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The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It
From the Preface:
This new enlarged edition of The Glory of Their Times contains the complete text and all the photographs that were in the original book, published in 1966, plus for the first time the first-person stories of four additional major-league players - George Gibson, Babe Herman, Specs Toporcer, and Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg.
This new enlarged edition of The Glory of Their Times contains the complete text and all the photographs that were in the original book, published in 1966, plus for the first time the first-person stories of four additional major-league players - George Gibson, Babe Herman, Specs Toporcer, and Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg.
360 pages, Paperback
First published September 26, 1966
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December 15, 2008
This is a must-read for baseball fans. I know there aren’t that many people who give a shit about baseball but I have really grown to appreciate it. This book is a transcription of interviews with baseball players who played around the turn of the century. It was published in the 60’s.
The stories are great and I just have to wonder what happened to this sport. It was such in integral part of American culture (the little that exists) and it’s really fallen by the wayside. It was mentioned in the book that the evolution of the ball itself really changed the sport. Fields used to be huge and the balls were heavy and hard to hit. There were some references to how the fans became more interested in seeing homers and high scoring games. The balls changed to accommodate. I tend to agree that this dramatically influenced the decline of the sport. Baseball has often been referred to as “the thinking man’s sport”. I couldn’t agree more. There are so many subtleties and strategies that go unnoticed. I love the thinking aspect and almost all of the players interviewed talk about how you had to be smart and they were often penalized for not thinking on the field. Many of them were college educated and made little money as professional players. That’s quite a difference by today’s standards.
I really appreciated this book and learned a lot. My favorite player interview is with Fred Snodgrass, it was funny and charming. I also learned about Jim Thorpe (http://www.cmgww.com/sports/thorpe/) and pretty much had my heart broken over it. I never knew anything about him until reading this book. Jim Thorpe was Native American. He was described as the greatest athlete of the 20th century having earned 2 gold medals in the 1912 Olympics. The King of Sweden presented him with an award declaring him “the greatest athlete that ever lived”. He had his medals stripped from him the following year because he played two seasons of semi-pro baseball which made him ineligible in the eyes of the Olympic Committee. They took his medals back and removed his name from the record books. This is the part of the story that broke my heart:
"Jim was very proud of the great things he'd done. A very proud man....Very late one night Jim came in and woke me up. ... He was crying, and tears were rolling down his cheeks. `You know, Chief,' he said, `the King of Sweden gave me those trophies, he gave them to me. But they took them away from me. They're mine, Chief; I won them fair and square.' It broke his heart and he never really recovered."
-- Chief Meyers, Thorpe's roommate and catcher for the New York Giants
I almost felt like I had to lead a crusade to have his medals restored but someone beat me to it. They were restored long after he died in 1982. He died of a heart attack, alone… in a trailer. Sigh. The least I can do is tell the story of his injustice.
The stories are great and I just have to wonder what happened to this sport. It was such in integral part of American culture (the little that exists) and it’s really fallen by the wayside. It was mentioned in the book that the evolution of the ball itself really changed the sport. Fields used to be huge and the balls were heavy and hard to hit. There were some references to how the fans became more interested in seeing homers and high scoring games. The balls changed to accommodate. I tend to agree that this dramatically influenced the decline of the sport. Baseball has often been referred to as “the thinking man’s sport”. I couldn’t agree more. There are so many subtleties and strategies that go unnoticed. I love the thinking aspect and almost all of the players interviewed talk about how you had to be smart and they were often penalized for not thinking on the field. Many of them were college educated and made little money as professional players. That’s quite a difference by today’s standards.
I really appreciated this book and learned a lot. My favorite player interview is with Fred Snodgrass, it was funny and charming. I also learned about Jim Thorpe (http://www.cmgww.com/sports/thorpe/) and pretty much had my heart broken over it. I never knew anything about him until reading this book. Jim Thorpe was Native American. He was described as the greatest athlete of the 20th century having earned 2 gold medals in the 1912 Olympics. The King of Sweden presented him with an award declaring him “the greatest athlete that ever lived”. He had his medals stripped from him the following year because he played two seasons of semi-pro baseball which made him ineligible in the eyes of the Olympic Committee. They took his medals back and removed his name from the record books. This is the part of the story that broke my heart:
"Jim was very proud of the great things he'd done. A very proud man....Very late one night Jim came in and woke me up. ... He was crying, and tears were rolling down his cheeks. `You know, Chief,' he said, `the King of Sweden gave me those trophies, he gave them to me. But they took them away from me. They're mine, Chief; I won them fair and square.' It broke his heart and he never really recovered."
-- Chief Meyers, Thorpe's roommate and catcher for the New York Giants
I almost felt like I had to lead a crusade to have his medals restored but someone beat me to it. They were restored long after he died in 1982. He died of a heart attack, alone… in a trailer. Sigh. The least I can do is tell the story of his injustice.
March 12, 2016
All these were honored in their generation,
And were the glory of their times.
Ecclesiasticus 44:7
Boston Red Sox, spring traing, 1915. Hot Springs Arkansas
Highlighted players, left to right
Smokey Joe Wood
Dutch Leonard
Babe Ruth
Carl Mays
Germany Schaefer (not on team, happened to be in town)
(to enlarge photo, click, click again on Flickr)
This is a TOP TEN book in my baseball library.
Availability. IN PRINT – New, used, Kindle, audio – all available.
Type. PLAYERS/ERA/HISTORY
Use. READ/[EH?]
_explanation_
The author, Lawrence Ritter (1922-2004), was born in New York City. Taught economics and finance for thirty years at New York University. During part of that time he held the chairmanship of the Department of Finance and Business at NYU’s Graduate School of Business Administration. (Adding the dates and years up suggests that Ritter continued his academic career into the middle or late 1970s.) He co-wrote, with two others, a college textbook, Principles of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets, published in 1974 and reprinted in many editions.
But, like the evolutionary biologist Steven J. Gould, Ritter had a lifelong love affair with baseball. In the original preface to this book, he writes,
Tracking them down was not always easy.
The book has tons of great photos, and 26 chapters, each chronicling the taped words of a player. They read as if they’ve been edited a bit – no ums and ahs, no garbled sentences. All the text is in the voice of the player, there are no words of Ritter’s. Let’s call these monologues “stories”.
Each player winds his own way through his story, going where his memory leads him – at least that’s the way it’s been put together. Each chapter is unique, different sorts of memories, different emphases. Some players talk much more about specific seasons or other players, some seem to try to stroll down memory lane in a connected, chronological manner. Here are a few topics that were frequently touched on.
Babe Ruth
Of the 26 players, 14 mention Ruth.
Contrasting “modern” baseball and the game they played
Recall that most of these tapes were made in the early 1960s, so the modern players and game they talk of were of that era, say the 1950s and early 60s. (They had no notion of the exploding salaries of the free-agent era). About the only one who insists that the old players were better than modern players is Lefty O’Doul. Although he admits that a player like Mays is probably as fast, and as good a fielder, as the old timers, he says that he couldn’t approach the hitting abilities of Ruth, or Cobb, or Joe Jackson. But others, such as Fred Snodgrass and Chief Meyers, do think that the old timers had to be more intelligent, had to use their heads more in the old game.
And, in general, when that old game is contrasted to the modern one, the differences center around things like the speed of the old game, not just of the players, but of the play of the game, how there wasn’t all the time-wasting found in the modern game, as well as things like the emphasis on scoring a run or two instead of waiting for a home run, more strategy. And the toughness of those old players, being injured more often because of the equipment, the playing conditions, the hard to see balls, then continuing to play when injured (only 17 man rosters in the game until around 1910).
A long-gone era
Some of the memories speak to the differences in those past years, not in baseball, but in the very fabric of life. The ubiquity of train transportation, a highlight being Lefty O’Doul’s memory of riding the coal burning train in the Western League in 1917. “If you opened the window you’d be eating soot and cinders all night long. If you closed it you’d roast to death.” Jimmy Austin even recalls travelling between series in Cleveland & Detroit by boat! And growing up in those days for some of these players, where baseball offered an escape from a harsh life. Stan Coveleski remembers when he was 12, in 1902, working in the coal mines in Shamokin PA – 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, paid $3.75 for the 72 hours. Less dangerous work paid less. In 1897 Al Bridwell, age 13, worked a 60 hour week in a shoe factory for a $1.25 paycheck.
The players. In this section I list all the players covered in the book. Like the chapter headings, I give the name of the player, and the years he played in the Major Leagues; as well as the year they were born, and Bill James’ rating of where the player ranks in the top 100 players at his position. Following that, there’s a spoiler where I give some additional information about the player.
Rube Marquard. [1908-25] b.1886,Cleveland.
Tommy Leach. [1898-1918] b.1877,French Creek NY. BJ#20-3B
Davy Jones. [1901-15] b.1880,Cambria Wisconsin.
Sam (Wahoo Sam) Crawford. [1899-1917] b.1880,Wahoo Nebraska. BJ#10-RF
George (Moon) Gibson. [1905-18] b.1880,London,Ontario. BJ#95-C
Jimmy (Pepper) Austin. [1909-22] b.1879,Swansea,Wales. BJ#85-3B
Fred (Snow) Snodgrass. [1908-16] b.1887,Ventura CA.
Stanley (Covey) Coveleski. [1916-28] b.1889,Shamokin PA. BJ#58-P
Al Bridwell . [1905-15] b.1884,Friendship,Ohio.
Harry Hooper. [1909-25] b.1887,Bell Station CA. BJ#43-RF
Joe (Smokey Joe) Wood. [1908-22] b.1889,Kansas City. BJ#94-P
Chief Meyers. [1909-17] b.1880,Riverside CA. BJ#60-C
Hans (Honus) Lobert. [1903-17] b.1881,Wilmington Delaware. BJ#68-3B
Rube Bressler. [1914-32] b.1894,Coder PA.
Babe Herman. [1926-45] b.1903,Buffalo NY. BJ#50-RF
Edd Roush. [1913-31] b.1893,Oakland City Indiana. BJ#15-CF
Bill (Wamby) Wambsganss. [1914-26] b.1894,Cleveland Ohio. BJ#111-2B
Sad Sam (Horsewhips Sam) Jones. [1914-35] b.1892,Woodsfield Ohio.
Bob O'Farrell. [1915-35] b.1896,Waukegan Illinois. BJ#46-C
Specs Toporcer. [1921-28] b.1899,New York City.
Lefty O'Doul. [1919-34] b.1897,San Francisco. BJ#52-LF
Goose Goslin. [1921-38] b.1900,Salem NJ. BJ#16-LF
Willie Kamm. [1923-35] b.1900,San Francisco. BJ#62-3B
Heinie Groh. [1912-27] b.1889, Rochester NY. BJ#21-3B
Hank Greenberg. [1933-47] b.1911,New York City. BJ#8-1B
Paul (Big Poison) Waner. [1926-45] b.1903,Harrah Oklahoma. BJ#9-RF
As Waner concludes his story, and the book:
“I don’t know … it all seems like it happened only yesterday.”
_next TOP TEN_
_to MAJOR LEAGUES_
And were the glory of their times.
Ecclesiasticus 44:7
Boston Red Sox, spring traing, 1915. Hot Springs Arkansas
Highlighted players, left to right
Smokey Joe Wood
Dutch Leonard
Babe Ruth
Carl Mays
Germany Schaefer (not on team, happened to be in town)
(to enlarge photo, click, click again on Flickr)
This is a TOP TEN book in my baseball library.
Availability. IN PRINT – New, used, Kindle, audio – all available.
Type. PLAYERS/ERA/HISTORY
Use. READ/[EH?]
_explanation_
The author, Lawrence Ritter (1922-2004), was born in New York City. Taught economics and finance for thirty years at New York University. During part of that time he held the chairmanship of the Department of Finance and Business at NYU’s Graduate School of Business Administration. (Adding the dates and years up suggests that Ritter continued his academic career into the middle or late 1970s.) He co-wrote, with two others, a college textbook, Principles of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets, published in 1974 and reprinted in many editions.
But, like the evolutionary biologist Steven J. Gould, Ritter had a lifelong love affair with baseball. In the original preface to this book, he writes,
I first thought of this book back in 1961, when Ty Cobb died in Atlanta Georgia, at the age of seventy-four. It seemed to me then that someone should do something, and do it quickly, to record for the future the remembrances of a sport that has played such a significant role in American life. Ty Cobb symbolized America from the turn of the century to World War I perhaps better than any other single figure, just as Babe Ruth symbolized America between the wars.Ritter took this task upon himself, and over the next several years found time to travel 75,000 miles with a tape recorder, tracking down men who had played the game in the early part of the century. When he found them (seldom easily) his style was to make them comfortable in conversation, then just let the tape roll. He writes that his role was that of “catalyst, audience, and chronicler.” He didn’t ask them specific questions, just wanted them to talk.
Tracking them down was not always easy.
The book has tons of great photos, and 26 chapters, each chronicling the taped words of a player. They read as if they’ve been edited a bit – no ums and ahs, no garbled sentences. All the text is in the voice of the player, there are no words of Ritter’s. Let’s call these monologues “stories”.
Each player winds his own way through his story, going where his memory leads him – at least that’s the way it’s been put together. Each chapter is unique, different sorts of memories, different emphases. Some players talk much more about specific seasons or other players, some seem to try to stroll down memory lane in a connected, chronological manner. Here are a few topics that were frequently touched on.
Babe Ruth
Of the 26 players, 14 mention Ruth.
Contrasting “modern” baseball and the game they played
Recall that most of these tapes were made in the early 1960s, so the modern players and game they talk of were of that era, say the 1950s and early 60s. (They had no notion of the exploding salaries of the free-agent era). About the only one who insists that the old players were better than modern players is Lefty O’Doul. Although he admits that a player like Mays is probably as fast, and as good a fielder, as the old timers, he says that he couldn’t approach the hitting abilities of Ruth, or Cobb, or Joe Jackson. But others, such as Fred Snodgrass and Chief Meyers, do think that the old timers had to be more intelligent, had to use their heads more in the old game.
And, in general, when that old game is contrasted to the modern one, the differences center around things like the speed of the old game, not just of the players, but of the play of the game, how there wasn’t all the time-wasting found in the modern game, as well as things like the emphasis on scoring a run or two instead of waiting for a home run, more strategy. And the toughness of those old players, being injured more often because of the equipment, the playing conditions, the hard to see balls, then continuing to play when injured (only 17 man rosters in the game until around 1910).
A long-gone era
Some of the memories speak to the differences in those past years, not in baseball, but in the very fabric of life. The ubiquity of train transportation, a highlight being Lefty O’Doul’s memory of riding the coal burning train in the Western League in 1917. “If you opened the window you’d be eating soot and cinders all night long. If you closed it you’d roast to death.” Jimmy Austin even recalls travelling between series in Cleveland & Detroit by boat! And growing up in those days for some of these players, where baseball offered an escape from a harsh life. Stan Coveleski remembers when he was 12, in 1902, working in the coal mines in Shamokin PA – 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, paid $3.75 for the 72 hours. Less dangerous work paid less. In 1897 Al Bridwell, age 13, worked a 60 hour week in a shoe factory for a $1.25 paycheck.
The players. In this section I list all the players covered in the book. Like the chapter headings, I give the name of the player, and the years he played in the Major Leagues; as well as the year they were born, and Bill James’ rating of where the player ranks in the top 100 players at his position. Following that, there’s a spoiler where I give some additional information about the player.
Rube Marquard. [1908-25] b.1886,Cleveland.
Tommy Leach. [1898-1918] b.1877,French Creek NY. BJ#20-3B
Davy Jones. [1901-15] b.1880,Cambria Wisconsin.
Sam (Wahoo Sam) Crawford. [1899-1917] b.1880,Wahoo Nebraska. BJ#10-RF
George (Moon) Gibson. [1905-18] b.1880,London,Ontario. BJ#95-C
Jimmy (Pepper) Austin. [1909-22] b.1879,Swansea,Wales. BJ#85-3B
Fred (Snow) Snodgrass. [1908-16] b.1887,Ventura CA.
Stanley (Covey) Coveleski. [1916-28] b.1889,Shamokin PA. BJ#58-P
Al Bridwell . [1905-15] b.1884,Friendship,Ohio.
Harry Hooper. [1909-25] b.1887,Bell Station CA. BJ#43-RF
Joe (Smokey Joe) Wood. [1908-22] b.1889,Kansas City. BJ#94-P
Chief Meyers. [1909-17] b.1880,Riverside CA. BJ#60-C
Hans (Honus) Lobert. [1903-17] b.1881,Wilmington Delaware. BJ#68-3B
Rube Bressler. [1914-32] b.1894,Coder PA.
Babe Herman. [1926-45] b.1903,Buffalo NY. BJ#50-RF
Edd Roush. [1913-31] b.1893,Oakland City Indiana. BJ#15-CF
Bill (Wamby) Wambsganss. [1914-26] b.1894,Cleveland Ohio. BJ#111-2B
Sad Sam (Horsewhips Sam) Jones. [1914-35] b.1892,Woodsfield Ohio.
Bob O'Farrell. [1915-35] b.1896,Waukegan Illinois. BJ#46-C
Specs Toporcer. [1921-28] b.1899,New York City.
Lefty O'Doul. [1919-34] b.1897,San Francisco. BJ#52-LF
Goose Goslin. [1921-38] b.1900,Salem NJ. BJ#16-LF
Willie Kamm. [1923-35] b.1900,San Francisco. BJ#62-3B
Heinie Groh. [1912-27] b.1889, Rochester NY. BJ#21-3B
Hank Greenberg. [1933-47] b.1911,New York City. BJ#8-1B
Paul (Big Poison) Waner. [1926-45] b.1903,Harrah Oklahoma. BJ#9-RF
As Waner concludes his story, and the book:
“I don’t know … it all seems like it happened only yesterday.”
_next TOP TEN_
_to MAJOR LEAGUES_
November 21, 2023
This is a wonderful collection of first-person reminiscences from 26 old-time major league baseball players. It's filled with informative anecdotes that are often very entertaining. Reading the players’ stories about their lives and careers, told in their own words, really makes the early days of baseball come alive.
See my full review on my website brianlokker.com.
See my full review on my website brianlokker.com.
March 11, 2012
I would give this book more stars if I could. Maybe 10. This is, hands down, the best baseball book I have ever read! It was absolutely delightful! The book is, if I understand correctly, interviews with ballplayers, transcribed from tapes which now reside in the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown. I had not heard of a lot of these players before, but now love them as much or more than the players I follow today. Players like Rube Marquard, Tommy Leach, Davy Jones, Sam Crawford, to name a few. I knew of Lefty O'Doul and Goose Goslin, Edd Roush, Hank Greenberg, and I think I had heard of Heinie Groh. Such great interviews! And oh, how different this great game was back in those days. Most of these players played around the turn of the 20th century. Many of them played for John McGraw's Giants. There were Pirates, Red Sox, Braves (Boston Braves), Cardinals, and even a few Yankees.
I learned so much from this book. For example the greatest pitcher who ever pitched was Walter Johnson. Or Smokey Joe Wood. Or Christy Mathewson. The greatest hitter ever was Ty Cobb. Or Paul Waner. Or Babe Ruth. The best outfielder ever was Harry Hooper. Or...hopefully you get the picture. Of course, who was best is always relative, and each one of these players has a different idea of who was best. Walter Johnson was quoted as saying that not a man alive could pitch faster than Smokey Joe Wood. While many of the batters said that Walter Johnson had a fast ball that sometimes couldn't even be seen.
I laughed. I cried. I made 26 new "friends." And it made me love baseball all over again. (Not that I stopped, mind you...it just reminded me what a great and glorious game it is.)
One very noticeable thing was that most of these guys talked more about other players than they did themselves. They stood up for people like Fred Merkle who was blamed for the Giants losing the 1908 pennant to the Cubs. They stood up for Fred Snodgrass who was blamed for losing the 1912 World Series. They talked about Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Honus Wagner, who, apparently truly was one of the greatest players to ever play the game. He's more than just a valuable baseball card.
I could go on and on about this one. I intend to keep this book as long as I live and read it over and over again. Perhaps every time I get frustrated with today's crybabies, and every time baseball breaks my heart like it did in 2011, I'll pick this book up and fall in love with it all over again. If you are a baseball fan, read this book. If you're not, perhaps it will make you one.
I learned so much from this book. For example the greatest pitcher who ever pitched was Walter Johnson. Or Smokey Joe Wood. Or Christy Mathewson. The greatest hitter ever was Ty Cobb. Or Paul Waner. Or Babe Ruth. The best outfielder ever was Harry Hooper. Or...hopefully you get the picture. Of course, who was best is always relative, and each one of these players has a different idea of who was best. Walter Johnson was quoted as saying that not a man alive could pitch faster than Smokey Joe Wood. While many of the batters said that Walter Johnson had a fast ball that sometimes couldn't even be seen.
I laughed. I cried. I made 26 new "friends." And it made me love baseball all over again. (Not that I stopped, mind you...it just reminded me what a great and glorious game it is.)
One very noticeable thing was that most of these guys talked more about other players than they did themselves. They stood up for people like Fred Merkle who was blamed for the Giants losing the 1908 pennant to the Cubs. They stood up for Fred Snodgrass who was blamed for losing the 1912 World Series. They talked about Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Honus Wagner, who, apparently truly was one of the greatest players to ever play the game. He's more than just a valuable baseball card.
I could go on and on about this one. I intend to keep this book as long as I live and read it over and over again. Perhaps every time I get frustrated with today's crybabies, and every time baseball breaks my heart like it did in 2011, I'll pick this book up and fall in love with it all over again. If you are a baseball fan, read this book. If you're not, perhaps it will make you one.
February 24, 2020
Per the advice of a fellow baseball book lover, I listened to the last 25% on audio - that was fantastic! Whether audio, e-book, or hardcover, this book is a baseball classic and deserves all the praise it gets. With so many reviews of this book pretty much covering everything I had to say about it, I will skip writing a formal review and just say that every good thing this book has brought out in other reviewers, I agree wholeheartedly. The stories have such an air of authenticity when Ritter just turned on the recorder and let them talk. If you read baseball books and have waited too long to pick it up, like I did, do yourself a favor and end that self-ban now.
March 26, 2017
This is a wonderful book, nostalgic but still powerful. The author tape recorded interviews with many old-time baseball players in the mod 1960s. He essential transcribed the recordings and published them in this book. The result is a first person narrative by many players from the very late 1800s through the 1940s. In a later edition, a handful of new interviews was included. The result is very interesting and even riveting.
One way of addressing this is simply to note some of those interviewed--the greats and the not-so-great: Rube Marquard, Sam Crawford, Fred Snodgrass, Joe Wood, Babe Herman, Specs Toporcor, Goose Goslin, Hank Greenberg, and Paul Waner. Each gives his sense of their career, their times, and the game of baseball. Many of the comments are awfully insightful. The vignettes also provide a sense of what baseball was like in the very late 19th century and first half of the 20th century.
For baseball fans, this classic is still well worth reading. . . .
One way of addressing this is simply to note some of those interviewed--the greats and the not-so-great: Rube Marquard, Sam Crawford, Fred Snodgrass, Joe Wood, Babe Herman, Specs Toporcor, Goose Goslin, Hank Greenberg, and Paul Waner. Each gives his sense of their career, their times, and the game of baseball. Many of the comments are awfully insightful. The vignettes also provide a sense of what baseball was like in the very late 19th century and first half of the 20th century.
For baseball fans, this classic is still well worth reading. . . .
July 20, 2017
Great read on the beginning of baseball and the talented players. If you like baseball like me then this is the book for you.
June 27, 2025
This book (and audiobook) contains reminiscences of old-time baseball players. Ritter interviewed them in the early 1960s just after Ty Cobb had died. Featured players include Jimmy Austin, Al Bridwell, Stan Coveleski, Sam Crawford, Goose Goslin, Davy Jones, Tommy Leach, Hans Lobert, Rube Marquard, Jack Meyers, Lefty O’Doul, Fred Snodgrass, Bill Wambsganss, Joe Wood, and more. Only Paul Waner played in the 1940s, the rest played during the 1890s to 1930s.
All these guys are gone now (and have been for many years), and it is just wonderful to listen to them talk about the famous players of the past, and how the game was played. I found a copy of both the paperback and audiobook, so I cross-referenced as I read/listened. There are a few differences, I assume due to Ritter’s fact-checking (these are “old guys telling stories,” which are mostly true but reliant on memory). I highly recommend the audiobook, which contains recordings of the actual interviews. If you are at all interested in baseball history, this book is an absolute gem.
All these guys are gone now (and have been for many years), and it is just wonderful to listen to them talk about the famous players of the past, and how the game was played. I found a copy of both the paperback and audiobook, so I cross-referenced as I read/listened. There are a few differences, I assume due to Ritter’s fact-checking (these are “old guys telling stories,” which are mostly true but reliant on memory). I highly recommend the audiobook, which contains recordings of the actual interviews. If you are at all interested in baseball history, this book is an absolute gem.
June 22, 2017
A fascinating and, at times, moving account of the early days of baseball, told by the players themselves. Amongst the many stories you will hear of the player who stole 1st base... from 2nd!... and the man who turned an unassisted triple play in the World Series.
Even if you've no interest in the game itself, the audiobook (actually a compendium of interview footage with the players themselves) will hold you captive through sheer charm alone. I'd recommend this to anyone.
Even if you've no interest in the game itself, the audiobook (actually a compendium of interview footage with the players themselves) will hold you captive through sheer charm alone. I'd recommend this to anyone.
December 31, 2012
I am a huge baseball fan, and really appreciate the history of the game. I've watched Ken Burns' Baseball probably a half-dozen times. As such, I'm the exact target audience for Lawrence S. Ritter's book, The Glory of Their Times: The Story Of The Early Days Of Baseball Told By The Men Who Played It. This book was absolutely fantastic, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone with any interest at all in baseball. Even if you aren't currently interested in the game's history, you will be by the time you finish The Glory of Their Times.
Originally published in 1966 including interviews with 22 players from the early 20th century, and expanded in 1984 with an additional four player interviews, Ritter sets out to capture the memories of the earliest players of the game for the ages, and does so brilliantly. The book consists of a chapter for each player interviewed, and Ritter lets the player tell their own story in their own way. It's absolutely fascinating to hear these players echoing through the decades and describing the way they played the game, their careers, their teammates, their managers, the business of baseball, and even the fans of the day as seen from the player's view.
One of the aspects of the book that I enjoyed most is that many of the players discuss the same events or players, including each other, and it's great getting different takes on all of that. You'll hear all about what the players of the day, including his teammates, thought of Merkle's Boner, or what it was like to play with or against Ty Cobb, or what manager John McGraw was like to play for. By the time you finish the book, you'll feel like you've gotten to know all these other players just as well as the men interviewed, who range from Hall of Famers like Sam Crawford or Paul Waner to a career utility player like Specs Torporcer.
Baseball fans who, like me, have enjoyed Ken Burns' Baseball documentary should read this book. In fact, I re-watched Baseball (once again) only a couple months before reading The Glory of Their Times, and I recognized many of the stories and quotes from the early episodes of Baseball as having come straight from these interviews. So, if you enjoyed those, there's a lot more like that here for you.
Another part of the book that is well done is the inclusion of many, many photographs. Ritter gives the reader pictures of all the interviewees and many of the people they talk about, and the pictures are included in the text when relevant, instead of in a glossy insert in the middle of the book, so they're very effective in helping the reader visualize the events being described.
I highly recommend The Glory of Their Times. It's a magnificent book that does a wondrous job of drawing the reader into the early days of baseball.
Originally published in 1966 including interviews with 22 players from the early 20th century, and expanded in 1984 with an additional four player interviews, Ritter sets out to capture the memories of the earliest players of the game for the ages, and does so brilliantly. The book consists of a chapter for each player interviewed, and Ritter lets the player tell their own story in their own way. It's absolutely fascinating to hear these players echoing through the decades and describing the way they played the game, their careers, their teammates, their managers, the business of baseball, and even the fans of the day as seen from the player's view.
One of the aspects of the book that I enjoyed most is that many of the players discuss the same events or players, including each other, and it's great getting different takes on all of that. You'll hear all about what the players of the day, including his teammates, thought of Merkle's Boner, or what it was like to play with or against Ty Cobb, or what manager John McGraw was like to play for. By the time you finish the book, you'll feel like you've gotten to know all these other players just as well as the men interviewed, who range from Hall of Famers like Sam Crawford or Paul Waner to a career utility player like Specs Torporcer.
Baseball fans who, like me, have enjoyed Ken Burns' Baseball documentary should read this book. In fact, I re-watched Baseball (once again) only a couple months before reading The Glory of Their Times, and I recognized many of the stories and quotes from the early episodes of Baseball as having come straight from these interviews. So, if you enjoyed those, there's a lot more like that here for you.
Another part of the book that is well done is the inclusion of many, many photographs. Ritter gives the reader pictures of all the interviewees and many of the people they talk about, and the pictures are included in the text when relevant, instead of in a glossy insert in the middle of the book, so they're very effective in helping the reader visualize the events being described.
I highly recommend The Glory of Their Times. It's a magnificent book that does a wondrous job of drawing the reader into the early days of baseball.
May 1, 2012
Being a die hard baseball fan, I am always on the look out for great baseball books. And after reading numerous lists of favorite baseball books by Amazon.com readers, it seemed that there was one unanimous choice, The Glory of Their Times, by Lawrence Ritter. And let me say, that I wasn't dissapointed in the least. The beauty of this book is that you feel like you yourself are sitting down with the different players interviewed and having them regale you with stories about playing baseball in the early 20th Century or earlier. The players interviewed are not all household names which adds so much to it. Most of us know the exploits of Cobb and Ruth. Not as many know the stories of Harry Hooper, Wahoo Sam Crawford, and Paul Waner to name just a few. This book is a pleasure to read through and all I can say is thank God that Mr. Ritter wrote this book when he did as all of the players interview here have since passed on I believe. Don't miss this book! (originally posted on Amazon.com)
July 25, 2013
I can't remember any of my 10th grade teachers. I couldn't tell you what I did for my birthday last year. I have no memory of what I ate for lunch yesterday. But I still remember the exact location of the pitch that lost my Little League championship when I was 15.
That's the most impressive part about this book: the amazingly detailed recollections of old ballplayers about their playing days decades earlier. They can remember stats, conversations, and crazy plays with such clarity and enthusiasm it'll make you wish Ritter had interviewed even more players.
Reading these stories feels like sitting on your grandpa's knee while he regales you for hours. Not my grandpa, though, he's 90 and it would crush him.
I would consider this book essential reading for anyone who loves baseball. Or old people.
That's the most impressive part about this book: the amazingly detailed recollections of old ballplayers about their playing days decades earlier. They can remember stats, conversations, and crazy plays with such clarity and enthusiasm it'll make you wish Ritter had interviewed even more players.
Reading these stories feels like sitting on your grandpa's knee while he regales you for hours. Not my grandpa, though, he's 90 and it would crush him.
I would consider this book essential reading for anyone who loves baseball. Or old people.
August 21, 2009
This is the book to be read by those who wish to truly understand the history of baseball. It is stories told to the author by those who lived them, including some of the very best of professional baseball's early players. I own several large shelves of baseball books, but this is the one I lend out the most and I recommend it to anyone who asks.
July 9, 2012
One of the all-time great baseball books.
October 8, 2024
This book was so so delightful…I feel sheepish calling it a book because it was really just recordings of the interviews done with a bunch of adorable old baseball players. Top notch. Highly recommend. Such easy, enjoyable listening.
January 20, 2025
Fantastic. You don't have to be a baseball historian to appreciate the pictures painted by these former players recalling their glory years. Hall of famers and utility men. Every chapter was a delight. There was a thru-line of all the ballplayers interviewed. An unwavering love of the game. Simply timeless in the way we are reminded of why we love this often frustrating game built upon failure. Their anecdotes often resonate with the state of the game nearly 100 years later. A must-read for anyone who loves the game of baseball. The Snodgrass and Specs Toporcer chapters alone are worth the price of admission. The baseball gods smile upon this time capsule from beginning to end.
December 17, 2024
Two incredible baseball books in one year! I’m a lucky guy. This was a delightful read and made me feel like I was in the room with the players. The sport was SO different back then, yet its universally nerdy nature makes it easy to connect with the events being described. Some of these dudes were super funny and I wish I had the opportunity to chat with an old-timer like this. Thanks Leah for the fantastic birthday gift!
Read
July 31, 2025a great listen, I think baseball has a reputation for being the most "literary" sport and I can see why. The game is built for storytelling. if I weren't in the thick of work rn I'd love to relax to a Red Sox or Twins game at home
March 10, 2017
THE GLORY OF THEIR TIMES was the brainchild of Lawrence Ritter. He taught finance at New York University, but was an avid baseball fan too. During his vacations, he sought out and interviewed baseball players who had played in the major leagues during the early years of the 20th century. Originally, in 1966, Ritter published a version of GLORY featuring edited transcripts of his interviews. Then in 1998, working with Henry Thomas and Neal McCabe, Ritter published the audio book that I listened to. It consists of 5 hours of interviews recorded by Ritter between 1961 and 1966. These interviews are truly wonderful for any baseball fan. The original recordings now reside in Cooperstown and the University of Notre Dame.
Though these interviews were not focused on the Chicago Cubs, they are relevant to the Cubs because they add new information concerning two events in baseball history that relate to the significance of the Cubs’ 2016 World Series Championship and its place in baseball history. I will limit this short review to those two events.
The first was the infamous Merkle’s Boner. Many of you probably know of this incident. Late in the 1908 season, the Cubs and the New York Giants were embroiled in a tight race for the National League pennant when the Giants hosted the Cubs at the Old Polo grounds in New York City. Fred Merkle, a rookie first baseman for the Giants, was making his first start ever in a major league baseball game. The teams had battled to a 1-1 tie when the Giants came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth. Art Devlin singled for the Giants. He was forced at second on a grounder by Moose McCormick. Merkle then singled McCormick to third. With two outs, Al Bridewell then hit an apparent single to centerfield scoring McCormick and winning the game for the Giants. But believing the game to be over and with the crowd spilling out into the field (as was customary at the Polo Grounds in those days), Merkle headed directly to the Giants’ locker room which the players entered through a door in the outfield. The problem was he did not touch second base first. Noting Merkle’s blunder, Cubs’ second baseman Johnny Evers called for the ball and completed the force out at second. McCormick’s run did not count and the game ended in a tie.
I am leaving out a lot of details, but the call was highly controversial for a variety of reasons. (There are several competing versions that you can find online.) However, the league upheld the call and the result was that the regular season ended a few weeks later with the Cubs and Giants tied. The Cubs won the make up game and went on to win the 1908 World Series. But for that strange play, the 1908 Cubs championship would never have occurred. Fred Snodgrass, the Giants’ centerfielder, defended Merkle when Ritter interviewed Snodgrass decades later. He explained that because the Polo Grounds crowd quickly swarmed the field upon the final play in those days, the players typically bolted for the locker room to beat the crowd. Merkle only did what the players had been doing all season, according to Snodgrass.
Before the Cubs’ miraculous come back victory in game 7 last year, many historians of baseball had considered the Red Sox comeback in the bottom of the 10th of game eight of the 1912 World Series to be the greatest in World Series history. (The Series went eight games that year because game 2 had ended in a tie after 11 innings.) GLORY provides a gripping account of the final half inning. With Christy Mathewson pitching, the Giants led the Sox 2 – 1. Clyde Engle led off with an easy fly ball to (the aforementioned) Fred Snodgrass in centerfield. Inexplicably, the usually sure-handed Snodgrass muffed the ball putting Engle on second base. Harry Hooper then hit a screamer to center that Snodgrass made a fine running play on for the first out, but Engle was able to advance to third. Mathewson then walked Steve Yerkes. Another infamous play then followed. Tris Speaker hit a high pop fly down the first base line. The Giants’ first baseman Fred (now known as “Bonehead”) Merkle was closest, but Mathewson called for his catcher Chief Meyers to take it. Meyers was farther away than either Mathewson or Merkle and did not make the play. The ball fell foul. In GLORY, Meyers explained that Mathewson had called for Meyers to take it because Merkle “had not been too steady”. Legend has it that Speaker then yelled at Mathewson that he had made the wrong call and now “would pay for it”. Speaker then singled Engle home, Yerkes advancing to third. Mathewson walked Duffy Lewis to set up a possible double play, but Larry Gardner hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Yerkes. The Sox won the game and the series.
I still like the end to the 2016 Series better, but 1912 sounds like a great one too. And isn’t this game endlessly fascinating?
Though these interviews were not focused on the Chicago Cubs, they are relevant to the Cubs because they add new information concerning two events in baseball history that relate to the significance of the Cubs’ 2016 World Series Championship and its place in baseball history. I will limit this short review to those two events.
The first was the infamous Merkle’s Boner. Many of you probably know of this incident. Late in the 1908 season, the Cubs and the New York Giants were embroiled in a tight race for the National League pennant when the Giants hosted the Cubs at the Old Polo grounds in New York City. Fred Merkle, a rookie first baseman for the Giants, was making his first start ever in a major league baseball game. The teams had battled to a 1-1 tie when the Giants came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth. Art Devlin singled for the Giants. He was forced at second on a grounder by Moose McCormick. Merkle then singled McCormick to third. With two outs, Al Bridewell then hit an apparent single to centerfield scoring McCormick and winning the game for the Giants. But believing the game to be over and with the crowd spilling out into the field (as was customary at the Polo Grounds in those days), Merkle headed directly to the Giants’ locker room which the players entered through a door in the outfield. The problem was he did not touch second base first. Noting Merkle’s blunder, Cubs’ second baseman Johnny Evers called for the ball and completed the force out at second. McCormick’s run did not count and the game ended in a tie.
I am leaving out a lot of details, but the call was highly controversial for a variety of reasons. (There are several competing versions that you can find online.) However, the league upheld the call and the result was that the regular season ended a few weeks later with the Cubs and Giants tied. The Cubs won the make up game and went on to win the 1908 World Series. But for that strange play, the 1908 Cubs championship would never have occurred. Fred Snodgrass, the Giants’ centerfielder, defended Merkle when Ritter interviewed Snodgrass decades later. He explained that because the Polo Grounds crowd quickly swarmed the field upon the final play in those days, the players typically bolted for the locker room to beat the crowd. Merkle only did what the players had been doing all season, according to Snodgrass.
Before the Cubs’ miraculous come back victory in game 7 last year, many historians of baseball had considered the Red Sox comeback in the bottom of the 10th of game eight of the 1912 World Series to be the greatest in World Series history. (The Series went eight games that year because game 2 had ended in a tie after 11 innings.) GLORY provides a gripping account of the final half inning. With Christy Mathewson pitching, the Giants led the Sox 2 – 1. Clyde Engle led off with an easy fly ball to (the aforementioned) Fred Snodgrass in centerfield. Inexplicably, the usually sure-handed Snodgrass muffed the ball putting Engle on second base. Harry Hooper then hit a screamer to center that Snodgrass made a fine running play on for the first out, but Engle was able to advance to third. Mathewson then walked Steve Yerkes. Another infamous play then followed. Tris Speaker hit a high pop fly down the first base line. The Giants’ first baseman Fred (now known as “Bonehead”) Merkle was closest, but Mathewson called for his catcher Chief Meyers to take it. Meyers was farther away than either Mathewson or Merkle and did not make the play. The ball fell foul. In GLORY, Meyers explained that Mathewson had called for Meyers to take it because Merkle “had not been too steady”. Legend has it that Speaker then yelled at Mathewson that he had made the wrong call and now “would pay for it”. Speaker then singled Engle home, Yerkes advancing to third. Mathewson walked Duffy Lewis to set up a possible double play, but Larry Gardner hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Yerkes. The Sox won the game and the series.
I still like the end to the 2016 Series better, but 1912 sounds like a great one too. And isn’t this game endlessly fascinating?
November 14, 2022
When they started their careers, professional baseball players were lowly regarded and by the end they’re exploits sold newspapers and had people standing in crowds waiting for details of the game they were playing across the nation. The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It by Lawrence S. Ritter is a collection of 26 players telling the story of their careers in their own words from the dawn of 20th Century when baseball became a national obsession.
When originally published Ritter had only interviewed 22 players—four players including a Hall of Famer were added for this enlarged edition—whose careers went just before the turn of the century to mostly the early 1920s with a few exceptions. At the time only three players of the group were Hall of Famers and after publication four more were elected, but this collection of “important” and regular players gives this book a wonderful mix as well as the player’s backgrounds. Interestingly Ritter was able to interview several players that were involved in important moments of the time like Merkel’s blunder or Fred Snodgrass’ (featured player) dropped fly in Game 7 of the 1912 World Series, or several Cincinnati players who take exception that they wouldn’t have won the 1919 World Series if the White Sox hadn’t “thrown it”. Of all the 26 players featured in the book, I had only heard of Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg—who was included in the enhanced edition—and didn’t know that much about him so the individual perspectives on how baseball became a major part of the American social-cultural fabric was very interesting.
The Glory of Their Times is a wonderful look into baseball in the first few decades of the 20th Century, Lawrence S. Ritter’s work in transforming a interview transcript into a autobiographical feature that you could imagine the player speaking the words to you was fantastic and made what it is.
When originally published Ritter had only interviewed 22 players—four players including a Hall of Famer were added for this enlarged edition—whose careers went just before the turn of the century to mostly the early 1920s with a few exceptions. At the time only three players of the group were Hall of Famers and after publication four more were elected, but this collection of “important” and regular players gives this book a wonderful mix as well as the player’s backgrounds. Interestingly Ritter was able to interview several players that were involved in important moments of the time like Merkel’s blunder or Fred Snodgrass’ (featured player) dropped fly in Game 7 of the 1912 World Series, or several Cincinnati players who take exception that they wouldn’t have won the 1919 World Series if the White Sox hadn’t “thrown it”. Of all the 26 players featured in the book, I had only heard of Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg—who was included in the enhanced edition—and didn’t know that much about him so the individual perspectives on how baseball became a major part of the American social-cultural fabric was very interesting.
The Glory of Their Times is a wonderful look into baseball in the first few decades of the 20th Century, Lawrence S. Ritter’s work in transforming a interview transcript into a autobiographical feature that you could imagine the player speaking the words to you was fantastic and made what it is.
June 2, 2021
The Glory of Their Times is, without a doubt, the greatest baseball history book ever written. I don't write that lightly. More than any other book in the genre, Lawrence Ritter's writing brings his subjects to life, creating a view of the game's distant past that is always current and relevant.
The magic that makes Ritter's approach work so well is that he takes a back seat and allows the players to speak for themselves. There are very few notes by the author, and there isn't really much of an attempt at verifying stories or providing historical footnotes. The book is a collection of stories, divided by the teller: stories that are vivid and lively, full of action and opinion and controversy and life.
The time period covered helps add to the magic. Ritter apparently went into the project thinking that he would write about baseball in the 1920s. Instead, he discovered the most magical era of all, the professional game that existed between around 1900 and 1919. This was a time when superstars were discovered on sandlots, when players were little more than grown children, when specialized training and mathematical analysis and sabermetrics were a complete impossibility. These were the days when players would play injured for fear of being released and having nothing to show for their efforts. It's the game that we know and love today, yes - but there's something different about this game in the deadball era, something raw and dangerous.
We'll never have another book like this one - that much is for sure. The men who lived in those days have long since departed. No copycat work can come close to this; after all, the advent of radio, television, and the internet have forced a brand of conformity on society that prevents those days from ever coming back.
This is not only a great book of baseball history. This is a great book of American history. This is a book about men who struggled, men who felt pain, men who felt hopeless in the face of the task at hand. This is a book about Rube Marquard sneaking aboard a train in hopes of being able to play, only to discover that his manager wasn't really going to pay him. This is a book about Fred Snodgrass, a successful player and businessman who was remembered for a single fly ball. This is a story about failure, but also about rising up to overcome that failure, and about the happiness that comes when the adversity has finally been overcome. And the amazing part is that it's real.
I also recommend the companion CD set, which came out in the early 2000s. The interviews are not complete. However, the snippets that were released make this book come even more alive. It is obvious that Ritter did a bit of editorial work to turn his interviews into coherent stories. However, it is also quite clear that he did not add or subtract anything to change the words of the men whom he interviewed. The voices, and the glory, of those old ballplayers live on forever through the magic of digital audio.
The magic that makes Ritter's approach work so well is that he takes a back seat and allows the players to speak for themselves. There are very few notes by the author, and there isn't really much of an attempt at verifying stories or providing historical footnotes. The book is a collection of stories, divided by the teller: stories that are vivid and lively, full of action and opinion and controversy and life.
The time period covered helps add to the magic. Ritter apparently went into the project thinking that he would write about baseball in the 1920s. Instead, he discovered the most magical era of all, the professional game that existed between around 1900 and 1919. This was a time when superstars were discovered on sandlots, when players were little more than grown children, when specialized training and mathematical analysis and sabermetrics were a complete impossibility. These were the days when players would play injured for fear of being released and having nothing to show for their efforts. It's the game that we know and love today, yes - but there's something different about this game in the deadball era, something raw and dangerous.
We'll never have another book like this one - that much is for sure. The men who lived in those days have long since departed. No copycat work can come close to this; after all, the advent of radio, television, and the internet have forced a brand of conformity on society that prevents those days from ever coming back.
This is not only a great book of baseball history. This is a great book of American history. This is a book about men who struggled, men who felt pain, men who felt hopeless in the face of the task at hand. This is a book about Rube Marquard sneaking aboard a train in hopes of being able to play, only to discover that his manager wasn't really going to pay him. This is a book about Fred Snodgrass, a successful player and businessman who was remembered for a single fly ball. This is a story about failure, but also about rising up to overcome that failure, and about the happiness that comes when the adversity has finally been overcome. And the amazing part is that it's real.
I also recommend the companion CD set, which came out in the early 2000s. The interviews are not complete. However, the snippets that were released make this book come even more alive. It is obvious that Ritter did a bit of editorial work to turn his interviews into coherent stories. However, it is also quite clear that he did not add or subtract anything to change the words of the men whom he interviewed. The voices, and the glory, of those old ballplayers live on forever through the magic of digital audio.
January 25, 2018
I was missing baseball and decided to buy The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It when I noticed that there was an audible version with the actual taped interviews from the players themselves. It was only $5! I could tell from the length that the audible is a condensed version of the print book, so I purchased both. I listened to this audio first. It is fantastic!
The interviews were done shortly after Ty Cobb's death in the early 1960's. These contemporaries of Cobb all played somewhere between 1900-1945. Listening to the old baseball greats talk about themselves and their fellow players gave me the chills. It's magical. Even though these players were grossly underpaid by today's standards, none of them are bitter about it and many say, even looking back, they would have played for free. It's great to listen to them reminisce. If you're a fan of baseball, you're going to love this. I'm looking forward to the physical book as well and can't wait till it comes in the mail.
The interviews were done shortly after Ty Cobb's death in the early 1960's. These contemporaries of Cobb all played somewhere between 1900-1945. Listening to the old baseball greats talk about themselves and their fellow players gave me the chills. It's magical. Even though these players were grossly underpaid by today's standards, none of them are bitter about it and many say, even looking back, they would have played for free. It's great to listen to them reminisce. If you're a fan of baseball, you're going to love this. I'm looking forward to the physical book as well and can't wait till it comes in the mail.
July 7, 2010
What a great Costco find! Stumbled on this book that claimed to be the best baseball book ever published. Problem is, it was published in the 1960s initially. The author set out to find a handful of aged former baseball players, long forgotten yet residing somewhere in the country with balefuls of memories on the greatest sport of all time. Each chapter is essentially a different ballplayer from the early 20th century waxing poetic about different teammates, managers, and opponents. It was fascinating to hear their largely respectful testimony, but it was more surprising to read about many of the similarities they had with modern day ballplayers--contractual issues, struggles in their early big-league days, choices between playing and getting an education, and so on. Wonderful, and as an avid baseball fan myself, many of the names drummed up memories of when I was a kid studiously poring through all the old hall-of-famers' (et al) names and stats with reverence. Made me feel quite young again.
October 12, 2007
"The Glory Of Their Times" remains a timeless work, and can be enjoyed by more than just hard-core baseball fans. Basically the story of the early days of Major League Baseball, told by the surviving oldsters who had played it, "The Glory Of Their Times" works so well because it isn't just another opinion piece by a professional writer. The stories told by these players illustrate what life was like during the first few decades of the twentieth century better than any historian could. This was well before the days of astroturf, designated hitters and multi-million dollar contracts. These players played for the love of the game, and fans could relate to them better because of that. Lawrence Ritter didn't really "write" this book at all, so the credit must go to the players who told their tales so well within its pages.
January 22, 2024
Amazing book. Each man's story has something unique and fascinating to offer, whether it's a story of an interaction with Ty Cobb on the baseball field, or the way a player fell head over heels in love with the woman who would become his wife. Historically fascinating and emotionally fulfilling, I was only required to read up to chapter 15 for my history class, but I loved this book from start to finish and found it impossible to put down.
June 10, 2011
This book is an ABSOLUTE GEM for baseball fans. The author conducted a series of interviews during the 1960s with several of major league baseball’s early stars from what is now known as “The Dead-Ball Era,” the period from 1900 to 1919, when Babe Ruth (who had won renown as a pitcher with the Boston Red Sox) hit a then astounding 29 home runs.
February 1, 2016
I could happily reread every year.
March 12, 2017
Twenty-six stories about boys becoming men and men remaining boys because of a game they loved. Indeed, these are love stories.
March 15, 2020
Like just about anyone else who picks up this book, I thought it would be fun to read first-hand accounts of early professional baseball. But I wonder if the same attention wasn’t bestowed on early twentieth century farm laborers or tradesmen or university professors or the players’ wives if there wouldn’t be nearly the same amount of intrigue. The subjects are simple, mostly very down-to-earth men. Most don’t care to inflate their own tires. Most love to reflect on the people they cared about. And while they played a sport that is vaguely familiar to the modern reader, all come from a society that feels many generations removed, when every town of a population of 1000 had an amateur baseball team and nobody knew what a social safety net was.
Bill Wambsganss cut out a poem while riding the New York subway in 1926 and kept it in his pocket until it disintegrated.
Native American John ‘Chief’ Meyers quit his studies at Dartmouth in order to embark on his professional baseball career and his biggest regret is that he never graduated.
Stanley Kovelski explained, “There was nothing strange in those days about a twelve-year-old Polish kid in the mines for 72 hours a week at a nickel an hour.”
“I’d throw stones at tin cans. I don’t know why. Just for something to do, I guess.”
The book is edited, obviously, but only in the crudest manner, so each interview is published as an individual from a single source. Often, you get three or four different perspectives of the same legendary events – Merkel’s famous baserunning error, Snodgrass’s dropped fly ball. The epic September 1912 game where Walter Johnson went up against Smoky Joe Wood.
I do wonder at what might have been edited out. These men come from a time when people, for the most part, did not air their dirty laundry. But there is a distinct bent toward nostalgia, which lends an escapist tinge for the reader. I’ll leave with this gem of a quote from the great Paul ‘Big Poison’ Waner:
I come from a little town right outside of Oklahoma City, a town by the name of Harrah. You can spell that backwards or forwards. From there I went to State Teachers’ College at Ada. And you can spell that backwards or forwards, too. Which just naturally explains why I’ve always been a fuddle-dee-dud!”
Try getting something that brilliant out of today’s ballplayer.
Bill Wambsganss cut out a poem while riding the New York subway in 1926 and kept it in his pocket until it disintegrated.
Native American John ‘Chief’ Meyers quit his studies at Dartmouth in order to embark on his professional baseball career and his biggest regret is that he never graduated.
Stanley Kovelski explained, “There was nothing strange in those days about a twelve-year-old Polish kid in the mines for 72 hours a week at a nickel an hour.”
“I’d throw stones at tin cans. I don’t know why. Just for something to do, I guess.”
The book is edited, obviously, but only in the crudest manner, so each interview is published as an individual from a single source. Often, you get three or four different perspectives of the same legendary events – Merkel’s famous baserunning error, Snodgrass’s dropped fly ball. The epic September 1912 game where Walter Johnson went up against Smoky Joe Wood.
I do wonder at what might have been edited out. These men come from a time when people, for the most part, did not air their dirty laundry. But there is a distinct bent toward nostalgia, which lends an escapist tinge for the reader. I’ll leave with this gem of a quote from the great Paul ‘Big Poison’ Waner:
I come from a little town right outside of Oklahoma City, a town by the name of Harrah. You can spell that backwards or forwards. From there I went to State Teachers’ College at Ada. And you can spell that backwards or forwards, too. Which just naturally explains why I’ve always been a fuddle-dee-dud!”
Try getting something that brilliant out of today’s ballplayer.
March 23, 2014
Outstanding collection of first-person observations of many ballplayers--mostly from the New York Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Cincinnati Reds--from those who began their careers in the late-1890s / early 1900s (Tommy Leach and Sam Crawford) to those who finished their careers in the 1930s and 1940s (Paul Waner and Hank Greenberg). I really liked this book because it initially talks a lot about many of the players I have in my 1909-1911 T206s, who I didn't know a lot about, outside of their names and stats. It's nice to be able to put a personality to the face on the card. It was also interesting to hear about what baseball was truly like in the early 1900s by those who played it, and about what they thought about their contemporaries.
Some of the things I learned:
--Though they were called "the minors," such teams were not like the minor league teams today. The starkest difference is that these teams were not in existence to feed players to the parent team, like such teams are today. (For example, the Pawtucket Red Sox is the AAA team for the Boston Red Sox. The Pawsox's sole purpose is to provide a place for players to play so that Boston can call them up if it needs to. If Boston did need a player, a phone call brings him to Boston.) But in the early 1900s, smaller teams were not there to just supply players to the big-league team. That type of farm system didn't exist until the 1940s. Instead, a team in the Pacific Coast League, or the Mid-Atlantic League, or the Triple-I League, or the Southern League, or the Tri-State League--or in tons of other amateur, semi-pro or professional leagues--had to be paid for the player. The players interviewed said that these teams were often helpful to the player's chance to make the majors--but they didn't have to be. A few players said the smaller team's owner would involve them in the transaction process--and often take a lesser deal to grease the wheels for the player. But the insinuation was that the team could hold on to the player for a year or two more than today's minor league teams would, thereby making their big-league careers shorter.
--Many players said the pay between the smaller team and the big league team were almost the same. In many cases, the big-league team only paid about $50 more per month--and the player wasn't always crazy about receiving more money, but playing much less often, at the big-league level. A few were happy to be sent down so they could play more often, even if they were paid a little less.
--Managers played a much bigger role in the contracts and finances of the team and player than they do today. The manager signed players to contracts and haggled over salaries. Players often went directly to the owner when they were annoyed with the manager--but they had to deal with the manager first.
--Players frequently jumped from one team to another, often in the middle of contracts. Many HOFers jumped to the Federal League (in the mid-1910s) mid-contract simply because someone from that league offered them more money--often a few thousand more, which was a lot back then. They didn't hesitate to do this because teams would unceremoniously dump players with no notice, or lower their salaries despite career years, or trade them at any time, or send them to a lower league at any time. For example, as late as the 1940s, the Detroit Tigers just flat-out sold Hank Greenberg to the Pittsburgh Pirates, for $75,000. Greenberg had 44 homers and 127 RBIs the previous year. Anyway, nobody was loyal to anybody.
--And the owners were very, very cheap. Because they could be.
--The consensus was that Honus Wagner, and not Ty Cobb, was the better player 1900-1920. After that, everyone agreed it was Babe Ruth. The players were clearly in awe of Wagner and Ruth--even the other HOFers.
--Honus Wagner was apparently a Gold Glove-caliber player at any position at all on the field. Even if Cobb was slightly the better hitter (which was not a given), Wagner was the much better defender. Players were just as impressed with Wagner's defense as they were with his offense.
--Hall of Famers got traded shockingly often. Managers, too.
--Supposedly the earlier players were uneducated, right? Not so, say these players, and they knew tons of examples of ballplayers and the colleges and universities they'd attended. They all said that the percentage of all players being college-educated was much, much higher than the percentage of college-educated people amongst the general public.
--Having said that, there were a tremendous number of hicks and "rubes" as well. Literally, like Rube Waddell, and Rube Marquard, and...
--Most of the ballplayers didn't mind receiving slightly-lower pay on the smaller teams because even that pay was light years ahead of what was waiting for them outside of baseball. Lots of miners and other hard-laborers amongst the ballplayers, and those players did that kind of work during the off-season.
--Players barnstormed as often as possible outside of the baseball season. And they would go anywhere, even to very small towns and sparsely-populated areas.
--Most players loved John McGraw. A few didn't. Sometimes they seemed to be talking about different people. Same thing for Ty Cobb, except most said Cobb was "very hard to get along with." But they all respected his fire and passion. A few said Cobb was okay to be around.
--All of the players cared a lot about their peers being nice guys.
--If you were injured, you lost your job. Period. And no play equaled no pay.
--Quite a few of them, such as HOFer Sam Crawford, had careers outside of baseball that lasted 25-35 years after they retired. And, surprisingly, players lasting beyond age 40 was common.
--Most of them said that the ballplayers playing while the book was being put together (50s and 60s) were much better, overall, than were their peers. And they all said that Willie Mays (not Mantle, Aaron or anyone else) was the best present-day player.
--But they all also said that their peers were much more baseball-smart than were the present players, mostly because the present-day players just wanted to hit homers, while their peers had to scratch and scrape for runs, because homers could not be hit in such huge ballparks with such a dead ball.
--Many pitchers between 1900-1930 blatantly marked up the ball. Emory boards, tacks, spit, powder, and--most often--tobacco juice were loaded onto the baseball to make it harder to hit and to see.
--All of them said baseball life was lonely. Which made nice people so important.
--Because only one umpire worked a game in the early-1900s, if there was a play at the plate (where the one empire therefore had to focus), baserunners would often not come anywhere near second or third base as they rounded the bases.
I could go on and on. If you're into history, or baseball, or the history of baseball, you'd find this fascinating.
Some of the things I learned:
--Though they were called "the minors," such teams were not like the minor league teams today. The starkest difference is that these teams were not in existence to feed players to the parent team, like such teams are today. (For example, the Pawtucket Red Sox is the AAA team for the Boston Red Sox. The Pawsox's sole purpose is to provide a place for players to play so that Boston can call them up if it needs to. If Boston did need a player, a phone call brings him to Boston.) But in the early 1900s, smaller teams were not there to just supply players to the big-league team. That type of farm system didn't exist until the 1940s. Instead, a team in the Pacific Coast League, or the Mid-Atlantic League, or the Triple-I League, or the Southern League, or the Tri-State League--or in tons of other amateur, semi-pro or professional leagues--had to be paid for the player. The players interviewed said that these teams were often helpful to the player's chance to make the majors--but they didn't have to be. A few players said the smaller team's owner would involve them in the transaction process--and often take a lesser deal to grease the wheels for the player. But the insinuation was that the team could hold on to the player for a year or two more than today's minor league teams would, thereby making their big-league careers shorter.
--Many players said the pay between the smaller team and the big league team were almost the same. In many cases, the big-league team only paid about $50 more per month--and the player wasn't always crazy about receiving more money, but playing much less often, at the big-league level. A few were happy to be sent down so they could play more often, even if they were paid a little less.
--Managers played a much bigger role in the contracts and finances of the team and player than they do today. The manager signed players to contracts and haggled over salaries. Players often went directly to the owner when they were annoyed with the manager--but they had to deal with the manager first.
--Players frequently jumped from one team to another, often in the middle of contracts. Many HOFers jumped to the Federal League (in the mid-1910s) mid-contract simply because someone from that league offered them more money--often a few thousand more, which was a lot back then. They didn't hesitate to do this because teams would unceremoniously dump players with no notice, or lower their salaries despite career years, or trade them at any time, or send them to a lower league at any time. For example, as late as the 1940s, the Detroit Tigers just flat-out sold Hank Greenberg to the Pittsburgh Pirates, for $75,000. Greenberg had 44 homers and 127 RBIs the previous year. Anyway, nobody was loyal to anybody.
--And the owners were very, very cheap. Because they could be.
--The consensus was that Honus Wagner, and not Ty Cobb, was the better player 1900-1920. After that, everyone agreed it was Babe Ruth. The players were clearly in awe of Wagner and Ruth--even the other HOFers.
--Honus Wagner was apparently a Gold Glove-caliber player at any position at all on the field. Even if Cobb was slightly the better hitter (which was not a given), Wagner was the much better defender. Players were just as impressed with Wagner's defense as they were with his offense.
--Hall of Famers got traded shockingly often. Managers, too.
--Supposedly the earlier players were uneducated, right? Not so, say these players, and they knew tons of examples of ballplayers and the colleges and universities they'd attended. They all said that the percentage of all players being college-educated was much, much higher than the percentage of college-educated people amongst the general public.
--Having said that, there were a tremendous number of hicks and "rubes" as well. Literally, like Rube Waddell, and Rube Marquard, and...
--Most of the ballplayers didn't mind receiving slightly-lower pay on the smaller teams because even that pay was light years ahead of what was waiting for them outside of baseball. Lots of miners and other hard-laborers amongst the ballplayers, and those players did that kind of work during the off-season.
--Players barnstormed as often as possible outside of the baseball season. And they would go anywhere, even to very small towns and sparsely-populated areas.
--Most players loved John McGraw. A few didn't. Sometimes they seemed to be talking about different people. Same thing for Ty Cobb, except most said Cobb was "very hard to get along with." But they all respected his fire and passion. A few said Cobb was okay to be around.
--All of the players cared a lot about their peers being nice guys.
--If you were injured, you lost your job. Period. And no play equaled no pay.
--Quite a few of them, such as HOFer Sam Crawford, had careers outside of baseball that lasted 25-35 years after they retired. And, surprisingly, players lasting beyond age 40 was common.
--Most of them said that the ballplayers playing while the book was being put together (50s and 60s) were much better, overall, than were their peers. And they all said that Willie Mays (not Mantle, Aaron or anyone else) was the best present-day player.
--But they all also said that their peers were much more baseball-smart than were the present players, mostly because the present-day players just wanted to hit homers, while their peers had to scratch and scrape for runs, because homers could not be hit in such huge ballparks with such a dead ball.
--Many pitchers between 1900-1930 blatantly marked up the ball. Emory boards, tacks, spit, powder, and--most often--tobacco juice were loaded onto the baseball to make it harder to hit and to see.
--All of them said baseball life was lonely. Which made nice people so important.
--Because only one umpire worked a game in the early-1900s, if there was a play at the plate (where the one empire therefore had to focus), baserunners would often not come anywhere near second or third base as they rounded the bases.
I could go on and on. If you're into history, or baseball, or the history of baseball, you'd find this fascinating.
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