5 comments about Ed Delahanty in the Emerald Age of Baseball.

1. This is a well written book on the life of Ed Delehanty and the Delahanty family. It is thoroughly researched. I could not put this book down once I started reading it.



2. I just finished reading Jerrold Casway's epic work which focuses on the life, times and career of "contract-jumper" Ed Delahanty, little-known (at least to me, up until I read this book) Hall of Fame baseball player who starred in the late 1800s- early 1900s.
   
   This book is painstakingly and meticulously researched (45 pages of footnotes alone, no less!)-- and the enormity of this undertaking by a highly skilled author is readily apparent with every turn of the page. Anyone who appreciates and enjoys the game of baseball (formerly called "Base Ball" as so documented in the book) should find this to be a VERY insightful read-- not only about the EVOLUTION of our National pastime (artfully related IN CONTEXT with key news, events, and "snapshots" of the surrounding world outside-- i.e. Presidents, wars, strife, natural disasters, etc. at any given time along the continuum in which the story is being told)-- but also about the life, times, mighty feats, travails and the ultimate demise of a skilled but wanton, highly intemperate (off the field) slugger.
   
   To this reader, it became apparent while reading this masterpiece is that a great many parallels can be drawn from a MANAGEMENT/PLAYER relations standpoint between today's game and that of yesteryear. In other words-- "the more things change, the more they stay the same". I have now learned that adversarial relationships have always existed between these parties. This is not at all unique to today. Skilled ballplayers sought the highest bidder for their services then, as now. Ed Delahanty, though, was the ultimate "contract-jumper". He'd strike a new deal while the ink was still drying on another one that he had just signed. Being mindful of the limited window of opportunity that he had (before his playing skills would deteriorate), he played this card for all it was worth-- or not.
   
   The game was in a rather constant state of "flux" during Delahanty's time-- what with new "upstart" leagues raiding the incumbent leagues for key talent. Legal decisions and eventual reversals of those decisions abounded. Signed contracts would ultimately be voided by the courts. The emotional turmoil of being "caught in the middle" of this tug of war.. A "pickle" of his own making.. Whilst feeling the "crunch" of legal obligation to several teams at once-- was a source of great distress to Delahanty... and helped lead to his eventual demise... His liquor problems notwithstanding.
   
   But there is much, much more to the story. I simply suggest that you just pick up this book and read it. You will not be disappointed. Another aspect that I thoroughly enjoyed was the manner in which the author "works in" various "snippets" of columns written by the sportswriters of that era-- offering their "take" on the various baseball news items-- and there are many-- that came up. This book is extremely well-documented.
   
   One caveat- unless you are a Evelyn Wood grad, you will find it very difficult to "speed-read" through. That is because a great many paragraphs are jam-packed with facts and detail. This book is also written for the intelligentsia amongst the baseball/Irish history buff contingent. In other words, this is a college-level book. If your reading level is 6th-grade, for example, you may not be able to keep up. On the other hand, this book is VERY intellectually stimulating to those of us that truly appreciate MASTERFUL application of the English language-- a very COLORFUL and ARTFUL one, at that. So, grab your favorite beverage, curl up on the couch and enjoy this fine work.
   
   I rate this book FIVE AND A HALF-STARS OUT OF A POSSIBLE FOUR!
   
   Tim Fitzgerald, Chicago IL



3. While this biography of a fine, mysterious player is adequate, Casway's assertion that 19th Century baseball was an "Emerald Age," due to Irish dominance is ludicrous. Almost all the top ball players were of English ancestry at the time, which reflected the U.S. immigrant population. With the exclusion of Negroes, Latins etc. Irish did stand out as a "colorful" minority.



4. This is one of the best baseball biographies I have read. Unlike some that mainly take you on a timeline from one noteworthy game (with dutiful descriptions of achievements or failures) to the next, Casway does an excellent job of going behind the player to reveal the person, flaws and all. It is fascinating to see the 1890s version of the immature superstar with only one marketable skill (crushing a baseball) as he tries to cope with personal and family problems as that skill rapidly deteriorates. You know the outcome, but it is still a great read. I found the descriptions of the Phillies management very interesting, and learned a few new things about John McGraw. Clearly a lot of careful research went into this book. If you enjoy baseball biographies, you'll like this one.



5. We all know of players like Cy Young and Ty Cobb, but for most of the baseball world, the late 1890's and Early 19th century is a forgotten period of baseball. Even Larry Anderson, one of the Philadelphia Phillies broadcasters, was unaware of how teh late Phils slugger Ed Delahanty died. (I'm not telling you, you'll find out easy enough, anyway.) He only found out recently during a blow out game, when a certain player had a chance for hitting 4 home runs in single game. A feat, which was accomplished by the Only Del.
   
   In the 1890's, the Phillies had one of the best teams ever to be featured on a baseball diamond. None the less, they were never able to put together a champion. Most of the blame should go to the Phillies owners, who insisted on paying their players far below their worth, and the hiring of string after string of bad managers, not to mention constant inteferance with said managers by the Front Office.
   
   Of Course, the players didn't have much say in any of these things. They could do what they did on the playing field, but a pay raise was hard to come by. In fact, many players saw their salaries go the other way during the 1890's. The reserve clause bound you to your team, and the others in the league weren't allowed to sign you. This set of circumstances led to the creation of the short lived Player's League in the early part of the 1890's and later the formation of the American League in 1901. (At least in part.)
   
   Ed was one of the many great Irish players in baseball at the time. The Irish far outnumbered any other minority in baseball during this period. Irish Ed was one of the greatest players of his (or any other) time, and other teams repeatedly offered the Phillies rather large sums of money in exchange for Big Ed. Ed batted over .400 for a good chunk of his career, and played at every position except pitcher and catcher. He was an amazing left fielder, but kept being moved back to first base for various reasons. (Injuries to other player's, mostly.)
   
   Ed had a love for the arts, and this is the only part of the book that is never really expanded on. Big lived a "Superstar" lifestyle without much regard for his or his families future, rather foolishly thinking that baseball could support him forever. Sadly, he only wanted to be paid what he was worth, and this led him to jump to the American League's Washington Senators in 1902. The departure of Delahanty and the core of the great Phillies team left the Phils in such a state that it took the franchise years, even decades to recover.
   
   Big Ed didn't seem to be as loved in Washington as he was in Philadelphia. At first, maybe, but as time went on, most of the media and cranks (Rowdy bleacher fans) turned on him. During this period of time, Ed began his descent that would end in his death. He had problems with gambling and alcohol late in his life, and after losing a good chunk of cash betting on the racetrack Ed attempted to jump back to the National League for the New York Giants. It was a lucrative contract with a huge, unheard of, bonus for it's time. But it didn't work out. Ed was beset by the owners of the Phillies and Senators, and the rest of the League Owners, and eventually during the winter and spring of 1903, Ed was forced to return to the Senators.
   
   He had already spent most of his bonus, and the two teams agreed to take the money out of Ed's salary. Ed was now being paid almost nothing for his services, and debts began to mount for him and his family.
   
   Ed continued to have deeper and deeper problems with alcohol, depression, and gambling as the season went on, in that order. He wasn't in great shape, and his playing suffered at times. Finally, desperate, drunk, and depressed Ed decided to try to Jump again to the Giants after a few players had successfully switched leagues just recently. After a drinking binge and subsequent confrontation by his monther and teammates in Detroit, Ed boarded a train leaving them behind and heading across Canada for Buffalo, where he would switch to a train bound for New York. He never told anyone where he was heading, and even left his mother strnaded in Detroit, with no money to return to Cleveland, their familiy home.
   
   He never arrived in New York. It is a sad tale, but a tale worth reading. Casway has written a fine book, one of the most detailed books about baseball ever written. The Life and Times of Ed Delahanty will come to life in this book. It truely was the Emerald Age of baseball, and it should not ever be forgotten again. If you think for a moment that my desciption of this book in any way gives you the jist of the story, you are sadly mistaken. No review could come close to ever doing this magnificent book justice. If you like baseball, or just sad tales of the death of Kings, this book is a must read

4 comments about The Life That Ruth Built: A Biography.

1. This biography, although scholarly, is entertaining throughout and easily read. Smelser was a life long baseball fan and his love of the game animates every page. As an undergraduate at Notre Dame, I studied under the author. Now deceased, he was a professor of history. Smelser demanded from his students the thorough research he displays in this book. But he was also a wonderful storyteller. Both qualities are apparent in this work. Like the best biographers, the author has only mild affection for his subject. The Babe's qualities and failings get equal attention. But today, when the word "superstar" is wildly overrused, you see the extraordinary level of fame this man achieved. If you really want to understand the Babe's life, read this book.



2. Some legends are larger than life. Some legends are made up. Then there's Babe Ruth, than man by which all other baseball players are measured, even today. George Herman Ruth comes to life in this riveting, yet easy to read biography by Marshall Smelser.

   You follow the bambino from his early days at St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys to his early days with the Boston Red Sox. You read about his turmoil with the fans, his trade to the New York Yankees, that later became the curse of the Bambino.

   Smelser's accounts of Ruth's life from his first wife to the run ins with Yankees manager Miller Huggins to the called shot in the 1934 World Series and so many others, will have laughing on minute and on the brink of tears the very next.

   I have always been a great Babe Ruth fan; so reviewing this book was a no brainer. Smelser writing style made it easy for me to read along and finally get a true picture of the man so many either loved or hated. I would highly recommend this book to any serious baseball fan!




3. It is a book about a hero that evrybody thought was perfect. In this book you get to see the life behind the face. There are so many legend and this book so the truth and tells you the miths.



4. every sentence filled with facts. research done is tremendous. best sports book i ever read.

No comments about Joe DiMaggio: A Biography (Baseball's All-Time Greatest Hitters).

No comments about I Never Had It Made,.

5 comments about Roberto Clemente: The Great One.

1. I'm not sure where the previous reader is coming from. There is plenty about Clemente the man-- his sense of humor, his pride, his work ethic, his philanthropy. Yes, the emphasis is on baseball in this book, but thoughts on Clemente's personality and character are interspersed throughout. Great descriptions of Clemente in the World Series and in the '71 All-Star Game. I highly recommend this book.



2. This biography of Roberto Clemente could have been so much better. It's easy enough to read, because Clemente himself is so interesting, but there are flaws with it. The book is not well-edited and tends to repeat itself too much; for instance, the subject of reporters quoting Clemente phonetically is mentioned several times throughout the book, as if the writer feels the need to reintroduce us to this fact over and over and over. Also, little sense of Clemente as a man emerges.



3. The 1971 World Series was the first one that I remember vividly. I was nine years old at the time, and I remember rooting for the Pirates. I also vividly remember how Clemente took over the series. His talents were put on the national spotlight for baseball fans in a big way.

   This book in great detail displays not only Clemente's terrific skills as a baseball player, but also his wonderful work as a humanitarian and the numerous good deeds he did for men,women,and children.

   The book also discusses the many struggles that Clemente and other Latinos experienced during their careers. Clemente was an extremely proud man, and was justified in his anger when certain people tried to 'Americanize' him.

   It is rare for an athlete to become more popular after his death, but I believe that Clemente is a prime example of this. He never really got the national exposure he deserved until the 1971 World Series, and his death in 1972 cut short not only a tremendous playing career, but more importantly deprived the world of no doubt more humanitarian efforts to those in need.

   This is the second book written by Bruce Markusen that I have had the pleasure of reading. His talents as a baseball writer are evident, this is by far the best baseball book that I have read. I look forward to the next book!!!!!

   FIVE STARS for a greatly detailed book on one of the best baseball players of our time, but most important, one of the best human beings of our time.




4. This book is a necesity for fans of the game, and fans of a truly great baseball player and humanitarian. Roberto Clemente was and still is a role model to all. Bruce Markusen does an incredible job relaying Clemente's legacy to his readers. Roberto is my favorite baseball player of all time, and he played for my favorite team. It is great to see such an accurate portrail of such a legend. To realize that athletes can be more than just a source of entertainment is hard enough to understand, let alone write an entire book on the subject. I highly recomend this book to anyone who would like to learn more about a true "legend of the game". I would also like to add that Bruce Markusen autographed my copy of this book. He is a great author and a class act.



5. I enjoyed this book thoroughly. Its detail and comprehensiveness make it an insightful read into a complex man. I recommend it highly.

5 comments about Honus Wagner: A Biography.

1. It's sad that this book has gotten such poor reviews. I tore through the entire thing cover-to-cover and was riveted the entire time. What others see as weakness I see as a strength of the book: you come away knowing not only Johannes Peter Wagner but also Fred Clarke, Deacon Philippe, Tommy Leach, Barney Dreyfuss, and many others. The book takes you on the journey of Honus The Ballplayer, from the early days through each year he played, chronicling not only his ups & downs but also the fortunes of the Pirates teams of those early years along with the city itself. If people were expecting some tabloid revelations about illicit dealings or some scandalous dirt it reveals their own failings, not the book's. Remember, this is the guy who insisted his tobacco card be pulled (the famous T206) because he had moral objections about peddling cigarettes to kids. So enjoy the book as a great period-piece about the people, places, and times of that early 20th-century baseball era. It really is a treat.



2. I see some tough criticism on this page, but I cannot accept that the book has too much baseball detail. When I think of other, more recent biographies of Whitey Ford, Gabby Hartnett, and others that read like a series of several hundred box scores in prose, I think of this book as just the opposite. It paints a good picture of Wagner the man and his family, and how he spent his non-baseball hours and seasons. It retells good anecdotes in proper context, and as my fellow reviewer, Eddie Waddell notes, it doesn't try to gloss over any weaknesses the man may have had - a fault of so many baseball biographers whose goal is to get their man into the Hall of Fame by their book's building up his stats.
   
   The de Valerias obviously love their man, and you will too before you are done with the volume. Just the right amount of baseball detail, I'd say. And not just about Honus. You learn a great deal about his lesser known teammates. And the stats are almost always on target. The de Valerias may not have included a Wagner stats sheet, but at least they seem to have researched all stats they use in the book well. Yes, I wish the footnotes were more specific to the quotes, but that shouldn't deter the majority of readers.



3. Wow, reading the reviews, this is a tough crowd! Too much detail, not enough detail. For me, the detail was just about right. I have been listening to the unabridged audio edition while commuting. The book covers Wagner's career starting in his teen-age years. It provides a good illustration of American life at the turn of the century particularly as it related to baseball. I was especially interested to learn how many of the western PA towns I grew up around had had their own minor league ball teams back in the day - Sharon, New Castle, Warren (PA), etc. I think the authors did a good job of marching the reader through Wagner's career including the highs and the lows while also teaching about the early days of professional baseball and how the sport quickly became America's pastime.



4. One lapse in the DeValerias' work is the preparation of their bibliography, which is incomplete, failing to list many works cited later under chapter sources. An examination of the bibliography, therefore, provides future researchers with a very incomplete picture of the extent of their work. Moreover, they eschew footnotes in favor of a general listing of sources for each chapter. Trying to pinpoint the source of the authors' conclusions or a particular quotation, consequently, is virtually impossible, and weighing the number of sources they used to establish a point even more frustrating. The result is often the impression that a thin foundation of a single quotation or story supports many of the DeValerias' conclusions.



5. This work is useful for the baseball fan interested in the game's history. An enjoyable read but it falls prey to a critical error in any baseball biography -- it fails to include Wagner's career statistics. Not that you can't find them elsewhere, but most folks reading baseball history (such as myself) will want to leaf through and check out the stats as they read the narrative.

2 comments about Ted Williams: The Pursuit of Perfection.

1. This is a great book, but basically it's the same book the authors put out in 1997 under the title "Ted Williams: A Tribute" They did add a CD.



2. I bought this book for my father, a diehard Ted Williams fan since childhood. He has read other books on Williams and says, by far, this is the best. The stories are fascinating and revealing, and offer little-known information, even if you followed his great career and life. The paper quality, design, and writing are superb, making it a wonderful keepsake or collector's piece. I would not hesitate to buy this as a gift for any sports fan, knowing they would not be disappointed. It would make a nice coffeetable piece in a den or sports-watching room. An absolutely wonderful book on all counts.

5 comments about Ruling Over Monarchs, Giants & Stars: Umpiring in the Negro Leagues & Beyond.

1. Born in Autaugaville, Alabama in 1923, Bob Motley chronicles his exciting and interesting life as a professional athlete. As an umpire in the Negro American League in the 1940s and `50s, he ran the gauntlet from top-flight professional baseball players to the Ku Klux Klan.
   His birth in the heart of "Jim Crow territory," with all the restraints of segregation and prejudice, could not hold back his physical ability, positive attitude, and intellect, which powered him to be the best in his select profession. In that era, baseball was segregated far longer than other major sports. That forced the premier athletes of the time into the formation of the exclusively black Negro American League. Men like Elston Howard, Satchel Page, and Willie Mays turned the all-white Big Leagues on their ear after Brooklyn Dodger star Jackie Robinson broke the 80-year color barrier in 1947. Great black players who had been concentrated in the Black Leagues took the country by storm and elevated the game of baseball to infinite heights.
   Motley umpired them all. His autobiography not only chronicles that story, but his story of success, in spite of unbelievable odds, with fortitude, personal discipline, patience, and guts. From my own personal view, having grown up playing ball with anyone who could swing a bat, I always wondered why such talent should be separated and thereby limited. My black high school teammates and I, although just two or three years from "integration," never gave that separation a thought when we took the field. Bob Motley, in this book, shows us what great a victory has been won by all Americans.
   Even if Motley had not been with the Kansas City Monarchs, if he had not personally known Buck O'Neal, Roy Campanella, Hank Aaron, Joe Black or Cool Papa Bell, his story is that of a man who is in my Hall of Fame.



2. As a novice to the subject, I found this a most enjoyable read. It is full of lived history, love of sport and great humor. I highly recommend this book.



3. THIS BOOK IS WRITTEN BY BOB MOTLEY, WHO WAS AN UMPIRE IN THE NEGRO LEAGUES. HE TELLS OF HIS EXPERIENCES AND LIFE AS A BASEBALL UMPIRE. THIS IS A GREAT READ BY MR MOTLEY AS HE TELLS US OF SOME IMMORTAL GREATS AS SATHEL PAIGE, JACKIE ROBINSON, ROY CAMPANELLA AND MANY MORE. PLUS MANY OTHER STORIES ON THE JIM CROW LAWS AND HIS EXPERIENCE IN UMPIRE SCHOOL AND THE MANY BROKEN PROMISES AND DISAPPOINTMENTS HE HAD BECAUSE OF HIM BEING A NEGRO IN WHITE MAN'S WORLD. I HIGHLY ADVISE THIS FOR ALL BASEBALL FANS.



4. A must have book on baseball history, and what the Negro Leagues went through.
   It's an amazing life that unfolds as you turn the pages. Hard to put down as
   each chapter will leave you wanting more.



5. It's great to focus on some great moments in history. Bob Motley has lived an incredible life. Well worth reading and admiring!

2 comments about Hello Everybody, I'm George Kell.

1. I know...I know...Ernie Harwell is a legend in Detroit and a Man of God. I would never take anything away from Mr.Harwell.
   
   But, having listened to them both for years growing up, I can tell you that George Kell DEFINED baseball for many more Detroiters than you might think.
   
   And this book helps resurrect the feeling he brought to the game for those who still miss him.
   
   He had so many great lines. Every Tiger fan knows what kind of play he was describing when he said "...And it's a dandy."
   
   And what about "...that helps." Maybe too obscure of a reference for some but Kell's voice uttering those words pop into my head almost everytime a fortuitious circumstance occurs in my life.
   
   A little old fashioned, maybe even uptight by the standards of the 1990's when he hung it up, George would be PERFECT as the ultimate retro announcer in today's baseball climate where fans, so jaded by one disillusionment after another, would relish a rock-solid influence like the GREAT George Kell...



2. That George's book turned out to be a long, tall, cold drink of water on a hot summer day came as no surprise to me. We in Michigan, who watched George throughout his years as the premier Tiger TV announcer and as one of the great players of his time, have long known of his commitment to to all that is good and right about America's pastime. But he also served as a prophet concerning the aspects of the modern game which led to a slow decay not only in the quality of the game, but in the character of some of the game's players and management. Even so, how can a baseball aficionado not feel the warm sunshine of yesteryear as we read of a living Hall of Famer's account of playing under Manager Connie Mack, alongside and against Ted Williams...Joe DiMaggio...even Minnie Minoso! George's book is special. I can virtually guarantee you will not read the likes of "Hello everybody, I'm George Kell" ever again. It is an easy-reading account of baseball's glory days, when a nation came out of a war against the forces of evil, and after looking in the mirror, realized the color line must be obliterated in what was then the undisputed King of American sport. George's decency shines through the entire book, just as his light has shined his entire life. Bravo!

5 comments about Josh Gibson: A Life in the Negro Leagues.

1. It's the great chicken/egg debate, was Josh Gibson the black Babe Ruth or was Babe Ruth the white Josh Gibson. Thanks to narrow minded thinking we'll never really know.
   Josh Gibson was a man driven by deamons, the tragic death of his wife made him incapable of letting his emotions go. So he gave his children over into the care of other family members and threw himself into baseball, drugs, and alcohol. Records were kept sloppily back then and are scarce today, but it is believed that he hit approximately 800 home runs during his career. In the end his family couldn't afford a grave marker and for years his body was in an unmarked grave until Major League Baseball paid for one.
   A sad chapter in our history. We can only guess what might have been.



2. Josh Gibson was a great baseball player in the 30s and 40s in the Negro Leagues. This book chronicles his baseball career, as well as the life in the Negro Leagues and playing in Latin America during the winter months and some summers as well. William Brashler does a fine job writing about Gibson's passion for the game, to the point that I feel like I know him as well as any current major leaguers. In addition, Brashler explains in detail what life was like for Negro League players; the horrible way they were treated in many places in the south; the winter months that they played in places like Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba and other Latin/South American countries. There are also separate short chapters on Cool Papa Bell, Jimmie Crutchfield and Sammy Bankhead, as well as plenty of interesting information on Satchel Paige. I'm glad I had a chance to read about the great Josh Gibson and the Negro Leagues. I believe anyone interested in baseball history would appreciate this book.



3. Beginning in 1930 with his debut with the Homestead Grays and extending through a career which featured several years with the Pittsburgh Crawfords and stints with various winter league teams in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico, Josh Gibson was quite simply the greatest hitter of his era. While he is often referred to as the black Babe Ruth, the black press and fans of the Negro Leagues during the 1930's called Ruth the white Josh Gibson. Though records are sketchy, Gibson is reported to have hit as many as 70 homeruns in a single season and it can safely be assumed that he hit more than 800 round trippers in his career. There are stories indicating that Gibson actually hit a homerun completely out of Yankee Stadium, a feat no major leaguer has accomplished, and although Brashler's research disputes this claim, there are countless other tales of tape-measure blasts. There was a 525-foot homerun that landed in a Puerto Rico prison, a one-handed homerun in Indianapolis, and a doubtful claim of a 700-foot blast out of Chicago's Wrigley Field. Whether or not the stories are believed, the overall perception cannot be ignored. As the most imposing hitter of the 1930's and 40's, Josh Gibson was larger than life. He was posthumously inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 1972.

   Most baseball fans are familiar with the legend of Josh Gibson, but Brashler brings readers behind the stories of one of the greatest hitters of all-time. Along with the glory accorded a player of such talent, there were disappointments as well. The death of his first wife and the subsequent abandonment of his children haunted Gibson throughout his playing career, and he often felt overshadowed by the showmanship of Satchel Paige. These concerns, combined with the disappointment of not being able to play in the major leagues, likely led him to alcohol when his body began to break down late in his career. When he died in 1947 at the age of thirty-five, months after Jackie Robinson broke in with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Gibson was buried in an unmarked grave. His family couldn't afford a gravestone.

   Brashler's biography of Gibson is complete and honest in its approach to Gibson's character and accomplishments. In addition to Gibson, he briefly profiles his peers, men like Satchel Paige, Oscar Peterson, Judy Johnson, Jimmy Crutchfield, Cool Papa Bell, and others. There can be no discussion of the Negro Leagues without comment on the discrimination which made them necessary, but Brashler avoids the trap of becoming overly sentimental, focusing instead on the facts. For a more complete picture of the players and teams mentioned by Brashler, try Only the Ball Was White, Robert Peterson's comprehensive history of the Negro Leagues.




4. This is among the very best books I have ever read. Easily the best biography and the best book on baseball (of which I have read a lot). Brashler's account of Gibson's life and the Negro Leagues engrosses you like a great novel. I could not recommend it more highly.



5. I HIGHLY RECOMMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE WHO ENJOYS BASEBALL AND THE HISTORY OF THE GREAT PLAYERS IN THE NEGRO LEAGUES. TOO BAD STATS WEREN'T CLOSELY KEPT FROM THAT TIME PERIOD, FOR THE NUMBERS THAT JOSH PUT UP ARE PROBABLY TRULY BREATH TAKING. HE WAS THE BABE RUTH, JIMMIE FOXX, AND MARK MCGWIRE OF 1930'S AND 40'S. THE BOOK DOES A GOOD JOB OF SHOWING US JOSH'S TRIUMPHS AND HIS DARK SIDE. HE WAS WITH FAULTS, BUT THAT MADE HIM EVEN MORE INTERESTING. THIS BOOK ALSO TREATS US TO SOME INTERVIEWS WITH MANY OTHER GREAT PLAYERS OF THAT ERA AND AN IN DEPTH HISTORY OF THE NEGRO LEAGUES. WELL WORTH READING ABOUT A GREAT PIECE OF BASEBALL HISTORY.