From Publishers Weekly
In 1903, the first World Series (originally called the "World's Series") ended five games to three-in a best-of-nine series-with a Boston Pilgrims win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. In this comprehensive retrospective, Enders (Ballparks: Then and Now; Play Ball!) uses that series to begin his historical jog around the bases. He labels the first decade and a half of baseball "The Deadball Era" (1903-1919), a time when baseball experienced an expansion of teams and a change in philosophy ("the question was not whether you could hit home runs, but whether you could get a bunt down and steal bases"). From there, Enders guides readers through "Baseball Between Wars" and "The Free Agent Era" (1976-1994) to "The Reign of the Sluggers" (1995-2002). The book includes more than 600 photos, both black and white and color, of the teams and players in action-along with sidebar statistics of every World Series.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Booklist
The centennial of baseball's World Series has occasioned a torrent of new books celebrating the Fall Classic--histories, memoirs, and, of course, coffee-table pictorials. In the latter category, this gorgeous, eye-popping survey clearly bats clean-up. The text is organized chronologically, with chapters grouping the 100 World Series by theme ("The Deadball Era, 1902-1919" or "The Free Agent Era, 1976-1994"). Sportswriter Enders' series-by-series commentary summarizes the action, provides appropriate backstory, and flashes forward to set the stars' careers in context. Occasional sidebars on related topics--"Negro League World Series"; "World Series on the Air"--add spice. The real treat, though, is the photos. Crisply reproduced and attractively displayed, the more than 600 images, mostly action shots, freeze the great moments of Series history and ignite fans' memories: Sandy Koufax in full stride (see this issue's cover); Bill Buckner's fatal error; and on and on. That, after all, is the real purpose of this kind of book: to serve as a launching pad for fans' imaginations, sending us back in time to where we were when Mays made his catch or Larsen threw the perfect game or Mazeroski hit his homer. Granted, you need to be a certain age for the above examples to have full impact, but that's the point, too: the World Series is a shared rite linking baseball fans of all ages, and this nostalgia-soaked tribute lets us pick our poison where we may. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
