While writer Cait Murphy's work usually can be found in financial or business magazines internationally, for her first book she has turned her attention to a topic that hits a more personal note for her. In "Crazy '08" she takes us back to the world of baseball a century ago.
Long before the Babe made history, or Maris and Mantle battled it out on the ball field to set a record, there was a ragtag group of men who came from poor mining and farming communities. They were looking for a way out of the tedious, back-breaking labor and if they had a lot of talent and a lot of luck, they could find a reprieve on one of the relatively new major league baseball teams.
While this historical Smithsonian Books publication may hold brief interest for the casual sports fan, only true lovers of the game of baseball will appreciate the detail and in-depth analysis of the 1908 baseball season. The book begins aptly enough with some facts and stories from the end of the 19th century, including a funny anecdote about a game in which several runners scored while the fielder fought with a horse for a ball that had rolled under a carriage! This early section sets the background for the main focus of the book.
Once the author starts in on the 1908 events and players, we meet such interesting characters as Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown, one of the best pitchers of his day despite an industrial accident that disfigured his hand. And John McGraw, relentless manager of the New York Giants, well known for his temper and colorful language. Readers learn how increasing fires in overcrowded bleachers led to new and more technologically advanced architecture for games, as with Shibe Park in Philadelphia.
Putting it into perspective, the writer wraps up to mention how 1908 was also the year of the Model T Ford, and the first long distance radio transmission. It was a different world altogether from the modernity we are used to today, with live broadcasts, instant replays to help decide close plays, night games, and crazy player salaries!
The book concludes with a brief summary of what each of the major characters we have met along the way went on to do after baseball. Many settled down with a small business in a little town somewhere. Others did not meet with happy endings.
The next portion is a vast (and I do mean vast) and dizzying collection of reference notes from the book. I skipped over these as I read, as there were so very many I would have been constantly distracted and would never have made it through the book! There is also a bibliography and finally, a special Q & A with the author of the book, giving further background on how and why she chose this particular topic and what research she did to make it happen.
rate
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 14
Then I work for some town kids leagues. They had odd names like Patriots, Celtics etc, anything but baseball names. I ask why. They told me that the major leagues require any team that use a major team name had to pay a fee. At that time it was $50 per team.
There is more but that is why I won't support baseball or let my grandkids play.