Baseball Needs No Vindication

VINDICATED, Jose Canseco’s follow-up to his 2005 memoir JUICED, is getting the majority of the baseball book buzz this year. And now there’s word that Kirk Radomski, a clubhouse attendant for the New York Mets, is aiming to jump on the steroids/performance-enhancing drugs bandwagon with a book of his own. That’s a shame, because rather than concentrate on the tawdry aspects of the game, there are plenty of other books this year that remind us of the fun and greatness that is still at the crux of the national pastime.

Peter Morris’s latest work, BUT DIDN’T WE HAVE FUN?: An Informal History of Baseball’s Pioneer Era, 1843-1870, goes back to the roots of the game, before it was even considered a professional endeavor. It was an activity for gentlemen, attended by members of high society. Even the umpires were well-regarded, men who “were accorded the utmost courtesy by the players,” Morris writes. “They were given easy chairs, placed near the home plate, provided with fans on hot days and their absolute comfort was uppermost in the minds of the players.” Can you imagine a scenario like that these days? Morris --- whose two-volume A GAME OF INCHES won both the Seymour Medal from the Society for American Baseball Research and Spitball Magazine’s Casey Award for best baseball book in 2007 --- makes interesting work of what potentially could be a deathly dull lesson in “ancient history.”

One ex-major leaguer who definitely had fun was Steve Garvey, a perennial All-Star for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. In MY BAT BOY DAYS: Lessons I Learned from the Boys of Summer, he recalls his childhood in Florida when his father served as a spring training bus driver for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Garvey lived every young fan’s dream when he had the chance to meet his heroes, absorbing from them an ethos that has lasted a lifetime. He learned about passion from Jackie Robinson, dignity from Gil Hodges and faith from Sandy Koufax, among several concepts from other team members, as well as Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle and Al Kaline of the Detroit Tigers.

Another “feel good” story comes from Chris Coste, who chronicles his tale in THE 33-YEAR-OLD ROOKIE: How I Finally Made it to the Big Leagues After 11 Years in the Minors. Coste, the current starting catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, talks about paying his dues in the bushes but never giving up on his dreams to one day make it to the show. It’s a sweet story of perseverance rewarded, but it’s been done before (see Jim Morris’s THE OLDEST ROOKIE, which was turned into a feature film starring Dennis Quaid. Can the screen version of Coste’s adventures be far behind?).

Fans can also have fun, according to Josh Pahigian, by visiting any of the 101 BASEBALL PLACES TO SEE BEFORE YOU STRIKE OUT. From the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown to the banks of the New Jersey river where they harvest the indigenous mud to rub the shine off new balls, there are ballparks, museums, restaurants and other attractions (including the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, where Ted Williams’s head was reported to be stored in the deep freeze) to satisfy the most particular customers. Pahigian, who has previously written about the pleasures of building vacations around baseball in THE ULTIMATE MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL ROAD TRIP, is spot on again, although he omits information such as websites and hours of operations, a conscious decision on his part to “force” the reader to enjoy actually reading the book without the supplemental activity of running to the computer for further information.

Yankee and Shea Stadiums are undergoing their swan songs in 2008. And while the home of the Mets --- which opened during the 1964 New York World’s Fair --- doesn’t have the historical import as “The House That Ruth Built (which opened its doors in 1923), there are still plenty of memories, both fond and disappointing. Many of the players and events associated with “the Amazin’s’” are covered in Matthew Silverman’s 100 THINGS METS FANS SHOULD KNOW & DO BEFORE THEY DIE. Silverman --- who has made a cottage industry of the Mets, writing or co-authoring three other books about the team --- profiles the colorful characters and real stars in Mets history like Tom Seaver, Mike Piazza, Gary Carter and Keith Hernandez, as well as future leading men such as David Wright and Jose Reyes. He also pays tribute to the non-descript stadium itself, urging fans to head out to the ballpark while they still can and suggesting the best seats to enjoy the game in each section.

The Boston Red Sox better be careful. After two world championships in three seasons, they can no longer count on the pity of baseball fans as the poor little waifs who can’t seem to close the deal, no longer David to the Yankees’ Goliath. Fortunately, interest in the team is still high, as evidenced by the number of new Sox books, including DYNASTY: The Inside Story of How the Red Sox Became a Baseball Powerhouse by Boston Herald sportswriter Tony Massarotti. Are the Bostonians laying claim already to the adjective that was almost the exclusive purview of the Bronx Bombers? With their recent success, he notes, they are in danger of actually becoming that which they have loathed --- the “evil empire” that had tormented them for lo these many years.

Anytime publishers decide to use words like “greatest” or “best” in the title, they’re angling for a fight. The same can be said for the authors of CHANGE UP: An Oral History of 8 Key Events That Shaped Modern Baseball. Larry Burke and Peter Thomas Fornatale interviewed scores of players, managers, writers and other personnel on items that are sure to have some readers scratching their heads. The key word here is “modern,” which the authors decided started in 1962, when the Mets heralded the return of Major League Baseball to the National League, five years after the Dodgers and Giants left for the West Coast. Other “events” include the influx of Latin and Asian players (which counts as two separate items), Frank Robinson as the first African-American manager and Cal Ripken Jr.’s record-breaking consecutive games streak, among others.

The only “key event” with which I agree is the publication of BALL FOUR. When it first came out in 1970, author Jim Bouton was branded a pariah by teammates, baseball’s hierarchy, and many fans who didn’t want their legends depicted in anything other than glowing terms. For better or worse, Bouton created a new and human way of looking at those we would celebrate as role models. And, for better or worse, BALL FOUR opened the door for Canseco and his ilk to benefit from Bouton’s sacrifices.

   --- Reviewed by Ron Kaplan