Synopsis
A celebration of baseball's past presents dozens of true stories about the game in its halcyon days, many of them taken straight from the mouths of the men who lived them
Reviews
Now 88, Smith ( Baseball ) here recalls sitting on the Boston Red Sox bench in the teen years of the century with the likes of Babe Ruth (then a pitcher), Stuffy McInnis and Wally Schang. He absorbed the tales told not only by these athletes but also by much older men who had played with 19th-century stars Cap Anson, A. G. Spalding and Charley Comiskey. Smith's diamond anecdotes reach back to the 1870s, a feast for readers along with his reminiscences of Waite Hoyt, Hal Chase, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams and such non-players as Judge K. M. Landis, the sport's first czar. With this eyewitness account, Smith makes a valuable contribution to the history of baseball. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Mellifluous essays on the dawn of baseball, by a veteran sportswriter (My Life in the North Woods, 1986, etc.). ``When I inhale the full and mellow fragrance of a new baseball glove,'' writes Smith, ``I find it easy to summon the light of other years around me.'' His evocation begins with his own youth: playing sandlot games with a ball wrapped in black friction tape and watching it crash through a neighbor's window; visiting the Red Sox dugout, where he sees ``an exceptionally happy looking'' Babe Ruth. Baseball was different then: Players cheated in ways that now seem innocent (freezing baseballs to deaden their kick, angling mirrors from the bleachers to blind the batter); every town had its amateur or semipro team; prep schools paid good money to have top players on their roster. From these halcyon days, recalled with tenderness and humor, Smith backpedals to the sport's infancy in the 1860's, when umpires wore top hats and players sanitized their on-field wounds with tobacco juice. Smith resurrects many forgotten names, including great black players from the early Negro Leagues, and, sadly, a number of stars ruined by alcohol, like slugger Ed Delahanty, who tumbled down Niagara Falls. As he returns to the 20th century, his opinions sharpen: Among pitchers, Satchel Paige--who entered the major leagues in his 40s, a victim of the boycott against blacks--was ``quite possibly the best who ever lived''; legendary Commissioner Judge Landis was ``possessed of a breathtaking egotism.'' He pooh-poohs Joe DiMaggio's famed hitting streak, warms to Mickey Mantle's accounts of boyhood antics, and, stepping outside the diamond, paints a devastating portrait of restauranteur Toots Shor--whose establishment catered to many baseball giants--as a whining sycophant. Elegant, lovingly detailed all-star memories. (Sixteen pages of b&w photos--not seen.) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Smith, who was born in 1905, authored the praised Baseball in 1947. Here he writes intimately of the game before 1950, recalling both his own play in sandlot and pickup games and the early stars he saw or about whom he heard stories. He speaks fondly of Babe Ruth, Dizzy Dean, and other famous players--especially on the Red Sox team--but criticizes the early game's banning of black players and faults Judge Landis's handling of gambling. He rounds out his tale with stories of baseball's origins and the Civil War's influence, the game of softball, minor league hijinks, and the misadventures of umpires. This excellent and highly enjoyable book is warmly recommended for any sports collection.
- Morey Berger, St. Joseph's Hosp. Medical Lib., Tucson
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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