Review of "Descent"

Even though there are so many books about this topic and it is not a prevelant part of the sport any longer, I am a sucker when it comes to books on doping in cycling.  This is another memoir by a world-class cyclist who was caught and it is a decent read.  Here is my review of "Descent"

Title/Author:

“Descent: My Epic Fall from Cycling Superstardom to Doping Dead End" by Thomas Dekker and Thijs Zonneveld

Tags:

Cycling, memoir, drugs

Publish date:

December 5, 2017

Length:

226 pages

Rating: to

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

Doping was a part of the sport of cycling in the early 2000's and there have been several books out by cyclers or former cyclers about their cautionary tales of the practice.  This is another one of those books, this time written by Thomas Dekker. He was an up and coming Dutch cyclist who won a few races and had his eye set on bigger prizes when he was caught up in the scandal.

This book took a different tone than others I have read on this stain on cycling. Lance Armstrong was always defiant. Tyler Hamilton repented for his cycling sins and has worked to clean up the sport, which has been much cleaner in recent years.  Dekker, though, seems to beat himself constantly about doing this. He frequently talks about his excesses – his excess training, need for that boost, drinking, womanizing.  Through it all, he also shows some anger at agents who led him down this path and teammates as well.  By the end, however, he comes to the same conclusion that all others do – he had no one to blame but himself.

Reading the book was actually entertaining if not depressing at times. The stories of him out late with teammates and of how he lost his true love because of his excesses make for good reading – almost like a novel.  There isn't a lot about his actual races or training, at least not in comparison to other sports memoirs, especially cycling.  The best passage about his actual performance wasn't during a race but a solo run in a velodrome in which he attempted to set a new record for cycling the longest distance in 60 minutes.  While he fell just short of that record, his training and actual run was easily the best section on the book on the actual sport.

While there is no earth-shattering material on the well-exposed doping scandal in the sport, this book is an entertaining, fairly light read that fans of the sport or those who remember Dekker's career will want to read.  

                                    

Book Format Read:

E-book (Nook)

Buying Links:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/descent-thomas-dekker/1126320446?ean=9781937715809

https://www.amazon.com/Descent-Epic-Cycling-Superstardom-Doping-ebook/dp/B077THGQW7/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Review of "Different Strokes"

When offered this book for review by the publisher, I really didn't know what to expect - would it be a crowning of the Williams sisters as the best players?  Would it be an expose on racial inequality in tennis?  Would it highlight other black stars?  The answer to all of these questions is yes, and so much more.  Here is my review of "Different Strokes"

Title/Author:

“Different Strokes: Serena, Venus and the Unfinished Black Tennis Revolution” by Cecil Harris

Tags:

Tennis, professional, race, politics

Publish date:

February 1, 2020

Length:

256 pages

Rating:

5 of 5 stars (outstanding)

Review:

An entire generation of tennis fans have seen sisters Venus and Serena Williams dominate the sport like few others have done in the past.  While their accomplishments, most notably Serena’s, are remarkable, their struggles to be accepted and recognized for their greatness within their sport because of racial issues highlight this book by Cecil Harris.

Harris not only writes about the two sisters and their careers, but also educates readers about the larger struggle African-Americans have faced in tennis. Starting with Althea Gibson, the woman credited with breaking the color barrier in the sport, Harris writes with knowledge and passion about her, the Williams sisters, Arthur Ashe, Sloane Stephens and many other black players who have achieved greatness.  While the Williams sisters, Gibson and Ashe have the most pages written about them, Harris touches on many different players.  He also writes not only about their achievements on the court, but their achievements and struggles off the court as well.  A particularly well written piece was about the unprovoked attack by police on former player James Blake in a case of mistaken identity.

Another aspect of the book that is very important to Harris’ message is that he not only writes about players gaining in acceptance and accomplishments, but also the struggles and inequality suffered by African-Americans wishing to seek jobs in the sport in areas such as coaching or umpiring.  The inequality in the latter profession, especially in terms of assignments for major tournaments and in moving up in rankings. Umpires are provided a colored card based on experience and merit, ranging from white to gold, with the latter receiving the highest salaries and best assignments. 

The writing clearly shows that Harris is not only knowledgeable about the sport, but that he is passionate about both the game and the issues surrounding blacks in tennis.  This book will provide much needed insight into the matter of race in tennis and illustrates that while there has been much progress in that area, especially given the professional and social presence of Serena Williams, there is still much work to do to address the inequalities still in existence.

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

                       

Book Format Read:

E-book (hardcover)                                                                                                                         

Buying Links:

https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9781496214652/

https://www.amazon.com/Different-Strokes-Serena-Unfinished-Revolution/dp/149621465X/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Review of "Swing Kings"

Usually books about coaching, no matter which sport, tend to be on the dry side. This book, about coaching major league hitters, is far from that - it's a very entertaining book on men who are baseball outsiders, yet helped the hitting of some of today's biggest stars.  Here is my review of "Swing Kings"

Title/Author:

“Swing Kings: The Inside Story of Baseball’s Home Run Revolution” by Jared Diamond

Tags:

Baseball, professional, coaching

Publish date:

March 31, 2020

Length:

352 pages

Rating:

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:

Ever since the days of Babe Ruth, the home run has been a cornerstone of baseball, both in terms of generating offense and also drawing fans to the game. In recent years, the proliferation of home runs in the game has been responsible for how the game is played and viewed.  While there have been many reasons given why this has occurred – a livelier baseball, performance-enhancing drugs, watered down pitching – this book by Jared Diamond looks at a more basic reason, the way batters swing at pitches.

Several of today’s biggest stars in baseball are discussed in the book such as J.D. Martinez, Justin Turner and Aaron Judge.  However, they are not the stars in this work.  Instead, the book centers on the coaching these and other players received from coaches who were not employed by any baseball team and had little to no success in the sport. But these men – Richard Schenck, Craig Wallenbock and Bobby Tewksbary to name a few – had radical ideas on how to swing the bat that were far different than what many coaches had been teaching hitters for years. Their stories alone, without the addition of the baseball players, would make a great book.  Reading about the “Teacherman” as Schenck is known as online and is hated in the Internet work, or the story behind Tewksbary being asked to pitch to Josh Donaldson at the 2015 Home Run Derby (and the subsequent end of their professional relationship shortly thereafter) was just as good as learning about their teaching methods.

When the star players mentioned before, and other players such as Marlon Byrd approached these hitting gurus to get help with their hitting, the new ideas were first met with skepticism. But eventually with enthusiasm as they all learned a new basic thought – instead of swinging down on the ball and hitting more ground balls, one should swing the bat up on the ball and put the ball in the air.  This concept sounds simple, but did not catch on right away.  As Diamond notes, it is popular now as is the use of launch angle to measure a batter’s effectiveness.

While launch angle is fairly new, Diamond doesn’t dismiss some traditional methods of measuring a hitter’s success.  When talking about the success of players such as Martinez, Turner and Judge, he cites their batting averages as well as OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage), home runs and launch angle.  This was a nice mix of both traditional and new age statistics, which this reviewer believes is the best way to determine a player’s effectiveness.

One surprising aspect over the course of the book was how Diamond was describing the traditional teaching of hitting coaches at all levels of professional baseball. Of course, the swing coaches employed by the players all thought those methods were outdated and actually hurting the hitters. Throughout the book, Diamond notes how they and many hitters believed that these coaches were simply passing on what they were taught and those lessons were not as effective any longer. This read much like how traditional scouts were portrayed in the book and movie “Moneyball” as being out of touch with the way the game is played today. 

One would not expect a book talking mostly about outsiders influencing the game and helping to create some of the biggest stars to be such an easy and entertaining read, but “Swing Kings” fits that description perfectly.  Fans of today’s game, especially passionate ones, will want to read this book on an important aspect of why the home run is more prevalent than ever.

I wish to thank Harper Collins 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/Swing-Kings-Inside-Baseballs-Revolution-ebook/dp/B07V9HD4XP/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/swing-kings-jared-diamond/1132500445?ean=9780062872128

Review of "The Echoing Green"

The story behind how I discovered this book comes from Facebook.  A discussion about the recent cheating scandal by the Houston Astros on a baseball group there mentioned Willie Mays and the New York Giants and a commenter mentioned this book.  Piquing my interest I searched for the book, found it, and read it right away.  An excellent book on one of the most famous moments in baseball history.  Here is my review of "The Echoing Green"

Title/Author:

“The Echoing Green: The Untold Story of Bobby Thomson, Ralph Branca and the Shot Heard Round the World” by Joshua Prager

Tags:

Baseball, professional, history, championship, Dodgers, Giants

Publish date:

September 19, 2006

Length:

546 pages

Rating:

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:

Every baseball fan knows about the “shot heard round the world”.  In a best of three playoff between the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers for the 1951 National League pennant, Bobby Thomson of the Giants won the game with a line drive home run in the bottom of the ninth inning off of Dodger pitcher Ralph Branca. It is considered one of the greatest moments in baseball history and there are many interesting stories and sidebars to this moment. All of them and more are captured in this excellent book by Joshua Prager.

The most notorious of the sidebars is the revelation that the Giants were stealing signals from opponents using a telescope and buzzer in center field and then signaling them back to the dugout. It was known that signals were relayed to Thomson during his historic at bat, something that he publicly denied for many years although at times he seemed to be less than transparent in that denial.  This is just one aspect of the writing by Prager that is rich in detail – at times a little too rich but still informative – no matter what the topic.  This is especially true for not only Thomson, but also for Branca.

Branca had always maintained a mostly brave face in public, at times even appearing with Thomson to replay the homer or even sing with him in public settings.  Inside, however, the event took a psychological toll on the former pitcher, especially with the knowledge of the signal stealing. Eventually the two men were able to bond and maintain a friendship through their lives. The lives of both men are what are the driving force behind this book and make it a detailed but fascinating read.

This isn’t to say that other aspects of the event or the teams are ignored. The reader will gain a lot of information about the Polo Grounds, where the home run was hit, as well as excellent stories about several players on both teams.  This includes the managers for both teams, Leo Durocher for the Giants and Charlie Dressen for the Dodgers.  Others who are somehow connected to the story, such as the third string catcher for the Giants who was the key person in the sign stealing caper, are also portrayed with enough detail to show the importance of that person’s role in the story, no matter how minor.

Readers who are fans of baseball or baseball history will enjoy this book that doesn’t leave out anything when it is associated with the famous home that made Russ Hodges scream into his microphone a home run call that will live on forever:  “The Giants won the pennant! The Giants won the pennant! The Giants won the pennant!” 

                                                                       

Book Format Read:

E-book (Kindle)                                                                                                                               

Buying Links:

https://www.amazon.com/Echoing-Green-Untold-Thomson-Branca/dp/0375421548/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/echoing-green-joshua-prager/1100265469?ean=9780375713071

Review of "Elevated"

Starting off May with a basketball book - an excellent collection of articles that tell the story of the NBA in the last 40 years. Here is my review of "Elevated"

Title/Author:

“Elevated: The Global Rise of the NBA” by Harvey Araton

Tags:

Basketball, professional, history

Publish date:

March 10, 2020

Length:

512 pages

Rating:

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:

Professional basketball and the National Basketball Association (NBA) were on life support in the late 1970’s. The league had a reputation of being “too black” and drug-infested.  Arenas were rarely sold out. Television ratings were very low and the championship round of the playoffs was not shown live but on tape delay late at night. 

Enter two young college stars named Ervin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird.  When they became professionals, the game and the league started growing again, and it still is to this day.  This era of the history of the NBA is covered in this book of New York Times (NYT) articles edited by Harvey Araton, who was also the writer of several of the articles.

Marketed as a history book to celebrate the rise of the league, it was surprising to learn that this was a collection of articles instead of a narrative of how the league grew to be a global phenomenon. However, that format worked for this topic as the articles broke the book up into small, manageable sections that made reading over five hundred pages take very little time.

The other advantage to having this collection of NYT articles was that a lot of topics, players, owners and other key aspects of the game were covered.  Players from Magic and Bird, through Michael Jordan, Shaquile O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Stephan Curry are all featured.  Nearly every controversy in that time frame has at least an article or two as well – the three-point shot, the 2004 brawl between Detroit and Indiana, the dress code for players instituted by former Commissioner David Stern, banning former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling from the league – they are all there as well as many other topics. 

The complete picture of the NBA from the last 40 years is on display in this book and the writers of the articles as well as the editing job by Araton to put this together is excellent.  Even the small snippets of commentary that precede each chapter of related articles will teach the reader a little bit about the league. This book is highly recommended for readers of any level of interest in professional basketball.

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

                                                                       

Book Format Read:

E-book (Kindle)                                                                                                                               

Buying Links:

https://www.amazon.com/Elevated-Global-Rise-N-B/dp/1629377929/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/elevated-harvey-araton/1129391795;jsessionid=731F1BC25A763A1E39595A7AB4C3DC48.prodny_store02-atgap08?ean=9781629377926&st=AFF&2sid=Goodreads,%20Inc_2227948_NA&sourceId=AFFGoodreads,%20Inc

Review of "A View from Two Benches"

To finish off a very busy April for this site, this is my review of the biography of Bob Thomas, a successful kicker for the Chicago Bears in the 1970's and early 80's and his later rise in prominence in the legal profession by becoming a justice on a state Supreme Court.  Here is my review of "A View from Two Benches."

Title/Author:

“A View from Two Benches: Bob Thomas in Football and the Law" by Doug Feldman

Tags:

Football (American), biography, legal, Bears, Lions, Chargers, Giants

Publish date:

May 15, 2020

Length:

264 pages

Rating: to

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

While it isn't common, there are examples of professional athletes who have studied law while they were still playing sports and some have gone on to prominent legal careers.  One such athlete is Bob Thomas, an associate justice for the Illinois Supreme Court. His football and legal careers are the subject of this biography by Doug Feldman.

Thomas kicked 11 years in the National Football League, primarily with the Chicago Bears, but also kicked for the Detroit Lions, San Diego Chargers and New York Giants during his football career.  Feldman does an excellent job of portraying the life of a NFL kicker being a nomadic one, as most kickers will often be signed by teams for brief periods to either replace an injured kicker (as Thomas was in San Diego and New York) or to find yet another kicker who will consistently perform under pressure. Thomas proved that during his time with the Bears, setting team records for scoring and remaining highly ranked in those categories for the team.

Despite the many changes, Thomas had settled in Chicago and that is where his family life was settled and where he not only studied law but became a practicing attorney, including late in his career when he kicked for other teams.  His family's adventures were handled by his wife Maggie, whom Feldman does mention prominently, especially when they are moving around.

Once Thomas's career track changes from football to the law, the book also takes a different track as Thomas's faith is discussed more frequently. There are Biblical scripture readings that Bob and Maggie used to help them get through troubled times.  Bob's legal career was very successful, moving up quickly through the process to become first a judge, then a justice on the Illinois Supreme Court.  There is even a trial in which Bob sues a small newspaper for defamation that reads like a quick, exciting legal thriller. 

While the book is approximately 70 percent about Thomas's football career and 30 percent about his legal career, both parts are equally engrossing and make for good reading.  Anyone interested in football, especially kickers, will enjoy that portion of the book while those interested in his time on the Illinois Supreme Court will like the book as well.

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

                                    

Book Format Read:

E-book (Kindle)

Buying Links:

https://www.amazon.com/View-Two-Benches-Thomas-Football-ebook/dp/B07Z9NKFFY/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=  

Review of "The Called Shot"

Having read a book on the myth of the "Called Shot" by Babe Ruth in the 1932 World Series, I was interested to see what this book contained for new material about that home run. Instead, what I found was a complete picture of the 1932 baseball season and the two teams in the World Series that made for a great read.  Here is my review of this book by Thomas Wolf.

Title/Author:

“The Called Shot: Babe Ruth, the Chicago Cubs and the Unforgettable Baseball Season of 1932” by Thomas Wolf

Tags:

Baseball, professional, history, championship, Yankees, Cubs

Publish date:

May 1, 2020

Length:

408 pages

Rating:

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:

Nearly 80 years after the event took place, a home run in the fifth inning of game three of the 1932 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Chicago Cubs is still being discussed and debated. Yankee outfielder Babe Ruth came to the plate and while being heckled by players from the Cubs dugout, he supposedly pointed to center field and proceeded to homer in the area to which he pointed.  The verification of that event, while still being debated today, is only one of a number of topics about the 1932 baseball season on display in this excellent book by Thomas Wolf.

The possibility of a reader getting confused by the title and not reading anything about the “called shot” until near the end is the only thing about the book that may not sit well with that reader.  Otherwise, the reader is treated to great writing about the 1932 Yankees, Cubs, key personnel on both clubs, a little bit about teams that challenged them to their pennants and also the social, political and economic issues of that year.

Wolf dives deep into some of the better known baseball players of that time, especially if they were with the Yankees or Cubs that season. Of course, Babe Ruth is prominently mentioned throughout the book.  Another well-known player is Rogers Hornsby, who is given a less-than-flattering portrayal as he was fired as the Cubs’ player-manager 99 games into the season. Hornsby’s penchant for gambling is also on display here, getting him into financial difficulty to the point he was borrowing money from Cubs teammates.

There is also an excellent write up on the Cubs shortstop Billy Jurges, who was shot by his girlfriend Violet Popovich.  Wolf does include that among the many Cubs fans in attendance at Wrigley Field that year was Bernard Malamud, who used a fictional account of this incident in his novel “The Natural.”  There is also an excellent story about how two prisoners were able to attend one of the World Series games with the prison warden at Wrigley.  It is connections to non-baseball people like this that make the book an excellent read as it does show that baseball, especially at that time, had an impact on so many people in all walks of life.

The book also delves into the political and economic landscape at the time.  America was in the midst of the Great Depression and the presidential campaign is also discussed.  Especially noteworthy is the fact that both parties had their convention in Chicago that year. The writing on these topics is just as engrossing and informative as the baseball writing.

As for the subject of the title, readers who wish to know whether this really took place or not will be disappointed to learn that Wolf doesn’t engage in that debate, leaving it for others. But his description of that home run, as well as the rest of the material in the book, make for outstanding reading and readers who are interested in baseball or history should add this book to their list.

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

                                                                       

Book Format Read:

E-book (PDF)                                                                                                                                   

Buying Links:

https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/university-of-nebraska-press/9780803255241/

https://www.amazon.com/Called-Shot-Chicago-Unforgettable-Baseball-ebook/dp/B07ZQVVCJQ/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=