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The 34-Ton Bat: The Story of Baseball as Told Through Bobbleheads, Cracker Jacks, Jockstraps, Eye Black, and 375 Other Strange and Unforgettable Objects
An unorthodox history of baseball told through the enthralling stories of the game's objects, equipment, and characters.
No sport embraces its wild history quite like baseball, especially in memorabilia and objects. Sure, there are baseball cards and team pennants. But there are also huge balls, giant bats, peanuts, cracker jacks, eyeblack, and more, each with a backstory you have to read to believe. In The 34-Ton Bat , Sports Illustrated writer Steve Rushin tells the real, unvarnished story of baseball through the lens of all the things that make it the game that it is.
Rushin weaves these rich stories -- from ballpark pipe organs played by malevolent organists to backed up toilets at Ebbets Field -- together in their order of importance (from most to least) for an entertaining and compulsive read, glowing with a deep passion for America's Pastime. The perfect holiday gift for casual fans and serious collectors alike, The 34-Ton Bat is a true heavy hitter.
No sport embraces its wild history quite like baseball, especially in memorabilia and objects. Sure, there are baseball cards and team pennants. But there are also huge balls, giant bats, peanuts, cracker jacks, eyeblack, and more, each with a backstory you have to read to believe. In The 34-Ton Bat , Sports Illustrated writer Steve Rushin tells the real, unvarnished story of baseball through the lens of all the things that make it the game that it is.
Rushin weaves these rich stories -- from ballpark pipe organs played by malevolent organists to backed up toilets at Ebbets Field -- together in their order of importance (from most to least) for an entertaining and compulsive read, glowing with a deep passion for America's Pastime. The perfect holiday gift for casual fans and serious collectors alike, The 34-Ton Bat is a true heavy hitter.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
43 people are currently reading
794 people want to read
About the author
Steve Rushin
11 books130 followersAfter graduating from Bloomington Kennedy High School in 1984 and Marquette University in 1988, Rushin joined the staff of Sports Illustrated. Over the next 19 years, he filed stories from Greenland, India, Indonesia, the Arctic Circle and other farflung locales, as well as the usual nearflung locale to which sportswriters are routinely posted.
His first novel, The Pint Man, was published by Doubleday in 2010. The Los Angeles Times called the book “Engaging, clever and often wipe-your-eyes funny.”
Rushin gave the commencement address at Marquette in 2007 and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters for “his unique gift of documenting the human condition through his writing.” In 2006, he was named the National Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
A collection of his sports and travel writing—The Caddie Was a Reindeer—was published by Grove Atlantic in 2005 and was named a semifinalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor. The Denver Post suggested, “If you don’t end up dropping The Caddie Was a Reindeer during fits of uncontrollable merriment, it is likely you need immediate medical attention.”
A four-time finalist for the National Magazine Award, Rushin has had his work anthologized in The Best American Sports Writing, The Best American Travel Writing and The Best American Magazine Writing collections. His essays have appeared in Time magazine and The New York Times. He writes a weekly column for SI.com and is a What TK to Golf Digest.
His first book, Road Swing, published in 1998, was named one of the “Best Books of the Year” by Publishers Weekly and one of the “Top 100 Sports Books of All Time” by Sports Illustrated.
Rushin’s next book, a work of nonfiction called The Baseball Grenade, will be published by Little, Brown in 2013.
He and his wife, Rebecca Lobo, have four children and live in Connecticut.
His first novel, The Pint Man, was published by Doubleday in 2010. The Los Angeles Times called the book “Engaging, clever and often wipe-your-eyes funny.”
Rushin gave the commencement address at Marquette in 2007 and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters for “his unique gift of documenting the human condition through his writing.” In 2006, he was named the National Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
A collection of his sports and travel writing—The Caddie Was a Reindeer—was published by Grove Atlantic in 2005 and was named a semifinalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor. The Denver Post suggested, “If you don’t end up dropping The Caddie Was a Reindeer during fits of uncontrollable merriment, it is likely you need immediate medical attention.”
A four-time finalist for the National Magazine Award, Rushin has had his work anthologized in The Best American Sports Writing, The Best American Travel Writing and The Best American Magazine Writing collections. His essays have appeared in Time magazine and The New York Times. He writes a weekly column for SI.com and is a What TK to Golf Digest.
His first book, Road Swing, published in 1998, was named one of the “Best Books of the Year” by Publishers Weekly and one of the “Top 100 Sports Books of All Time” by Sports Illustrated.
Rushin’s next book, a work of nonfiction called The Baseball Grenade, will be published by Little, Brown in 2013.
He and his wife, Rebecca Lobo, have four children and live in Connecticut.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 91 reviews
June 30, 2019
4.5 stars
"Baseball is more than a game. It's like life played out on a field." - musician Juliana Hatfield
True that, Ms. Hatfield. But while the bookshelves at libraries and stores are overflowing with bios on the prodigious on-field talent (Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, et al.), what about all of that inanimate 'stuff' behind the scenes? Happily, former Sports Illustrated journalist Steve Rushin - I am an ardent admirer of his Gen-X memoir Sting-Ray Afternoons from two years ago - is on the case to explain and/or provide details on the various equipment, objects, and tchotchkes that occupy the dugouts, locker rooms, concession stands and countless 'man-caves' across North America.
It's quietly amazing how much Rushin covers in less than 300 pages regarding 150 years of baseball history - there's more detail here than you can swing a Louisville Slugger at! (It should be noted that those MLB teams that have been around seemingly FOREVER - Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Giants, and Dodgers - get the most time in the spotlight, as they are connected to many of the innovations that have become standard parts of 'our national pastime.') The book seems very well-researched, and there were many amusing stories. The only complaint is that some sections - jock straps / protective cups, for one - seem to ramble on. Still, this was a great read in the midst of the '19 baseball season.
"Baseball is more than a game. It's like life played out on a field." - musician Juliana Hatfield
True that, Ms. Hatfield. But while the bookshelves at libraries and stores are overflowing with bios on the prodigious on-field talent (Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, et al.), what about all of that inanimate 'stuff' behind the scenes? Happily, former Sports Illustrated journalist Steve Rushin - I am an ardent admirer of his Gen-X memoir Sting-Ray Afternoons from two years ago - is on the case to explain and/or provide details on the various equipment, objects, and tchotchkes that occupy the dugouts, locker rooms, concession stands and countless 'man-caves' across North America.
It's quietly amazing how much Rushin covers in less than 300 pages regarding 150 years of baseball history - there's more detail here than you can swing a Louisville Slugger at! (It should be noted that those MLB teams that have been around seemingly FOREVER - Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Giants, and Dodgers - get the most time in the spotlight, as they are connected to many of the innovations that have become standard parts of 'our national pastime.') The book seems very well-researched, and there were many amusing stories. The only complaint is that some sections - jock straps / protective cups, for one - seem to ramble on. Still, this was a great read in the midst of the '19 baseball season.
March 28, 2020
Бейзбола за мен е най-великата игра и тази книга беше истинско удоволствие .
July 31, 2023
What a fascinating book! I expected a shallow listicle, but this was a fascinating deep dive tracing back the history of why baseball is the way it is today. I thoroughly enjoyed the author’s writing style—excellent turns of phrase! (And sly use of innuendos) I learned so much, including a few things that maybe I’d rather not know. 😂
September 12, 2021
Rushin, a longtime journalist for Sports Illustrated, is one of my favorite writers because he is funny, perceptive, and loves language and sports in equal measure. This book tended to drag a bit in places and was incoherently organized, but I laughed out loud so many times at his turns of phrase, double entendres, clever puns and cultural references (he is three years older than I am).
Rushin tells a history of baseball by describing many famous and not-so-famous objects that were a part of the sport. The older stories from the early days of baseball were quite fun because they are often so different from the modern game. When he talks about the modern game, it's usually through the lens of growing up in the 1970s and 1980s in Minneapolis and attending and working at Twins games, which is fun in an intimate, loving, descriptive way.
Rushin tells a history of baseball by describing many famous and not-so-famous objects that were a part of the sport. The older stories from the early days of baseball were quite fun because they are often so different from the modern game. When he talks about the modern game, it's usually through the lens of growing up in the 1970s and 1980s in Minneapolis and attending and working at Twins games, which is fun in an intimate, loving, descriptive way.
March 28, 2018
Really enjoyed this book. From the title you might think it's all about kitsch, but Rushin does a great job using these items to tell the story of baseball. Thus this is about history, not collectables. Rushin has a great nose for surprising, intriguing, shocking, paradoxical tidbits. And of course a great ear for turns of phrase. He is always a joy to read. And if you love baseball, all the better, because this book is chock full of the sport's glorious past.
September 15, 2021
Wow. I was expecting a quirky, light-hearted, fun book with this. I wasn't prepared to be blown away by the detail and research. It's really in-depth and the writing is fantastic. Also, I know there's no crying in baseball but I swear I got choked up multiple times reading this. Amazing. 5 stars.
May 26, 2020
A charming tour through baseball history through its equipment, the book is mostly a series of anecdotes, but Rushin weaves in just enough personal history to give it an engaging throughline.
December 30, 2013
If ever you wondered; how jock straps came about, or where did Bobble-Heads come from, or what’s up with that four fingered glove at AT&T Park; then Steve Rushin’s book, The 34-Ton Bat, is for you. It is the history of baseball, told through the evolution of the objects and oddities—(375 of them, to be exact) that make baseball, America’s pastime.
Steve Rushin has been writing for Sports Illustrated for over 25 years, and has accumulated a few awards along the way, including National Sportswriter of the Year. His family comes from a baseball tradition that spans over 100 years, with not so distant relatives having played in the majors, and he himself, securing his first job at Met Stadium, where he ‘stabbed dogs’, ‘pulled sodas’ and ‘cupped corn’. A more deft storyteller and a more passionate voice cannot be found to bring these baseball objects to life, to make them dance like the candlesticks in Beauty & The Beast, to help us know and understand our greatest American pastime and, above all….inviting us to remember.
From baseball gloves to bats; pipe organs to Prohibition, score cards to stinky urinals and beyond; the stories are layered one upon the other, at a dizzying rate. Filled with quirk and tradition; pride and pomp, riots and ridicule, one can’t help but see the game in a new light, and love it in a new way.
The 300 page book is an engaging read for anyone. But, if you’re a fan of baseball, you will find yourself doing what I do. I place the book, never far from my reach on my desk. My novelty baseball bank, (which came into existence at Yankee Stadium during the forties) sits on top. Tim Lincecum, in Bobble Head form stands next to it,–(Bobble Heads coming about in the 1800’s, but the first baseball shaker appearing in the fifties). The invite me, to pick up the book, flip to any page, where I’ll smell stadium grass and sweat mingle together; feel the sun (and sometimes rain) pelt my face, hear hot dog and beer vendors hawking their wares. It’s an invitation, not just to me, but to us as a culture and society to renew our spirits through the stories and the game, that our fathers and fathers before them played; and that our sons and grandsons will surely play in the future. As the great Joe DiMaggio once said; “When baseball is no longer fun, it’s no longer a game.”
Steve Rushin has been writing for Sports Illustrated for over 25 years, and has accumulated a few awards along the way, including National Sportswriter of the Year. His family comes from a baseball tradition that spans over 100 years, with not so distant relatives having played in the majors, and he himself, securing his first job at Met Stadium, where he ‘stabbed dogs’, ‘pulled sodas’ and ‘cupped corn’. A more deft storyteller and a more passionate voice cannot be found to bring these baseball objects to life, to make them dance like the candlesticks in Beauty & The Beast, to help us know and understand our greatest American pastime and, above all….inviting us to remember.
From baseball gloves to bats; pipe organs to Prohibition, score cards to stinky urinals and beyond; the stories are layered one upon the other, at a dizzying rate. Filled with quirk and tradition; pride and pomp, riots and ridicule, one can’t help but see the game in a new light, and love it in a new way.
The 300 page book is an engaging read for anyone. But, if you’re a fan of baseball, you will find yourself doing what I do. I place the book, never far from my reach on my desk. My novelty baseball bank, (which came into existence at Yankee Stadium during the forties) sits on top. Tim Lincecum, in Bobble Head form stands next to it,–(Bobble Heads coming about in the 1800’s, but the first baseball shaker appearing in the fifties). The invite me, to pick up the book, flip to any page, where I’ll smell stadium grass and sweat mingle together; feel the sun (and sometimes rain) pelt my face, hear hot dog and beer vendors hawking their wares. It’s an invitation, not just to me, but to us as a culture and society to renew our spirits through the stories and the game, that our fathers and fathers before them played; and that our sons and grandsons will surely play in the future. As the great Joe DiMaggio once said; “When baseball is no longer fun, it’s no longer a game.”
January 24, 2014
I have always been a fan of Rushin's writing style; Rushin had a regular column in S.I. that he left about five years ago and I was as disappointed then as I was excited when he returned as one of the rotation of last page editorial columnists after Rick Reilly went to ESPN.
So, imagine my delight when this combined three of my favorite things: his writing, baseball and history.
It did not disappoint. I love books that rely heavily on careful archival research and take us back to a different time. In the case of this book, the trip is often to an obscure person with an idea. An idea that a tradition-bound sport like baseball didn't even realize that it needed. As often is the case with genius, many of the inventive minds were not appreciated until long after, but Rushin is giving them their proper due.
Even if you are not a fan of baseball, I think you would enjoy this look at the history of American culture that just happens to be through the accouterments of the national pastime.
So, imagine my delight when this combined three of my favorite things: his writing, baseball and history.
It did not disappoint. I love books that rely heavily on careful archival research and take us back to a different time. In the case of this book, the trip is often to an obscure person with an idea. An idea that a tradition-bound sport like baseball didn't even realize that it needed. As often is the case with genius, many of the inventive minds were not appreciated until long after, but Rushin is giving them their proper due.
Even if you are not a fan of baseball, I think you would enjoy this look at the history of American culture that just happens to be through the accouterments of the national pastime.
June 30, 2017
Rushin is one of the funniest, clever storytellers in any genre. Period. Loved this book.
July 7, 2017
Great fun to read. It's written very well and is full of fun stories. I was sorry when it came to an end. I hope there will be a sequel.
March 6, 2024
Springtime! Hope springs eternal, for all of America's baseball fans, except for us Red Sox fans this year. The Sox are probably going to suck. It's a good thing I'm living in Philly for a while, and so I have a good secondary team to follow.
Time for my annual baseball books. I thought this looked interesting, and it was, though it was an odd reading experience. It feels very stream of consciousness. It is really hard to remember information from this book, even just after reading it, because it never really seemed organized in a logical way. So I basically remember bits and pieces. It took WAY too long for ballplayers to start wearing batting helmets. They used to serve nothing but beer and ham sandwiches at ballgames, before smart people introduced hot dogs. The Dodgers basically invented modern merchandising, by plastering the Dodgers logo on everything in the 1960s. It's funny, baseball caps are so ubiquitous now, it's hard to imagine a time before the teams realized they should sell them. And how did it take more than one season before at least the catchers were like, we should have mitts? It's like that old story about how they used to climb a ladder to get the basketball before they cut the bottom out of the peach basket. I never really bought that. It should have taken 5 minutes to decide to cut out the bottom. And the first catcher in 1852 should have said, hold up, I'm going home to get an oven mitt or something, my hand is killing me.
Time for my annual baseball books. I thought this looked interesting, and it was, though it was an odd reading experience. It feels very stream of consciousness. It is really hard to remember information from this book, even just after reading it, because it never really seemed organized in a logical way. So I basically remember bits and pieces. It took WAY too long for ballplayers to start wearing batting helmets. They used to serve nothing but beer and ham sandwiches at ballgames, before smart people introduced hot dogs. The Dodgers basically invented modern merchandising, by plastering the Dodgers logo on everything in the 1960s. It's funny, baseball caps are so ubiquitous now, it's hard to imagine a time before the teams realized they should sell them. And how did it take more than one season before at least the catchers were like, we should have mitts? It's like that old story about how they used to climb a ladder to get the basketball before they cut the bottom out of the peach basket. I never really bought that. It should have taken 5 minutes to decide to cut out the bottom. And the first catcher in 1852 should have said, hold up, I'm going home to get an oven mitt or something, my hand is killing me.
April 3, 2022
An interesting book that is filled with short histories of everything that baseball contains of. From bats and gloves to beer and peanuts and beyond. The short segments are mostly entertaining and informative. However the overall narrative is jumbled at best and the author continuing interjecting his own history with baseball ( family memebers that were pros in the early 1900s, working concessions as a teenager) got kind of old.
Recommended in that there is entertaining and informative stories to be found but the narrative overall fails.
Recommended in that there is entertaining and informative stories to be found but the narrative overall fails.
April 24, 2024
This was a fun read!
It was interesting learning how long it took for gloves and helmets to be adopted. It certainly didn't take that long for C-flaps and those oven mitts base runners today use to be widely adopted.
I think I would have liked it even better had I not read it during the start of the NHL playoffs. I'm a hockey-guy first. It's always tough to switch from the NHL playoffs to regular season MLB. In July and August, I'm all about baseball. I bet this book would have hit better had I read it then.
It was interesting learning how long it took for gloves and helmets to be adopted. It certainly didn't take that long for C-flaps and those oven mitts base runners today use to be widely adopted.
I think I would have liked it even better had I not read it during the start of the NHL playoffs. I'm a hockey-guy first. It's always tough to switch from the NHL playoffs to regular season MLB. In July and August, I'm all about baseball. I bet this book would have hit better had I read it then.
April 2, 2023
Great, well-researched stories that piece together the games artifacts with the tales that come along with them.
There are a lot of interesting people and events in this book that are worth reading about.
My favorite stories from the book are Rushin’s personal experience working at the Met and the stories about how the baseball glove became commonplace on the diamond.
Fantastic read just in time for opening day!
There are a lot of interesting people and events in this book that are worth reading about.
My favorite stories from the book are Rushin’s personal experience working at the Met and the stories about how the baseball glove became commonplace on the diamond.
Fantastic read just in time for opening day!
July 26, 2024
Steve Rushin hit this one out of the park. He is both a master of the English language and taking very mundane topics like baseball gloves, baseball uniforms, baseball bats, and everything about baseball, and makes it so engaging that I can only imagine what he could do if he wrote about things I am innately interested in.
NOTE: I have never met Steve Rushin. We are not related and he is not paying me to say how great he is.
NOTE: I have never met Steve Rushin. We are not related and he is not paying me to say how great he is.
August 18, 2017
I found this book by accident, and put it in the summer reading pile. It was a fortunate choice. I love random and agenda-less knowledge and this book is chock full. The history of the glove, the protective cup, baseball caps- and all told with amusing and detailed anecdotes. Thank you Mr. Rushin.
June 4, 2022
I loved this book. It is chocked full interesting facts about how baseball became what it is. Want to know why baseball players wore stirrup socks or why the groundskeepers first came out to groom the field mid-game or the courage it took to be a beer drinkers at Ebbet’s field? You’ll find it here.
July 6, 2022
This is an absolutely glorious baseball book. How many broken bones did Lou Gehrig suffer in his fingers? What does "around the horn" actually mean? What type of bat did Mantle use? How great was Warren Spahn, or Cy Young? I've been a baseball fan since the 1950s, yet I could read this book every day and find something new.
January 21, 2019
Filled with entertaining anecdotes there are still portions that seem overly long. And the error in retelling the Ray Chapman story (Carl Mays was a Yankee not a Giant) causes the reader to wonder what other errors are littered throughout.
April 7, 2020
Lots and lots of fun baseball historical trivia. Needs better editing though, as the minutiae gets overwhelming. I normally love Rushin's writing but this time the flow gets bogged down with all the references to his research. We don't need to know every little factoid.
March 5, 2019
Interesting, and well researched. A pleasure to read, a tome of knowledge that will delight any fan of 'America's Game'.
May 29, 2020
Exeptionaly good!!
June 13, 2020
A delightful baseball history read. If you enjoy indepth trivia related to baseball history, you ought to enjoy this look at the unusual stories Rushin has gathered.
November 3, 2020
A good fun read for all baseball fans. Thanks Karin!
April 19, 2021
While I didn't enjoy it quite as much as Sting Ray afternoons it still held my attention and I could relate to much of it. Excellent writing as always from Rushin.
November 5, 2021
Awesome!!
October 23, 2022
Probably 3.5 stars, really. Another quirky look at baseball history.
April 2, 2023
Entertaining and unique way to look at the history of baseball.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 91 reviews