seasons in their history, I thought the book was very
good and well worth the time to read.
I wish to thank University of Missouri Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
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