Review of "The Original Six"

Okay, back to sports books.  With the NHL playoffs in full swing, I am watching more hockey than I did for most of the regular season (despite my favorite team, the Minnesota Wild, getting eliminated).  Most hockey fans know who the Original Six teams are, but many may not know their history during that time frame.  This book is a good look back at that era. 

Title/Author:

“The Original Six: How the Canadiens, Bruins, Rangers, Blackhawks, Maple Leafs, and Red Wings Laid the Groundwork for Today’s National Hockey League” by Lew Freedman

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

From 1942 to 1967, the National Hockey League consisted of six teams – Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs. While these six teams were not all part of the NHL when it was organized in 1917, these six were the franchises who were able to survive the chaos the league went through in World War II and created what many considered to be a golden age of hockey.  The history and most notable people for each team is chronicled in this book by Lew Freedman.

The format for each chapter is the same – the team’s history up to the 1966-67 season, stories about key players, front office staff and coaches during that time frame, and what the team has done since 1967.  That year is key because it was the year of the “Great Expansion” when the NHL doubled in size from 6 teams to 12.  If a player, coach or executive started their time with the team during the Original Six era but had most of his success after the Great Expansion, he will still warrant a mention in this book.

The depth of the stories depends on the star power of the person.  A player like Gordie Howe (Red Wings) or Maurice Richard (Canadiens) garnered a lot more ink in this book than someone like Camile Henry (Rangers) or Jimmy Thomson (Maple Leafs).  While that was to be expected, it was nice to see some not-so-well-known players get mentioned in this book. It’s especially nice to see this for readers like me to learn about these players who played for small salaries in a league that had limited exposure.

Each club in that era has a colorful history and Freeman does an admirable job of bringing that to life in this time of 32 NHL teams (although there were 30 at the time of the book’s publication in 2016.) Avid hockey fans like me always enjoy matchups of these teams and this book brings the colorful history of that era to life.

Link: Original Six: How the Canadiens, Bruins, Rangers, Blackhawks, Maple Leafs, and Red Wings Laid the Groundwork for Today's National Hockey League: Freedman, Lew: 9781613219492: Amazon.com: Books

Review of "The Texas Rangers and Me"

Keeping up with my personal policy of reading a book relevant to the sporting event I am attending, I read this book while on a bus trip to Yankee Stadium. I gave myself brownie points for not only reading a baseball book, but the subject was one of the teams I was seeing that night, the Texas Rangers.  I won't say the Rangers won that game because I enjoyed the book - but if one wants to believe so, go ahead!  Here is my review. 

Title/Author:

“The Texas Rangers and Me: A Baseball Writer’s Thirty-Two Years in Arlington” by T. R. Sullivan

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review: 

If a reader wants to get the inside scoop for their favorite baseball team, the best source of information would be one of the beat writers who cover the team regularly.  T.R. Sullivan was one of those writers for the Texas Rangers and his career covering the team is a good collection of his time performing that task.

Sullivan’s career covered a lot of ground for the history of the team, through the good times and the bad ones.  Players he highlights in the book could make up a Who’s Who of Texas Rangers history.  There is great information on stars who had great seasons with the Rangers.  These include Nolan Ryan, Michael Young, Adrian Beltre, Josh Hamilton and Alex Rodriguez.  Not only are their exploits on the field covered, but Sullivan also shares personal stories about interactions he had with them and for some, such as Rodriguez, how they ended up becoming Rangers.

The stories are not limited to the players. Sullivan also shares anecdotes on managers and front office leaders as well. The best of the managers during Sullivan’s time covering the team, Ron Washington, gets a great write up.  For front office staff, that honor would go to Jon Daniels.  It probably is no coincidence that these two individuals got this amount of text in the book as they were the field manager and general manager respectively when the Rangers won back-to-back American League pennants in 2010 and 2011.  Sullivan retired after the 2020 World Series (played in Arlington even though the teams were the Dodgers and the Rays) so he did not cover the first championship for Texas in 2023, but he did include his observations on that team as well.

Through these personal stories, Sullivan also takes the reader through the Rangers’ seasons, both good and bad.  He starts with an event where the Rangers were not playing – the 1989 World Series between the Athletics and Giants and the earthquake in San Francisco that interrupted it for ten days.  From there, he works for a Dallas-Fort Worth newspaper covering the Rangers and occasionally will give the reader a peak of life as a beat reporter.

Because of all these interconnected stories about the people and the team, there is repetition of many events in Rangers history.  From that, it appears that Sullivan wrote each chapter without looking back to see if an event had already been addressed.  That is the only true flaw I found in this book and if that’s the worst thing one can find, it’s truly a book worth a reader’s time.  Even if that reader is not a Rangers fan, it’s still fun to read about this team’s personalities and history.

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

Link: The Texas Rangers and Me: A Baseball Writer's Thirty-Two Years in Arlington: Sullivan, T.R.: 9781496246806: Amazon.com: Books

Review of “A Basebll Gaijin”

Just like the story of this book’s subject, Tony Barnette, my adventure with this book was interesting. The author was kind enough to send me a copy and when I started reading it, I just wasn’t getting into it. With an Audible credit available, I let the author know that I would try the audio version instead and it turned out to be a good choice. Here is my review of “A Baseball Gaijin.” 

Title/Author: “A Baseball Gaijin: Chasing a Dream to Japan and Back” by Aaron Fischman, narrated by Brian Nishii 

Rating: 4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:  While many baseball fans may not recognize the name Tony Barnette as a relief pitcher for the Texas Rangers, his story of how he became a member of the team’s bullpen from 2016 to 2018 is one that will inspire any reader or listener of this book. Author Aaron Fischman does a terrific job of telling Barnette’s story of his time in the Japanese team and his determination to make it to the major leagues. 

Whether one reads the book or listens to Brian Nishii’s very good narration (I did the latter), Barnette’s adventures in Japan are quite interesting. When Barnette struggled as a starting pitcher - enough to be released by the Yakult Swallows, a team in Tokyo, he still didn’t let that deter him. In a move that isn’t common in Japanese baseball, the Swallows took him back and he responded by posting some incredible seasons out of the Swallows bullpen. It was enough to catch the attention of the Rangers, who signed him and immediately put him in the bullpen, becoming a 32 year old rookie pitcher.

The book, while an excellent recap of Barnette’s career in Japan and Texas, is a very good biography of Barnette and a good introduction to Japanese baseball for those who are not not familiar with their customs and traditions as there are differences between Japanese baseball and their American counterparts. The chapters on Barnette’s life off the field, especially when his daughters were born, are also good. I particularly enjoyed the stories on the adjustments to life in Japan that his wife Hillary made as the life of a baseball wife in Japan can be even more challenging than it is in the US.

Lastly, I enjoyed the information Fischman provided about other baseball gaijin from the US on how they adjusted to playing in Japan. The most interesting stories of these was whenever the home run record for one season by Sadaharu Oh was threatened by a foreign player, Japanese pitchers refused to throw strikes to those batters, ensuring that Oh’s record would be safe. This happened to Randy Bass, Tuffy Rhodes and Alex Cabrera. Oh’s record was finally broken by a Swallows teammate of Barnette’s, Wladimir Balentien, in 2013.

If a reader wants an inspiring story about a pitcher who never gave up on his dream and went to a foreign country to keep it alive, then they will want to pick this one up. 

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Baseball-Gaijin-Chasing-Dream-Japan/dp/B0D7N3KTZP/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 

Review of "Turk"

As all book lovers know, an avid reader has many books that he or she has "meant" to read but it always seemed to be set aside.  This book fit that category for me and realizing that I had to soon download it or lose to the cloud forever, I downloaded it and it was a quick read, so I made the deadline.  Here is my review of "Turk"

Title/Author:

“Turk: One of the NHL’s Great Coaches from Summerside to Madison Square Garden” by Fred MacDonald with Glenda Jenkins

Rating: 

3 of 5 stars (okay)

Review:

Gerard “Turk” Gallant could be what one calls a hockey “lifer.”  Between playing the game and coaching, he has been involved in the game for over 5 decades.  His life in hockey is captured in this book by Fred MacDonald.

Note that the last sentence stated the book is about his life in hockey. That makes up the bulk of this book.  Whether the chapters are about his youth and the hockey he was playing then, his time in junior hockey and the NHL (mainly with the Detroit Red Wings) or his coaching career, the book concentrates on his hockey life and little else.  While there is some material on his charitable work and golf tourney, there is very little material on his personal life.  I felt this was a shame, for not only would I have liked to learn more about Gallant the person, but one of the best chapters in the book is about how he met and courted his future wife, Pam.  The couple is still married to this day.

However, if a reader wants to learn more about Gallant as a player and coach (especially the latter), then this book contains a lot of good information. There isn’t great detail about either his playing time or coaching time but instead a summarization of how his seasons went, big highlights or what became of him after a release or trade during his playing days or his termination while a coach. The coaching sections, as one might expect given the title, are more plentiful in the book. This starts when he was a coach for junior hockey in his home province of Prince Edward Island to his time with the New York Rangers.  Again, nothing spectacular or detailed about these coaching jobs, but a decent recap of his time with each team.  This is especially true for his time with not only the Rangers, but also the Florida Panthers and the Vegas Golden Knights.  His first season with the latter, which was also the franchise’s first season, was special in that not only did he win the Jack Adams trophy as the coach of the year (and he was a finalist for both the Panthers and Rangers) but he led the Golden Knights to the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals, the 4^th franchise to reach that far in their first season.

At 186 pages, this is a quick read and because it recapped Gallant’s interesting career in a summarization format, it isn’t one for a reader who knows Gallant’s accomplishments well.  But if a reader wants to see what makes Gallant one of the more accomplished coaches in the game today, then this book is one to read.

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

Link: Amazon.com: Turk: One of the NHL's Great Coaches: From Summerside to Madison Square Garden: 9781773661155: MacDonald, Fred, Jenkins, Glenna: Books

Review of "A Guy Like Me"

As part of a reading challenge, I had to find a hockey memoir.  Not wanting to purchase a new book when I was convinced I could find one on Kindle Unlimited or in a library, I found this one.  Having remembered John Scott from the fan vote to make him an All-Star, I decided on this for that story and wasn't disappointed.  Here is my review of "A Guy Like Me."

 

Title/Author:

“A Guy Like Me: Fighting to Make the Cut” by John Scott with Brian Cazenevue

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review: John Scott’s story of his rise to become an enforcer in the NHL is not unlike those of others who have followed similar paths in order to become players in the highest professional league in North America with less than outstanding skills.  While they are similar, every story has its unique turns and Scott’s is no different.  He tells his tale in this fun and easy-to-read memoir he wrote with Brian Cazenevue.

Start with the most obvious reason that Scott’s story is different.  He went from being a relatively obscure player who bounced around for several teams to becoming not only an All-Star that was voted into the game by fans, but he also won the All-Star game MVP award in 2016.  What makes that even more remarkable was that the fan voting took place while Scott was a member of the Arizona Coyotes, but before the All-Star game, he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens, who sent him down to their minor league team in the American Hockey League.  So, you had a player going to the All-Star game who was currently playing in the minor leagues.  Which does sound like it qualifies as something different than stories of other hockey tough men.

Scott’s stories about this chapter of his career is certainly the best part of the book, both in the information he shares and the entertainment value of the book.  However, that doesn’t discount the fact that the rest of the book is a solid effort in which Scott never takes himself too seriously, shares the self-doubt that plagued him at each level of hockey and each off-season as he would usually sign one year contracts with each team that paid for his services.  He played for a total of seven NHL teams.  In addition to the Coyotes and Canadiens (he did get called back to the NHL by Montreal), he played for the Minnesota Wild, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres and San Jose Sharks.

The sections about Scott’s personal life, how he met and fell in love with his wife Danielle when both were students as Michigan Tech, and also his college hockey career at Tech when they were one of the struggling teams in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association also make great reading.  Hockey fans will be the ones who will want to pick up this book if they have not already done so, as it’s one that has a lot of hockey talk inside and will make a reader a fan of John Scott if they are not already one.      

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Guy-Like-Me-Fighting-Make/dp/1501159658/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

 

Review of "Playing Through the Pain"

With the opening of baseball season, it's only appropriate to review a baseball book the day before Opening Day.  And what a book this was - a fantastic biography of former MVP Ken Caminiti.  Here is my review of "Playing Through the Pain."

Title/Author: “Playing Through the Pain: Ken Caminiti and the Steroids Confession That Changed Baseball Forever” by Dan Good

Rating: 5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:  If there is one “a-ha” moment when steroid use could no longer be a dirty little secret within Major League Baseball, it was when Sports Illustrated published an interview with Ken Caminiti in 2002 when he disclosed that he used steroids through much of his career, including when he was the National League MVP in 1996 while playing for the San Diego Padres.  This book by Dan Good is a terrific look at Caminiti’s life and career that has many highlights as well as many demons beyond just using steroids.

While outstanding in many ways, what may be the most impressive aspect of the book is how many people Good interviewed to paint a complete picture of Caminiti.  Over 400 people talked on the record to good and it wasn’t just the usual collection of former teammates, family members and business acquaintances.  The people who shared their thoughts on him ranged from Ken’s girlfriends in middle school to his physical therapist when he was rehabbing from injury to his parole officer after one of his multiple arrests on drug possession. 

All of these people, plus the extensive research by Good help to paint a complete and very complex picture of Caminiti.  On the field, he was both consumed with perfection and competition.  He was going to make sure that he always performed at his best, opponents or injuries be dammed.  While he was fiercely competitive, as are most athletes, he was always quick to help other players improve.  This included players who he felt might be taking away his job.  Many of the people interviewed would mention how he was always willing to help others.

But despite this, the demons of alcoholism and drug addiction, including cocaine, were the worst enemies for Caminiti.  They not only helped in his decline as a player, but they were also detrimental to his friendships and his marriage.  Good describes his ex-wife Nancy in almost saintly terms on how she held together their family while Ken was in and out of substance abuse treatment several times.

The passages about his play on the diamond were very good as well.  There isn’t a lot of play-by-play analysis or extensive reviews of his seasons, including his best ones with the Houston Astros (two separate tours) and the Padres.  Caminiti also tried to salvage his career in 2002 with the Texas Rangers (I thought Good’s frequent reference to Alex Rodriguez with that team as the “$252 million man” was funny) and Atlanta Braves.  No matter what team he was with and whatever his level of ability was at, he was always remembered fondly by teammates, especially Hall of Fame second baseman Craig Biggio from the Astros.

Of course, one of the main questions that readers will have when selecting this book will be about steroids.  Good’s passages about this, from the acquisition of the drugs by friend Dave Moretti to Ken’s inner demons on why he needed to use them to the two interviews by Jules Roberson-Bailey and later Tom Verducci that were used in the bombshell Sports Illustrated article on his use.  Throughout the book, Caminiti is portrayed by many who, when not under the influence of any drug or alcohol and is thinking clearly, will speak in a matter-of-fact tone and that is how he is portrayed in giving these interviews.  Good should also be credited with being open minded about steroid use by Caminiti. If there is any bias, Ken does come across as a person with whom one can sympathize, but even that is tempered and the reader is left to come up with their own conclusions.

Every baseball fan who watched the game during the era of steroid use when statistics were altered, bodies of players changed and the sport enjoyed a rebound of popularity after the 1994-95 strike should add this book to their reading list.  It doesn’t matter whether one liked Caminiti or even never heard of him, it is a great read about a very complex man.

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

Link:   https://www.amazon.com/Playing-Through-Pain-Caminiti-Confession-ebook/dp/B09C17ZKJ5/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

 

Two for the price of one - short reviews of "Why We Swim" and "Mendoza's Heroes"

 This post is a deviation from my usual complete post as I have recently read two books that were not submissions for reviews - one was for an online non-fiction book club and one that I just wanted to try for something different and light.  Both of them were okay - three star reads and since they were not submitted to me for review, I decided to post a short, one paragraph review for each one.  They are listed below:

"Why We Swim" by Bonnie Tsui

This was an okay book. While I didn’t mind the writing style and felt it was more of a memoir, I just had a hard time picturing the author as a swimmer first with these amazing stories - instead I found myself thinking this is a journalist who happens to swim. Even if that is the wrong impression, it was how I felt when reading the book and as a result the stories lost some luster.  Even some of the more interesting stories that did grab my attention such as the swimming story from a service member in Iraq, did not seem to have the same luster for me that it did for other readers.  Maybe that doesn’t make sense to some, but that’s just how I felt - not a book I could connect with.  But the work is commendable and many readers have written glowing praise for it - I give it three stars out of five.  "Mendoza's Heroes: Fifty Batters Below .200" by Al Pepper Overall, this is a decent book that provides a short biography or at least career highlights of 50 major league players whose career batting average was below .200, commonly referred to as the "Mendoza line", which was made popular by broadcasters and named for former infielder Mario Mendoza, who spent nine years with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers hitting right around that magic figure. It should be noted that he finished his career above that threshold at .215.  As for the book, some of the stories are great, especially when Pepper writes about players who failed to get above .200 in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Finding that information took a good deal of research, but after those chapters, the book felt more like an encyclopedia instead of good reading.  That includes the sections on the status of the game during the time frame when again, the early chapters were good, but not as good as the book progresses.  It merits a three star rating out of five.

Review of "Nolan Ryan" - guest post by The Sports Book Lady

I belong to a few online book clubs on the social media site Goodreads, and one of them is a baseball book club.  Some of us decided to read this book as a group read, and while I enjoyed it, rated it four stars and wrote a review; another member of the group, the Sports Book Lady (who co-moderates the baseball book club with me) wrote an even better review.  Therefore, instead of following my usual format for posting a review of a book I have read, I am going to post her review here of "Nolan Ryan: The Making of a Pitcher."

Rating:
4 of 5 stars

Review:

I have always had a wild imagination. It’s the type that forbids me from watching scary movies past 3 in the afternoon. I used to think Darth Vader was coming for me in the shower among other things. Yet, what stands out is a recurring nightmare that I had through my adolescent years. I would be in a tunnel that was fast filling with water and a shark was out to get me until the great Nolan Ryan quickly pulled me to safety through a door on the side. I would be gasping for breath in the comforts of a baseball stadium and Ryan would save the day yet again, this time on the mound. Why, I ask, Nolan Ryan, if I am a Cubs fan to the core and greatest Chicago athlete when I was growing up was Michael Jordan? I still question this nightmare but I do remember watching Ryan’s final no hitter on ESPN and vaguely remember him pitching for the Houston Astros when I first started following baseball during the mid 1980s. When my baseball book buddies decided to read Nolan Ryan: The Making of a Pitcher, I was on board to join them if only to deconstruct the man who has been among the best to ever put on a baseball uniform. 

The Ryan family were among the earliest settlers of Texas when the Republic fought for its independence from Mexico. The Ryans had originally immigrated to the colonies as early as 1760 to escape Irish brutality at the hands of the British. Following the war for independence in 1776, the Ryans eventually settled in Mississippi and later played a role in the battle of the Alamo, settling on farm land near Bexar that they dubbed Old Ryan’s Hill. By the time Nolan Ryan was born in 1945, the youngest of six children to Nolan, Sr and Martha, the Ryan family had been in Texas for one hundred years and were products of the so called Texas mystique. Nolan Sr and Martha would settle in the small farming community of Alvin and along the way pass on a strong work ethic and family values to their children. Although their youngest enjoyed farming and cattle, little did they know that his arm and ability to throw a baseball upwards of 95 miles an hour would have him destined toward fame. 

In Alvin, the best entertainment was a movie, a night at the legion hall, or an ice cream at the Dairy Barn. Nolan took his future wife Ruthie on a date to these town staples for the first time when he was sixteen and she a mere fifteen. The chemistry was instant and the couple was promised to each other from that moment on. Nolan already possessed a strong arm and would drive to Houston if the Dodgers were in town to watch his idol Sandy Koufax pitch. Little did either man know that one day Nolan would surpass all of Koufax’s numbers. By the time Koufax retired following the 1966 season, Nolan would sign with the New York Mets. Scouts and management envisioned him as a cog of a young pitching staff that included future Hall of famer Tom Seaver. Nolan would rise meteorically and join the Mets by the end of 1967 but was sparsely used. He credits management’s inability to use him with extending his career as long it did because he logged so few innings at the beginning. In the 1967 offseason Nolan and Ruthie were married and he reported immediately to spring training. It was Ruth’s presence in New York and her insistence that he stay the course that kept him grounded in an otherwise poor relationship with Mets management. Ruth has been a part of all of Nolan’s baseball decisions since and has been a rock for him at every stop of his baseball journey, twice convincing him not to give up when he had a bright future ahead of him. 

Nolan Ryan would move to the upper echelon of baseball pitchers while a member of the California Angels during the 1970s. Playing away from the bright lights of New York and on a team largely out of contention, Ryan came into his own as a pitcher. With the team he would throw four no hitters, strike out 383 batters in one season, and one year lead the league in strikeouts, wins, and earned run average. The achievements and accolades started to pile up, yet Ryan never envisioned himself as a top pitcher. He worked hard because his father, a product of the Depression, worked hard, and Nolan sought to earn a living to support his family. During the off seasons, he would return to Texas and take up cattle ranching, developing a lucrative business that over time would include four ranches and his own brand of beefsteak. If Nolan, known in baseball as the Ryan Express, had chosen to retire during this earlier portion of his career, he knew that he had a Texas sized empire of ranching to fall back on. 

Ryan would pitch the last fourteen years of his career for the two teams in Texas, the Astros and the Rangers, in order to be closer to his home in Alvin. Both he and Ruth were family oriented people and the chance to live at home while competing at the highest levels of athleticism was a tantalizing prospect. Ryan credits Dr Gene Coleman of the Astros and pitching coach Tom House of the Rangers for using technological innovations to help prolong his career. Using cutting edge training methods as well as the budding use of computer technology to chart Ryan’s pitch delivery and use of various pitches, Coleman and House kept Ryan on the top of his game well into his forties, at a time when most professional athletes had long called it quits. During years meant to be the twilight’s of his career, Ryan pitched three more no hitters, including one at age forty four. As pitchers become more specialized and fail to pitch deep into games, his records of seven no hitters and 5714 strikeouts with twenty seven years in the major leagues will probably never be broken. 

Through it all, Ryan stayed grounded. He and Ruth are still happily married and could teach a lesson or two to the athletic and celebrity couples of today’s generation. The author Goldman was a bat boy for the Angels during Ryan’s tenure there and got to know the family off the field, becoming like another child for them. It is from this close relationship that Goldman was able to provide a window into Ryan’s life on and off of the field, where he was able to separate from being a Texas gentleman and fierce competitor who instilled fear in the eyes of his opponents. As a ten year old, Ryan is the athlete who I chose to lead me to safety from my nightmares. As an ace pitcher who was grounded in his values and his family, Ryan was probably a perfect choice. His Ryan Express fast ball most likely would have also instilled as much fear in the shark of my nightmares as it did in his opponents across two generations of ball players, as well as today’s ball players who still revere him as an ace hurler. 

4 stars

Review of "New York Rangers By the Numbers"

The New York Rangers are one of the Original Six teams of the National Hockey League, they have a passionate and loyal fan base and they have a very colorful history. This history is told in a little different manner in this excellent hockey reference book that lists every Rangers player in franchise history by the number.  Here is my review of "New York Rangers By the Number."

Title/Author:

“New York Rangers By the Numbers: A Complete Team History of the Broadway Blueshirts by Uniform Number” by Mark Roseman and Howie Karpin

Tags:

Ice Hockey, Professional, history, Rangers

Publish date:

January 23, 2018

Length:

498 pages

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (Outstanding)

Review:

There are many different ways an author can write about the history of a particular sports team. One way is by recapping seasons the team was playing, maybe concentrating on the years the team won a championship or at least came close.  Another is by highlighting the greatest players ever to wear that team’s uniform.  Another possibility is to highlight what the team means to its city.

However, a veteran of covering New York sports decided to try a different manner of writing about the history of the New York Rangers.  Mark Rosenman, with assistance from Howie Karpin, decide to tell the history of the franchise with numbers.  Not statistical numbers, but by listing every player whoever wore a Rangers sweater by the number on that sweater. From Eddie Giacomin wearing #1 to Wayne Gretzky’s #99, the history of the franchise is told through these players.

It doesn’t matter if the player played several seasons for the Rangers or only one game, he will be listed in the book. There isn’t a story or some narrative about every player, as there was little material still around for some of the earlier seasons.  Nonetheless, Rosenman was able to at least list those players and record how many games he played for the team. 

However, for many of the players, there are interesting stories about their time in New York and the career they had. Most of the short biographies will only talk about the player’s time with the Rangers, even if he had success in his career with other teams.  There are exceptions to this, such as the passage on Tim Horton, whose best years were with the Toronto Maple Leafs. His story included some of his success with the Leafs but the bulk of his story is about the Rangers. 

This is best read and used as a reference book, which is how the rating in this review is based. If one wants to learn more about Mark Messier’s time with the Rangers, simply turn to the chapter on #11.  How about the players who were responsible for the team retiring #9 not once but twice?  Both Adam Graves and Andy Bathgate get wonderful write-ups here. How about just a listing of all players who wore #17? They are all listed, from Dean Prentice to Spence Tatchell.  Just about anything Rangers-related that can be told through the number on a jersey will be found in this book. Rangers fans must make this volume part of their library and fans of other teams who want to learn more about Blueshirt history will also enjoy reviewing this – except maybe Islanders fans.

I wish to thank Mr. Rosenman and Sports Publishing for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Format Read:

Paperback

Buying Links:

https://www.amazon.com/New-York-Rangers-Numbers-Blueshirts/dp/1683581776/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/new-york-rangers-by-the-numbers-mark-rosenman/1125792473?ean=9781683581772

Review of "Ice Capades"

I will never be mistaken for being a fan of either Sean Avery or the New York Rangers.  However, when I saw that advance review copies were available of his new memoir, I had to read it for curiosity.  After reading it, I am still not a fan - but it was a good book.  Here is my review of "Ice Capades."

Title/Author:

“Ice Capades: A Memoir of Fast Living and Tough Hockey” by Sean Avery and Michael McKinley

Tags:

Ice hockey, professional, memoir, Rangers, Kings, Red Wings, Stars

Publish date:

October 24, 2017

Length:

356 pages

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

Sean Avery was a very polarizing figure when he was playing in the NHL. Fans would love him (especially if he was playing for their favorite team) or hate him.  He had a few controversial moments.  He loved living the high life, whether it was parties, women or fashion.  He covers his hockey career both on and off the ice in this memoir written with Michael McKinley.

This memoir is different than the typical sports memoir for several reasons.  The biggest difference is that nearly the entire book is dedicated to his professional hockey career.  There is very little space devoted to his childhood or teenage years and aside from his wedding to supermodel Hilary Rhoda, there is very little post-hockey life covered as well.  So, if it is hockey the reader wants, the reader will get it as Avery writes about his ups and downs with the Detroit Red Wings, his experiences on and off the ice in Los Angeles playing for the Kings, his absolutely miserable brief stint with the Dallas Stars and finally his favorite part of his career – the time he played for the New York Rangers.

Avery was known for a few controversial incidents and he talks about them with candor. He does defend himself for not only the well-publicized ones, such as the vulgar remark made in Dallas when trying to trash talk to another player, but for others not as well known, such as selling his complementary tickets to a ticket broker who in turn put them out on the market.  He also talks about the “Avery Rule”, laughing about the fact how a non-superstar player like him can rattle a legendary goalie (Martin Brodeur) so much that a rule was made with his name prohibiting facing the goalie in order to screen him. 

If reading about the party life that Avery had that the reader wants, he or she will be in for a treat, as there is plenty of material on that as well.  He especially writes about that during his stint in Los Angeles, where he describes many of his experiences with clarity. It was there where he first mingled with the famous and even his first serious relationship was with a celebrity – actress Rachel Hunter, who was married to Rod Stewart before dating Avery.  Through the book, especially in Los Angeles and New York, he does some serious name dropping of celebrities he has encountered.

Reading about a lot of these parties started to get boring, but once he got to New York, the book is a much better reading experience.  While I have never been a fan of Avery or the Rangers, it is clear how much Rangers fans love Avery and in turn he loves them and the city back.  He got serious about wanting to put roots down in New York and made serious plans for running a business and getting into the fashion industry once he was through with hockey.  This is something many professional athletes neglect and wind up struggling with finances.  Avery instead made sure this would not happen and at the same time, he settled down with a woman who he truly loved and loved him.  It isn’t right to say that he matured as the book progressed, but by the end it was clear Avery was a different man than the hard playing, hard partying person he was in Detroit and Los Angeles.

The aforementioned fans who love Avery will want to pick this book up as will Rangers fans.  For those like me who are not big fans of him, the book is still one that is worth the time as it is entertaining, gives an inside look at life both on and off the ice.

I wish to thank Blue Rider 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/Ice-Capades-Memoir-Living-Hockey-ebook/dp/B01NCU2W38/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/ice+capades?_requestid=112296

Review of "Gratoony the Loony"

When I heard the name Gilles Gratton, I immediately thought of his very cool lion mask.  When I saw he wrote a memoir, I was anxious to read it.  When I saw ARC's offered on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance to obtain one.  It lived up to all my expectations.  Here is my review of "Gratoony the Loony"

Title/Author:

“Gratoony the Loony: The Wild, Unpredictable Life of Gilles Gratton” by Gilles Gratton and Greg Oliver

Tags:

Ice Hockey, Professional, memoir, Rangers, Blues

Publish date:

October 3, 2017

Length:

260 pages

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (outstanding)

Review:

Hockey goaltenders are often considered to be a little different than other players because of their superstitions, rituals or other idiosyncrasies they may perform.  One of the more colorful characters to have played this position is Gilles Gratton, who played primarily in the 1970’s for the World Hockey Association’s (WHA) Toronto Toros and the National Hockey League’s (NHL) New York Rangers.  His colorful career and life is captured in this memoir co-written with Greg Oliver.

More than any accomplishments he did on the ice, Gratton is best known for two eccentric items.  One is his lion mask, one of the best known masks ever worn by a goalie.  He shares the story of the idea for the mask in the very beginning, giving the book a very interesting start.  The inspiration was easy – Gratton’s zodiac sign is Leo, so he felt a lion mask would be appropriate. 

The second item for which Gratton is known is taking the ice wearing only his mask and skates. This occurred when the fad of streaking was in vogue, so he decided to do so on a bet.  This is also a story he shares in which the legend to which it grew to did not match the actual events.  He doesn’t spend too much time on this incident, but he has plenty of other material that fits the title here. Gratton shares many stories of wild times in both leagues both on and off the ice.

The writing is very good for a sports memoir, something that is typical for Oliver.  His contribution to the book can be found throughout the memoir and is the perfect fit for Gratton’s carefree discussion of his hockey career, his escape to practice transcendental meditation and his relationship with his parents, wives and children. This book was as fun to read as it was to watch Gratton play during his career.  Fans of the sport during the 1970’s will want to add this one to their libraries.

I wish to thank ECW 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/1770413375/ref=x_gr_w_bb?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1770413375&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2