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Title: Rogers Hornsby: A Biography by Charles C. Alexander ISBN: 0-8050-2002-0 Publisher: Henry Holt & Co Pub. Date: 01 July, 1995 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (5 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: OK, as far as it goes
Comment: This is the third book I've read by Alexander, which I suppose is evidence that his books are readable.
In the end they all share the same strengths and weaknesses.
For a straightforward narrative of the key points of Hornsby's career and life, this is perfectly OK.
But the book really stays on the surface. For example, there is never any in-depth discussion of techniques of batting or fielding. It's like reading a book on Napoleon without finding anything about the nature of warfare in the period.
Also, there is very little meangingful discussion of Hornsby's relative baseball greatness. Alexander doesn't need to become a zealous SABRmetrician, but some basic statistics about Hornsby and others (beyond saying what the average batting average for the league was in a given year) seems called for. Alexander doesn't even include a table or appendix with Hornsby's basic statistics.
I've given this 3 stars, because for the general reader it's OK. If I were rating it as serious history, I'd give it a 1. You come away from this book unaware that there have been lots of serious books written about baseball and its relation to society. Alexander's attempts to provide historical context are embarassing--on the order of, "The same continued hot, dry weather than made the Great Plains a Dust Bowl was present on Opening Day 1936 [my paraphrase, to be honest]".
In short, there is the same strain of intellectual laziness in this book that I saw in his others.
Rating: 4
Summary: Great capture of a baseball enigma
Comment: Alexander captures Hornsby and his times perfectly. While not as readable as the author's previous "Ty Cobb", this is due more to Hornsby's general colorlessness than in Alexander's writing. As enigmatic as Hornsby was, Alexander does a great job in telling the life of the man who hit for the highest average in the 20th century.
Rating: 5
Summary: Most Complete on Hornsby
Comment: Mr. Alexander extensivly researched the life of Rogers Hornsby. This book represents the fruit of his labor. The book can get dry in places while describing Hornsby's on field achievements-letting the feats speak for themselves; just as Hornsby would have wanted it. This is hardly a flaw for those who want to know the truth and not the myth of the best righthanded hitting machine EVER.
While not hated like Ty Cobb, Hornsby certianly had just as few friends. He was cold, short with people, humorless and offensivly blunt. His personality got him traded, fired, divorced and shunned. Alexander doesn't try to add personality where Hornsby didn't have one. He let Hornsby's baseball tunnel vision be the focus. Blunt- just like Hornsby.
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Title: Ol'Pete: The Grover Cleveland Alexander Story by Jack Kavanagh ISBN: 1888698039 Publisher: Diamond Communications Pub. Date: 01 August, 1996 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: The Player: Christy Mathewson, Baseball, and the American Century by Philip M. Seib ISBN: 1568582684 Publisher: Four Walls Eight Windows Pub. Date: 10 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: Stengel: His Life and Times by Robert W. Creamer ISBN: 0803263678 Publisher: University of Nebraska Press Pub. Date: 01 January, 1996 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: John McGraw by Charles C. Alexander ISBN: 0803259255 Publisher: University of Nebraska Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 1995 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Ed Delahanty in the Emerald Age of Baseball by Jerrold Casway ISBN: 0268022852 Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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