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The Grandest Stage: A History of the World Series

Review

The Grandest Stage: A History of the World Series

The good thing about having your team eliminated from postseason contention early on is that it gives you more time to read. And what more appropriate material than something about the Fall Classic?

Tyler Kepner, a baseball columnist for the New York Times, offers the latest look with THE GRANDEST STAGE: A History of the World Series. Much as in his previous book, K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches, he tells his tales in gimmicky titled chapters, in this case aligning them into one for each game of the Series’s maximum seven.

"Much as in his previous book, K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches, [Kepner] tells his tales in gimmicky titled chapters, in this case aligning them into one for each game of the Series’s maximum seven."

Kepner’s opener looks at how players handle the pressures of competition of the world’s championship, followed by “sidebar stories to the greatest moments in World Series history”; unlikely heroes (my favorite); the responsibilities of managers; the role of team executives in putting their clubs together; and those unfortunate athletes who found themselves on “the other side of World Series glory” (or “goats” before this became an acronym for “greatest of all time”).

In the final chapter, which should be the most dramatic, Kepner winds up with what he calls “The Ultimate World Series Lists.” The lack of the usual chronology usually found in a history book makes this one a bit uneven as he jumps back and forth between eras and issues.

Since the most recent round of expansion, playoff rounds have been added as a way to generate more interest, since more teams mean a wider swath of fans staying tuned (but let’s face it, it’s a money grab; more fans in attendance plus more in TV income). It also means a lot more players I’ve never heard of. Once upon a time, the final face-off was ostensibly between the best teams in the American and National Leagues. Now, you can get hot (or cold) at a propitious moment. Case in point: the New York Mets won 101 regular season games but picked a poor time to falter, losing to a “lesser” opponent in the wild card round.

For an old-timer like me (i.e., anyone born after the last), the extra games are a blessing and a curse. The good: more games. The bad: more teams increase the possibility of undeserved clubs enjoying a run of luck and squeaking through. But as long as the World Series continues, there always will be new opportunities to break into the history books.

Reviewed by Ron Kaplan on October 21, 2022

The Grandest Stage: A History of the World Series
by Tyler Kepner

  • Publication Date: October 10, 2023
  • Genres: History, Nonfiction, Sports
  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Anchor
  • ISBN-10: 0593081889
  • ISBN-13: 9780593081884