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Title: The Long Ball : The Summer of '75 -- Spaceman, Catfish, Charlie Hustle, and the Greatest World Series Ever by Tom Adelman ISBN: 0-316-79644-1 Publisher: Back Bay Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 2004 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.93 (28 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A wonderful look at an important year in baseball
Comment: This is a well written book on so many levels. It's a people story that goes behind the scenes and tells what is going on in the lives of the sports stars and future sports stars of 1975. It gives a terrific account of the sad marriage of Johnny and Vickie Bench and puts their short and crumbling union in the context of the 1975 season. In fact, their marriage was such a fiasco that it merits it's own book. Tom Adelman did a fine job working so many sports and off shoot themes into this book that it is one of the best sports books I've ever read.
I really enjoyed going back into 1975 and looking at that era with the author trying to discover what happened then and how it affects the current times.
This is a real time travel experience and you'll be glad you came aboard.
Rating: 5
Summary: Different approach to a timeless year
Comment: Nearly 30 years later, the 1975 World Series remains perhaps the greatest ever played. Consequently, several books have been written about the Series, mostly focusing on Fisk, what happened to the Sox in the aftermath, etc. But Adelman takes a different approach, choosing to look at the entire season in the context of the history of baseball -- and the massive change just around the corner. With the DH, Astroturf and free agency all either in place or looming, Adelman hints of things to come and the events that lead to these overhauls of the game. He also gets into the players' lives, and what's going on off the field (Bench and his marital troubles, Tiant's longing for home and his parents finally seeing him pitch). Perhaps the best part about the book is that it's not driven by statistics -- these are stories, interwoven from all parts of baseball, including the death of Casey Stengel and subsequent passing of an era, to the tight-fisted Charlie O. and the harbinger of things to come. Written in the present tense, this book puts the reader within the time frame -- a time frame that signaled perhaps the end of the last pure unsullied season in baseball history. If you are really concerned about how much time a batter has to swing at a fastball (which is, in fact, closer to a half second -- because batters routinely take the first steps of their swing before the pitcher even releases the ball, just watch the next time Unit or Schilling pitch. No one can decide to swing, swing, and make contact with a ball in .15 seconds, but I digress), read Robert Adair's "The Physics of Baseball." But if you want an enjoyable read of a great season and even greater characters, pick this book up right away.
Rating: 4
Summary: A nostalgic look at the baseball I grew up with.
Comment: I'm not much a baseball fan anymore, but I was in 1975 and this book reminded me why: Catfish Hunter, Bill Lee, The Big Red Machine, Reggie Jackson, Billy Martin and on and on. If those names mean anything to you, you'll love this book. And if they don't mean anything to you, you should read the book to find out who they are. Adelman does a wonderful job telling their stories (and many more, as well as the story of the season and how the events of 1975 changed baseball forever. One other note: I listened to the unabridged audio version of the book, and it included an extra tape with a very interesting author interview. Probably not worth paying the premium price for the audio edition, but worth checking your local library to see if they have it on their shelves.
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Title: The Boys of October : How the 1975 Boston Red Sox Embodied Baseball's Ideals - and Restored Our Spirits by Doug Hornig ISBN: 0071402470 Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Contemporary Books Pub. Date: 21 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Teammates by David Halberstam ISBN: 140130057X Publisher: Hyperion Press Pub. Date: 14 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: The Little Red (Sox) Book: A Revisionist Red Sox History by Bill Lee, Jim Prime ISBN: 1572435275 Publisher: Triumph Books Pub. Date: April, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Last Good Season: Brooklyn, the Dodgers, and Their Final Pennant Race Together by MICHAEL SHAPIRO ISBN: 0385501528 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 18 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Impossible Dreams : A Red Sox Collection by Glenn Stout ISBN: 0618303987 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 26 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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