Review of "1978"

Continuing with the posting of baseball book reviews to start the 2025 season, this was an enjoyable read about the 1978 season.  It was much better reading than watching my team start the season 0-3!  Hopefully they turn it around soon - meanwhile, here is my review of this book. 

Title/Author:

“1978: Baseball and America in the Disco Era” by David Krell

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

In 1978, baseball and the social culture of the United States were both undergoing significant changes.  In social circles, disco was the most popular genre of music, there were actions taken to advance the causes of feminism (one of which involved baseball, allowing female sportswriters access to baseball locker rooms), and many movies and television shows showcasing new talent. 

In baseball, however, the change really brought something that was not so new – the two best teams in 1978 were the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Like the previous year and many times in previous decades, they faced each other in the World Series.  This book by David Krell examines the paths the two teams took to get there and also takes readers into the details of many popular movies, television shows, musical artists and some social issues as well.

Krell never gets too deep into any one topic, not even the baseball as many of the stories told about the Yankees, Dodgers or other teams are never too lengthy – they are just long enough to get the message across about what were the results.  A great example of this is how the Yankees won the American League East division over their rivals, the Boston Red Sox (another team that has a good amount of coverage).  While the chapter on September (there’s a chapter for each month) mentions the “Boston Massacre” when the Yankees swept a four game series at Fenway Park to complete a comeback from 14 ½ games behind the Red Sox, there is little else about this comeback save for the first story in October about the tie-breaking game played by the two teams.  

For other subjects, it’s the same style.  Whether talking about a new comic genius named Robin Williams appearing on “Happy Days” as Mork from Ork, movies such as “Grease” or news events such as the assassination in San Francisco of supervisor Harvey Milk and George Moscone, Krell has the same style – enough coverage for the reader to understand the story, but not too much detail where the reader may lose interest.  This is especially important to readers who experienced these events as they will bring back memories and maybe even add something they did not recall.  The book’s style certainly would appeal to these readers who lived through that baseball season.

While not completely about the 1978 baseball season, this book is nonetheless an enjoyable and quick read for fans of the game in that time – the beginning of free agency, the re-emergence of the Yankee-Dodger rivalry and some other events that made that season memorable for many fans.

I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.

Link: 1978: Baseball and America in the Disco Era: Krell, David: 9781496239600: Amazon.com: Books