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Niwrad posted:Crazy 08 is a really good book about the 1908 season (which had some crazy poo poo take place). It also covers a lot of the early history of baseball which I don't think many people know about. It's a real easy read too. I read this a long time ago, but I remember it being a fantastic book, especially since I didn't know much about how baseball was played in the early 20th century.
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Nov 16, 2015 17:09
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| # ¿ May 16, 2024 02:58 |
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The first chapter is a riot. I also like that his stance on little people was somewhat progressive for the time. He's not above laughing at his small stature (the 1/8 jersey number), but at the end of the chapter, he starts to argue that MLB is discriminating against having midgets play baseball. The introduction by Bob Verdi in my copy is a waxes nostalgic. "Bill just couldn't cope with the new math; sports has become increasingly corporate." Isn't this the same refrain we have heard from a number of aging sportswriters? I wonder if it's just a sign of someone's age that this is something to complain about?
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Dec 3, 2015 21:13
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It was a different time. I just read the story of how he was trying to help get the guy with a 14-year old bride out of facing jail time by admitting that it wasn't his gun, and how the guy kept figuratively shooting himself in the foot. His ultimate punishment? To get out of town. If it wasn't already apparently, Veeck is a good storyteller. This book conveys that well.
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Dec 8, 2015 16:39
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This book is long. Is anyone else still reading? I just finished a few chapters. Some interesting things: - He mentions how football is a college man's game, whereas baseball is a workingman's game. He also mentions how all American sports will be competing with soccer soon, which I guess is something people have been saying for 50 years now. - He complains about there being no "colorful, bigger-than-life character" in sports. I guess Ali was still a few years from appearing. - He mentions how there is such a small segment of people who come "to watch the geometric pattern of the game unfold in all its beautiful precision and balance". Whereas the average fan is only there to watch the home team win. - "In 1948, we had an unbelievable high ratio of women customers. In fact, if you add the number of women who came in on Ladies' Day and the kids' groups and the special nights, our attendance that year was close to 4,000,000" (127). I have no reason to doubt Veeck, but B-R has the attendance at 2.6mil that season. Could these other customers really account for another 1-1.5mil?
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Dec 14, 2015 22:03
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I just came across my favourite paragraph in the whole book (so far):p. 265 posted:When the Yankees did come up with a promotion, it was invariably tasteless and embarrassing. Two of their greatest promotions were their public farewells to their two dying giants, Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. I'll take my midgets and my circuses. Necromancy has never been to my taste.
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Dec 21, 2015 01:39
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rickiep00h posted:I did. That and this and Moneyball and The Book are what I've read so far, and every single one of them is a story of owners, et al., being as dumb as is possible. Even Veeck is on the wrong side of the blackout question, IMO. Y'know, I kind of understand why owners would be hesitant at first to let their games be broadcast. Am I misremembering, or didn't it take a while for real money to start pouring in for TV rights? Also, in Veeck's position, I believe he mentioned that he was clearly the "second" team in St. Louis, and how difficult it was to earn the money that the Cardinals were making. He also had the worst radio deal, in that it was tied to where the team finished in their division. But yes, he was on the wrong side. I was surprised by how quickly they moved the Boston Braves to their new location in Milwaukee. Three weeks seems awfully quick (which is funny, because Veeck points out how the same objections that AL owners raised in his attempt at moving the Browns to either Milwaukee or Baltimore were not raised in this instance).
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Jan 1, 2016 17:53
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I assume this has already died. I got my book in mid-November, and I finished it a week ago. Final thoughts? The final 100 pages are a slog. However, I did learn that Veeck is the man who both sent a little person up to bat, as well as the man in charge of running the Disco Demolition night. I also liked the afterword, which gave the reader a nice summary of Veeck's last 20 or so years. This has now become one of my favourite baseball books.
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Jan 11, 2016 22:36
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| # ¿ May 16, 2024 02:58 |
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I liked all of those stories, because this book really felt like having an oral conversation with Veeck, rather than reading about his stories in text.
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Jan 16, 2016 21:32
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