Review of "Suds Series"

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.

Link: Suds Series: Baseball, Beer Wars, and the Summer of '82 (Sports and American Culture): Daniel, J.: 9780826222800: Amazon.com: Books
 

Review of "Pretend the Ball Is Named Jim Crow"

I rarely read poetry books, but the title of this one caught my attention and when I read the description, I had to give it a try.  It is NOT your typical collection of poems - it is one that is powerful and worth the short time to read. Here is my review.

Title/Author:

“Pretend the Ball Is Named Jim Crow: The Story of Josh Gibson” by Dorian Hairston

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:  

Josh Gibson is undoubtedly one of the best players who toiled in the Negro Leagues before Black players were integrated into Major League baseball. There have been books and other publications illustrating Gibson’s life and career, but none of them do so as eloquently as this book by Dorian Hairston.

Instead of writing in regular text, Hairston tells Gibson’s story through poetry and it is powerful.  There are several people who are telling the story.  Gibson himself is of course the primary character, but his wife Helen (who sadly died while giving birth to their twin children Josh Jr and Helen) and the man credited with discovering Gibson, Hooks Tinker, are also voices heard in the book.

It is also a book about much more than baseball.  That is why I used the word “voices” as while Gibson’s baseball career is described, this collection of poems will tell the reader about the struggles of Black people, both on the diamond and elsewhere.  The introduction by Hairston is also powerful in its description of not only the struggles of Blacks in society but also the role baseball’s color barrier played in this period. This is one of the best collections of poetry I have ever read and is one that whether one is interested in baseball, the history of racial relations in the United States, or poetry, it is one to add to a reader’s library.

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

Link: Amazon.com: Pretend the Ball Is Named Jim Crow: The Story of Josh Gibson: 9780813198880: Hairston, Dorian: Books

Review of "The Game That Saved the NHL"

I read most of this book on a train ride to a baseball game.  Now, I usually like to read about the sport I am going to see on those trips, but this book had me intrigued, so I had to do so then.  It didn't disappoint as I really enjoyed it.  Here is my review of "The Game That Saved the NHL"

Title/Author:

“The Game That Saved the NHL: The Broad Street Bullies, the Soviet Red Machine and Super Series ‘76” by Ed Gruver

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:  In the 1970’s, professional hockey in North America (two leagues at that time, the NHL and the WHA) was undergoing an identity crisis.  Long believed to have the most superior players and teams, Canada had barely won the Summit Series in 1972 against the best in Russia after being overconfident early in the series.  Nearly four years later, after some growling by NHL officials that the Russians had never faced the best teams instead of a group of all-stars, it was decided to have the two best squads in Russia, the Red Army team and the Wings, face eight of the best NHL teams at that time. This book by Ed Gruver focuses on the last of these matchups that pitted the Red Army team against the reigning Stanley Cup champions, the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Flyers earned the nickname the “Broad Street Bullies” due to the location of their arena and their very physical style of play.  They were very popular with the fans and apparently with the author as he refers to them as the Bullies instead of the Flyers much more frequently throughout the book.  Nonetheless, the book as a whole is more of a look at that Flyers team with the actual game being the climax of the story – even though it does finish when the Flyers lost the Stanley Cup finals later in 1976 to the Montreal Canadiens.

The stories of the players and of head coach Fred Shero are the best aspect of the book and they are interspersed throughout.  Whether it was a superstar such as Bobby Clarke, a fighter like Dave Schultz or a player not so well known such as Ed Van Impe, Gruver will give the reader a mini-biography on each one profiled and connect it back to the story.  The best example of this was during the most famous part of the Flyers, er, Bullies game against the Red Army.

Van Impe laid a check into the best offensive player on the Red Army team, Valeri Kharlamov, that left the Russian star down on the ice for 10 minutes.  When coach Konstantin Loktev protested for a penalty to be called and none was whistled, he pulled his team off the ice.  This incident is probably the most remembered moment, but the game did showcase the hockey skills of the Flyers, er, Bullies as well as their physicality.  That they won by the score of 4-1 is less important than the fact that they were given notice by officials that they had to win the game for political reasons as well as proving that NHL hockey was just as good as Russian hockey.

That Gruver was able to cover all this ground is a tribute to the work he put into this project. He will come across as pro-Bullies and NHL here, but that fits the mood at the time since this was at the height of the Cold War.  Fans of that era of hockey, whether they favored the NHL style or the Russian style, should pick up this book.

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

Link: The Game That Saved the NHL: The Broad Street Bullies, the Soviet Red Machine, and Super Series '76: Gruver, Ed, Watson, Joe: 9781493074976: Amazon.com: Books

Review of "Degrees of Difficulty"

 Admittedly, I rarely pay attention to gymnastics aside from the years of the Olympics, but this book caught my attention.  I had it sitting on my TBR pile for too long as once I finally picked it up, I enjoyed it.  Here is my review of "Degrees of Difficulty"

Title/Author:

“Degrees of Difficulty: How Women’s Gymnastics Rose to Prominence and Fell From Grace” by Georgia Cervin 

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (Very Good)

Review:

Unless one is a student of the history of the sport of gymnastics, there is probably little chance that person has watched the sport outside of the Olympics.  That would be a shame for the sport has quite an interesting history and touches many of the social issue challenges that are being addressed today.  This book by Georgia Cervin covers many of these topics as well as some political history as well.

From the Cold War in the 1970s up to the sexual assault cases of Larry Nassar and others, Cervin doesn’t leave any issue relevant to gymnastics untouched.  She does a good job of tying in the sport’s issues to the larger picture of the day.  This is the case whether it was gymnastics being used as a means of diplomacy during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union or whether attempts at making the sport more diverse are successful.  On the latter, Cervin highlights the accomplishments of gymnasts of color such as Dominique Dawes and Simone Biles.

This is a scholarly work and reads as such, with each chapter organized by an introduction, body and conclusion. There are not a lot of personal biographies, but in addition to the aforementioned athletes, Cervin portrays other well known gymnasts such as Olga Korbut and Nadia Comaneci.  The latter two are especially prominent in Cervin’s discussion about how the sport changed in its scope from artistic ability and the femininity of the gymnasts.  This parallels the expanding role women were playing in all areas of society.

There are also chapters that are strictly about the sport and not with any comparison to social or political issues.  The scandals involving scoring and the “disappearance” of the perfect score of 10 are topics in which Cervin discusses with just as much knowledge and depth as she does the social and political topics.

This book is well worth the time and effort to read.  If one is not well versed in gymnastics, it might take a little more time for the reader to fully understand the topics, but that reader will learn a lot about the interesting history of this sport.

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

 

Link: amazon.com/Degrees-Difficulty-Gymnastics-Prominence-Society-ebook/dp/B095CQ4KVT/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Review of "Coach Prime"

 Remembering Deion Sanders as a baseball and football player made me interested in this book.  I vaguely remembered he had success at an FCS school but didn't remember which one.  Then this college football season started and he's all over the news.  Remembering I had this book, I picked it up and quickly finished it.  Here is my review of "Coach Prime"

Title/Author:

“Coach Prime: Deion Sanders and the Making of Men” by Jean-Jacques Taylor

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:

Deion Sanders, aka “Prime Time” in his playing days, currently is taking the college football world by storm with his early success coaching the Colorado Buffaloes to early success in the 2023 season after they won only one game in 2022.  For some, this really isn’t a surprise as this was similar to his experiences at Jackson State.  This book is a great account of Sanders’ last season there as Jean-Jacques Taylor covers a lot of ground in that season.

One important note is that Taylor never calls the coach “Sanders” – throughout the book, he is known as “Coach Prime”.  This is also how he refers to himself as did everyone else on the Jackson State campus.  Even his son Shedeur, who was one of the stars for the Tigers (and currently for the Buffaloes), calls his father that name in the book. But more important than the name is how Coach Prime does his work.

Those who remember Coach Prime in his time as a baseball and football player may be surprised to read about this side of him.  Many felt he was only about himself during his playing days and even if just watching his press conferences, one may come to that same conclusion.  But this book does not focus on that and instead how Coach Prime is not only helping his players succeed on the football field but also in other aspects of life.

If the reader is not familiar with the atmosphere at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) they will be after reading this book.  This was especially important to Coach Prime as he addressed many topics that would be important to a student body in HBCUs. There is even some attention to the few white players on the team.  The team was very structured, had to follow many rules and if you broke them, you were only told “Get Out!” and not a word of protest was uttered.

The stories of these players are the heart of the book and is even better than the football sections which are also very good.  Even if one has never heard of Jackson State, the reader will end up cheering for this team despite already knowing the outcome of their season.  For those who want to learn why Colorado has taken the college football world by storm, this book will be one of the best ways to learn how.

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

Link: Coach Prime: Deion Sanders and the Making of Men: Taylor, Jean-Jacques: 9780063306912: Amazon.com: Books

Review of "Gathering Crowds"

Any reviewer who obtains review copies knows what it feels like to have a large pile of books waiting for review and the age that some of them may be.  I am certainly one of them and this is one of the older ones that I have finally been able to read.  Here is my review of "Gathering Crowds."

 

Title/Author:

“Gathering Crowds: Catching Baseball Fever in the New Era of Free Agency” by Paul Hensler

Rating: 

3 of 5 stars (good)

Review:

The period between 1975 and 1990 was a very turbulent time for the sport of baseball.  The players were granted freedom to seek employment with new teams after decades of being bound to one club under the reserve clause.  In addition to this, there were labor disputes resulting in player strikes, there was collusion amongst the owners to try to keep salaries down during free agency and there were drug problems.  All of this and more is captured in this all-encompassing book by Paul Hensler.

This opening paragraph says a lot – and that doesn’t even cover all the topics Hensler writes about in the book.  There are also sections on various social issues within the game such as the treatment of female reports and women working in the game, such as female umpires.  There is mention of the first openly gay player and umpire.  There are sections about each commissioner during this period and what issues all three of them – Bowie Kuhn, Peter Ueberroth and A. Bartlett Giamatti – had to face during their tenures.  While admirable, trying to cover so much ground in one book meant each topic was highlighted instead of truly covered deeply.

As a result of that, the audience that would be most interested in the book, fans who enjoyed the game during that time, would most likely already be familiar with most of the material.  Ironically, Hensler writes the book to also make the case of how much the game grew in popularity in both paid attendance and television viewing.  On that avenue, he does succeed and does a fine job illustrating that despite all of the labor issues and other negative publicity the game faced, interest did grow.  It should also be noted that part of this could also be attributed to another aspect Hensler illustrates.  That is despite the fears of owners and commissioners that small market teams could not compete with the larger, richer clubs, several of them enjoyed success and won titles.  These included the Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins and Baltimore Orioles.  I used the Orioles here because Hensler did group them with smaller markets.

Overall, this is a decent book and Hensler covers a lot of ground.  It just may be too much ground as readers who know little or nothing about that time period of baseball may gain more knowledge than more ardent fans. 

I wish to thank Rowman and Littlefield for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Link: Gathering Crowds: Catching Baseball Fever in the New Era of Free Agency: Hensler, Paul: 9781538132005: Amazon.com: Books

Review of "Feherty"

As one who enjoys reading John Feinstein's work, especially books on golf or college basketball, I was surprised to see this one.  One, I didn't know he wrote another golf book and two, I had never heard of David Feherty until seeing this book in my local library.  So I gave it a shot and it was good.  Here is my review of "Feherty"

 

Title/Author:  “Feherty: The Remarkably Funny and Tragic Journey of Golf's David Feherty” by John Feinstein

Rating:  4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review: Sometimes the life of a celebrity, even those who were very popular in their media shows such as television or movies, is not well known.  David Feherty could be considered to be one of those celebrities and this book by best selling sports author John Feinstein uncovers many aspects of the life of this golfer and television personality.

The overriding theme of the book is Feherty’s humor.  Whether it was from his popular show on the Golf Channel (abruptly cancelled in 2020 during the height of the COVID pandemic) or from family members such as his second wife Anita, readers will not only learn about his funny side but will be laughing at his many jokes.  A reader will also learn why Feherty uses his humor as he does and what makes him a person that so many will learn to overlook his shortcomings.

Wanting to become a professional golfer even though he was at best good, but not excellent, at the game as a youth, Feherty nonetheless achieved that goal and also had a small amount of success, but where he really made a name for himself in the sport was on television.  Whether it was the aforementioned talk show, his reporting either on the ground with golfers or up in a tower or even as the subject of an interview himself, the personality of Feherty shines through in the book.

While I am a big fan of Feinstein’s books, this one didn’t quite have the same level of excellence that one finds in his other works, especially his golf books. While it is very good as a way for a reader to learn about Feherty, especially those who may not know much about him (as this reviewer), it gets repetitious at times and also seems to throw out opinions at inopportune times.  This isn’t to say that there shouldn’t be any political or social commentary or opinions – they are just shown at some awkward times.  This is not to take away from the overall enjoyment one gets from reading the book, just that this one wasn’t up the usual very high standards of a Feinstein book on golf.

Whether or not one watched his show, is a fan of golf, or just wants to read about a very interesting character, this book is one to pick up.

Link: Feherty: The Remarkably Funny and Tragic Journey of Golf's David Feherty - Kindle edition by Feinstein, John. Health, Fitness & Dieting Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.