Red Smith on Baseball: The Game's Greatest Writer on the Game's Greatest Years

Red Smith's writing is recognized as the best in the field. Here is a selection of his most memorable columns-175 of them, from 1941 to 1981. His prose...offers lasting lessons about matters journalistic and literary. -Robert Schmuhl, University of Notre Dame. The most admired and gifted sportswriter of his time.... Red Smith's work...tended to be the best writing in any given newspaper on any given day. -David Halberstam, New York Times Book Review

The Trojan War had Homer. Baseball had Red Smith. Through his unmatched diction, allusions and irony, through his penetrating observations and well-considered opinions, through a style verging on poetic--Smith turned the everyday drama that is the game into beautiful, enduring art. This magnificent collection of selected columns showcases some of baseball's mythic figures, revealing that it was Red Smith who helped give them their legendary status. Standouts include pieces on Joe DiMaggio, Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel (whom Smith clearly enjoyed listening to) and Bill Veeck Jr., baseball's greatest promoter. Smith's essays on Bobby Thomson's "shot heard 'round the world," Mickey Mantle's first game and Don Larsen's no-hit pitching in the 1956 World Series are all worthy of memorization, and his trenchant views on the reserve clause and the night World Series games are strikes down the middle. As a bonus, the collection offers readers a fascinating look at how baseball writing has changed over the years, as have American attitudes. By the end, for example, women are no longer referred to as "tomatoes," and "coloreds" have become "blacks." A majority of the essays deal with the three great New York teams and the St. Louis Cardinals, but this should in no way prevent any baseball fan from enjoying this book. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Smith wrote about baseball from the late 1920s until his death in 1982, and that full range is reflected here. He was a columnist for 40 years, and the freedom of that format allowed him to shine. One of his most famous pieces summed up New York Giant Bobby Thomson's pennant-winning home run in 1951: "Now it is done. Now the story ends. And there is no way to tell it. The art of fiction is dead. Reality has strangled invention." Smith's flair for the dramatic was exceeded only by his insight into human nature. His brief profiles often revealed more about his subjects than entire biographies could manage to do. Smith's passion for baseball is also evident here: more than the individual heroes or the memorable games, he cherished the spirit of the game. This collection shows Smith at his best, placing the game on center stage and allowing his own person to fade into the wings. Almost 20 years after his passing, Smith's work still propels readers to the ballpark. Thanks, Red. Wes Lukowsky