The End of Baseball: A Novel

by Peter Schilling Jr.

In Peter Schilling's wonderful novel, the extraordinary baseball season of 1944 comes vividly to life. Bill Veeck, the maverick promoter, returned from Guadalcanal with a leg missing and $500 to his name, has hustled his way into buying the Philadelphia Athletics. Hungry for a pennant, young Veeck jettisons the team's white players and secretly recruits the legendary stars of the Negro Leagues, fielding a club that will go down in baseball annals as one of the greatest ever to play the game. Here are the behind-the-scenes adventures that bring this dream to reality, and a cast of characters only history's pen could create. The End of Baseball is the most rollicking, free-spirited baseball story in years, the unvarnished truth of that incredible season and the men who lived it.

Genres: Baseball, Fiction, Sports, Historical Fiction

352 pages, Hardcover

First published March 7, 2008

About the author

Peter Schilling Jr. is the author of the acclaimed novel, The End of Baseball. He has been a sportswriter, film critic, and freelance writer for over seven years, with work appearing in the Minneapolis City Pages and Star-Tribune among many others. This is in addition to writing non-fiction, graphic novels, plays and screenplays, as well as the blog entries you read here. Originally from Michigan, he lives in St. Louis Park, MN.

Reviews

[Deacon Tom (Feeling Better) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Creative

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, called, “the end of baseball”.

The author did a fantastic job. He thoroughly did his research. I am from Philadelphia and know of the stadium and history of of the team. So, I can verify for the accuracy.

The plot was around the theory of what if the great Negro players were allowed to play major league baseball.

As a baseball junkie, this book filled by off season appetite.

I recommend this book. However, if your baseball friend, I highly recommend.

[Stuart Nachbar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Great Alternate Sports History

I found this novel: The End of Baseball on a day spent in Cooperstown. It was a pity that I did not find it in the Hall of Fame; it belongs in their library and bookstore. Baseball respects its past more than any other American sport, but alternate histories are rare. The End of Baseball is one worth reading, if only for the historical and political scenarios brought forth by the writer.

Written by baseball writer Peter Schilling Jr., The End of Baseball is a “what-if” story that takes place in 1944. Noted promoter Bill Veeck has bought the American League’s Philadelphia Athletics (aka the A’s) and the Negro League’s Philadelphia Stars; he releases the white major leaguers and replaces them with talent from the Negro League roster. So instead of indoctrinating one of the first black players into the majors, as he did in 1947, Veeck introduces the first all-black major league team. It’s a mix of older Negro Leaguers such as Cool Papa Bell, Satchel Paige, Buck Leonard and Josh Gibson and younger stars like Martin Dihigo, Roy Campanella and Monte Irvin. In real life, Veeck said in his autobiography, Veeck As In Wreck, that he wanted to buy the Philadelphia Phillies and stock their roster with black players, but he knew the other owners would not go along with the purchase.

At first, the baseball establishment steps in and cries foul. Commissioner Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis refused to approve the black players’ contracts. Fearing he’ll need to break up the A’s, he calls Branch Rickey, offering a player in trade. Rickey refuses; this is 1944, two years before he’ll sign Jackie Robinson, but he tells Veeck that the player contracts are valid, so it’s “play ball” for the A’s.

What follows are “what if” answers to many questions: How would an all-black team be welcome at home and on the road? How would politicians react? Can team harmony and chemistry be managed? What would the lords of baseball do next to derail the roster? Would the black players be the best players in the game? All of these questions are answered and some of the answers may surprise. Not only do baseball players, managers and executives appear in this story, so do President Roosevelt, Walter Winchell and J.Edgar Hoover, who sees the entry of black players in America’s Game as another step towards Communism.

The choice of 1944 as the year for the story was interesting. America is at war and many of the best baseball players are in the service. Roosevelt wants baseball to play on for the sake of national unity and a diversion from the war effort. The armed forces have not been fully desegregated. The owners of the Pirates, Reds, Senators and Yankees also hosted Negro League teams in their ballparks and did not want to lose those revenues, so it was not in their financial interests to see black players reach the majors.

I might have thought that a full roster of black players would also look out for each other, but aside from the political angles and Satchel Paige’s on and off-field antics, the A’s highs and lows were not much different from any other major league team. There’s wins and losses, players who want to win as well as those who only want a paycheck. The A’s start from last and take time to build up steam, losing the pennant on the final day of the season. The ending of the story is even sadder, but it might have been a realistic possibility in those days.

If you’re a baseball fan who’s also into American History, put The End of Baseball on your shopping list.

[Rodger Payne · Rating 3 out of 5]

It might be 3.5. I really liked the premise of the book -- it is an alternative history featuring a maverick major league baseball owner (Bill Veeck in this case) cutting all his white players from the roster of the Philadelphia A's (a team he never owned) and creating a team of Negro League all-stars. The real-life Veeck claimed in his memoirs that he tried to purchase the Philadelphia Phillies to integrate baseball with Negro stars and baseball scholars have subsequently debated the veracity of that tale.

In any case, the book winds through the signing of the players, the battles with baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the spring training hassles in the south, etc. Everything you ever heard about Jackie Robinson's struggles are likely featured in this book, but Schilling places the events around the 1944 season. That means other teams are deficient in star power, as many players are in uniform, and war necessities can be used to limit opportunities (like the All Star game).

It's an interesting tale, but I thought the book could have been a lot tighter with better editing. The pennant race ultimately captures your attention, but the race to break Ruth's seasonal HR record seems somewhat farfetched given some parameters written into the story. Many of the characters seem bigger than life -- Veeck, Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, even Buck Leonard and Cuban Martin Dihigo -- but there are so many key characters that the book does not sufficiently focus on any of their stories.

A surprising number of people in the story die during the course of the tale. I'm not entirely sure what to make of that.

[Hal Brodsky · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this. I love baseball, but this author cannot write. The book is almost a screenplay.

[Charline Ratcliff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A few weeks ago I was in northern California talking to a close friend of mine who happens to be an Oakland A’s fan. I remember mentioning to him that I had decided to read and review “The End of Baseball.” He gave me a blank look until I explained the book’s premise: a fictional novel about baseball starring Bill Veeck, the Philadelphia Athletics and an all black team set in the early forties. My friend sort of chuckled before asking if Eddie Gaedel was going to be in the story as well. Of course I had no idea who he was talking about and this prompted a Google search.

Learning about Gaedel caused me to do some serious research on Veeck. I have to give major props to Peter Schilling Jr., the book’s author. Who better to fill the sizeable shoes of the maverick promoter in “The End of Baseball” than Bill Veeck; the very man who was probably best known throughout the league for his flamboyant publicity stunts and the innovations he brought to baseball during his ownership of the St. Louis Browns, Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox. I don’t think the author could have chosen a more suitable person than Veeck to help give this novel an authentic and realistic feel.

Continuing with the storyline; Veeck returns from Guadalcanal with a missing leg and five hundred dollars to his name. He manages to purchase the Philadelphia Athletics and gets rid of all the white players. In 1944 that was the entire roster. Unbeknownst to anyone except his business partner, Sam Dailey, Veeck secretly recruits the legendary stars of the Negro Leagues and signs them to play in the majors. In an era of war and racial segregation Veeck gambles everything on the hope that people’s love of seeing great baseball will overcome the integration of a black man into the major leagues.

In summary, I must say that “The End of Baseball” was a joy to read. I definitely prolonged it for as long as possible. Over the years I have read my fair share of baseball novels but in my opinion none of them can hold a candle to this one. Schilling has a fantastic writing style. His words flow smoothly. His descriptions will make the reader feel as if he or she is actually in the dugout watching baseball greats like Satchel Paige, Buck Leonard or Josh Gibson in person rather than reading about them in a book. While “The End of Baseball” is a work of fiction the author has done such a fantastic job that, at times, his readers may have trouble separating fact from fiction.

A definite “must read” for anyone who loves a great book…

(Reviewed in association with Rebecca's Reads).

[Charlie Quimby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book.

An alternative history of the integration of baseball, The End of Baseball brings back an era when baseball was truly America's game, still being played in segregated leagues and seedy ballparks, followed in print newspapers, radio broadcasts and wartime transmissions to troops at war in Europe.

Peter Schilling's baseball knowledge is deep with research and appreciation. He reimagines events and invents new ones, placing real historical figures such as Bill Veeck and Kennesaw Mountain Landis in conflict, as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and less well-known Negro League stars on an all-black team race for the American League pennant. Baseball fans will find themselves consulting references to separate fact and history from fiction and plausible speculation, but the pleasures of this novel don't rely on inside baseball knowledge.

The story flows at a good pace and builds to the very end, as sports novels must, yet like the game, The End of Baseball takes time to stretch and look around. Despite the book's larger social themes, Schilling never preaches. He writes straightforwardly, like a good historian, tucking in the telling details that bring the times to life.

If you don't care for baseball, buy this book anyway and give it to a friend who does. It's a gift.

[JBP · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love baseball history and good baseball novels and the premise of this book is something that I have often dreamed about when reading about Negro League players: what if a bunch of Negro Leaguers crashed the color line pre-1947 Jackie Robinson? Well, The End of Baseball attempts to answer that.

1943. Black players will comprise the entire Philadelphia Athletics. Players such as Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell, Monte Irvin, Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard etc etc make up the cast of characters. The problem with the book is that it is just so hokey and simplistic with baseball scenes on the unbelievable, sensational side (not realistic).

If it was better written it would have been more successfull instead of just being a good, interesting idea.

[Ann Mulholland · Rating 5 out of 5]

as a baseball fan I absolutely loved this book. As someone who's never even had to think about when baseball (or anything for that matter) was 'whites only' this was a very interesting read. I can't even imagine what life was like before the leagues were intergrated.
I enjoyed the description of the plays, the players and the games. And to read about players that I've heard about all my life, was really cool.

[Johnny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone who loves baseball knows that a lot of our baseball traditions date back to the P. T. Barnum-like antics of Bill Veeck, Jr. Even the ivy on the Wrigley Field walls is tied to his work with the Cubs. He is known for gimmicks like using a 3’ 7” player as a batter for the St. Louis Browns. Post-game fireworks and the pinwheels on the White Sox scoreboard date back to Veeck’s attempt to even bring in crowds to watch bad and mediocre teams. In real life, he successfully brought the minor-league Milwaukee Brewers to financial stability and competitive respectability, was a minority owner of the Cleveland Indians, sole owner of the St. Louis Browns, and controlling owner of the Chicago White Sox.

Between the Brewers and the Indians, Veeck served in the war and lost a leg, having to wear a prosthetic. Perhaps, most importantly, he signed the first African-American player in the American League (Larry Doby) and, foreshadowing the fiction that is The End of Baseball, made Satchel Paige into the oldest rookie ever in the major leagues (Satchel Paige was allegedly 42 at the time, but later in life, when Charlie Finley signed him to the Kansas City Athletics for a one game stint, he wouldn’t acknowledge that he was 59. Still, at 59, Paige got the save, struck out one, and only gave up one hit with no walks. Veeck even brought Paige to the Browns when he owned them (with the old pitcher 44 years old and counting).

The End of Baseball is fiction that dances on the edge of truth. The events take place after Veeck returns from the war. Instead of buying a minority interest in the Indians and signing one African-American, the Veeck in the novel buys the Philadelphia Athletics and signs the greatest stars of the Negro Leagues (in spite of Josh Gibson’s aging and drug habit, Paige’s age and tendency to showboat, and Cool Papa Bell’s age). He irritates “Kennesaw Mountain” Landis, the commissioner of baseball during that era, to no end and faces the challenges of Judge Landis using all of his business and political connections to try to make sure that the Negro players fail.

Now, that’s the basic story. Veeck could have had the Negro heroes steamroll the weak, white, war-years competition. Yet, that would have been exactly what we would have been expecting. This team has its ups and downs, competing not only against the other teams, but sometimes against umpires, railroad lines, hotels, and building inspectors, as well. It is incisive because the players recognize that they have become a symbol of hope for the black population, but most of them don’t want that responsibility on their shoulders. They didn’t want to be revolutionaries; they wanted to play ball. They didn’t want to win because they were black and discriminate against; they wanted to win because they wanted to be the best and be recognized as the best.

The internal (and sometimes, external) struggles of these personalities would have made a good book in itself, but Peter Schilling, Jr. chose Veeck as a protagonist for a reason. In trying to dodge some of the dirty tricks Judge Landis is sending his way, the fictional Veeck reaches into the historical Veeck’s bag of tricks. Historical Veeck brought fans into Sportsman’s Park by giving them placards and letting them flash them to tell the manager whether to bunt, steal, or hit away (the fans won, too). The fictional Veeck set up a Wheel of Fortune that a lucky fan would spin in order to decide what position Cuban-born superstar (yes, they were considered “colored,” too) Martin Dihigo would play during the day’s game. [Note: The historical Martin Dihigo may not have been quite as much of a superman as the fictional Dihigo in this novel, but there were four years running in the Negro Leagues when Dihigo won 66% of the games he pitched and batted an average of .352 and averaging more than 100 at bats per season over the same period of 1925-1928.]

Another incident dancing on the edge of history is similar to a stunt historical Veeck pulled in St. Louis. A fan had suggested that the Indians pay more attention to the “Average Joe.” So, historical Veeck honored a fellow named Joe Earley with a “Good Old Joe Earley Night.” I’m not sure it had the same result as when fictional Veeck solves a huge problem with his “Fan Appreciation Night,” but such incidents (even with a twist or two) really add to the verisimilitude of the story.

I read a review of The End of Baseball when it came out. It sounded interesting, but not interesting enough for me to find the book. I stumbled across it recently at my public library and quickly checked it out. This book offers a sharp crack of the bat while not overlooking the very real social problems of the late World War II Era and our own.

[Mark Lieberman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have had this book in a paper format for a long time. And, every time I see it looking at me, I pick it up and can only get through the first few pages. I mean, I do want to read it. So, a few weeks ago, I decided to try again, but this time as an ebook on my Kindle, and I read the entire book.

This book is about real people; Bill Veeck, Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, and other negro players from that era. It takes place in 1943 as Bill Veeck buys the Philadelphia Athletics baseball team, and fields his team with the best negro players available. A lot of obstacles happen; mostly from the then Commissioner of Baseball, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Landis does everything in his power to stop it from happening; one of them is suspending Bill Veeck from being in the stadium. Fans, teams, and the media are also tying to prevent and some even help them.

It’s an interesting story and I really enjoyed reading about the greatest negro baseball players as well as how smart Bill Veeck was with this brilliant idea. Not only finding the players, but also getting the stadium in shape for playing. Bill also had an open door to his apartment near the stadium and personally took phone calls so he could be aware of what the fan wanted.

Off topic, Bill Veeck is a baseball genius.

He was an owner of a few baseball teams, and worked every job you could possibly think of.

He helped plant the vines at Wrigley Field in 1937, it was actually his idea.

As an owner of the St. Louis Browns, he had Eddie Gaedel pinch hit in a game. You aren’t supposed to know that name, but he was the shortest player to ever play in a Major League Baseball game (3 feet and 7 inches). By the way he walked, and then was substituted for a pinch runner.

As owner and team president of the Indians in 1947, Veeck signed Larry Doby, thus beginning the integration of the American League, and the following year, he won a World Series title.

It was Veeck’s encouragement in 1977 to have Harry Carey sing “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” live during the 7th inning stretch. How awesome is that!!!!

Bill was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame posthumously in 1991, but it should’ve happened much earlier than that.

Because I read and really enjoyed this book, one of my co-workers suggested a similar book called, The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings: A Novel. Yeah, we have book group at my job, and I like sharing my reading updates. This one is now in my Goodreads want to read list.

[Tim Basuino · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel is an alternative story of the 1944 Major League Baseball season - the one major twist being that Bill Veeck Jr. was in this case allowed to purchase the Philadelphia Athletics, and then subsequently stock the roster with Negro League stars.

The premise is a pretty good one - not entirely inconceivable, and in a way it was about to happen three years later with Jackie Robinson. But in this story it's not just one player - it's an entire team. Certainly if anybody was going to be that daring, it would have been Veeck.

I found the story of how the African Americans brought into the league fascinating - not a small amount of political capital was spent (which in some ways actually happened with the 1947 Dodgers). I will say what happened with the existing players was pretty much glossed over.

The problem with alternative histories is that while the premise may be intriguing, oftentimes the story itself wears thin, and that's certainly the case here. Too many superhero accomplishments (I'm looking at you, Martin Dihigo), and I wish the author had spent more time making the statistics at least make sense. And I'll also say the book's ending left me less than satisfied.

But in the end, a very intriguing read.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting first novel by the author who imagines what would have happened if baseball had integrated a few years sooner during WWII. All the characters are real, but the story is fictions. Bill Veeck comes back from the war with an amputated leg (which is true) and buys the Philadelphia A's from Connie Mack. His plan is to stock the team entirely with Negro League baseball players - all legends of the game. Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Martin Dihigo, Buck Leonard, Ray Dandridge, and Roy Campanella are the leading players on the team as they battle for the 1944 AL pennant against the St. Louis Browns, Detroit Tigers, and NY Yankees. Veeck battles Commissioner Landis while his players battle both on the field with their all-white rivals and face a litany of problems as blacks during WWII America. A great "what if" the best Negro Leaguers actually had a chance to play as a team in the Major Leagues.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really loved this book about what might have been. Schilling's portrayal of Veeck, Paige, Gibson and Landis is a lot like I imagine these men to have been like in real life. Very descriptive book about baseball games, the men who played in them, various owners and sportswriters of the time, the fans of the team as well as the prejudice that others treated the players with. My only complaint is the death of Josh Gibson being beyond earlier than it happened, was the way it was caused by a heroin overdose. I have read that there were rumors of him using heroin, but nothing proven in this regard which I felt like wasn't a proper way to end this little known all time great player's part in this story. Other than that it was an extremely well written book that I absolutely recommend to any baseball history fan

[Marty Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoy baseball, you will enjoy reading "The End of Baseball." Historical fiction at its best. At times it was difficult to read as it was so close to seeming like a non-fiction story. The author takes Negro League greats and puts them on the major league Philadelphia A's. Bill Veeck buy the A's from Connie Mack in 1944 and decides to put together an all negro team of stars including Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Campy Campanella, Buck Leonard, and Cool Papa Bell. What a team. That said the team has its share of problems and is not treated well by major league baseball including Commissioner Landis.

[Stuart Shiffman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about the book. As a baseball story it had some difficulties. I recognize that fiction often deviates from the truth but here the deviations were sometimes just hard to accept. But I did enjoy reading the fictional account of the integration of baseball. The book does actually use some true events of baseball history in its plot but overall it was not that satisfying. And the ending was somewhat abrupt. But fans of baseball history may well enjoy this journey into the past.

[Gregory · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea of an alternative history of integration starring Bill Veeck was intriguing, but ultimately I only liked the book. The writing is nicely evocative of the World War II era, with Veeck as a manic and larger than life type of person, and Kenesaw Mountain Landis as the villain trying to thwart him. Schilling bends history left and right but for me that felt fine. I liked not knowing what would happen. The story, however, is slow and the end fizzled.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this fictionalized account of what-if Bill Veeck had owned and integrated the Philadelphia A’s during World War II. It’s well-written, if dragging in parts, and thought-provoking both about the principals involved (Gibson, Paige, Bell, et al) and the social changes underway. Most baseball fans will enjoy this one, I think.

[Ben Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a baseball nerd, this made me very happy. Schilling clearly did his research and used it to put together one of the clearest portraits of the giants of the old Negro Leagues, players like Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson, and Satchel Paige, who most baseball fans know but few truly understand. Great read!

[Kirk · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay, but nothing special. The author described some things well (for example, Bill Veeck), and I liked the premise at the beginning of the book. But after a good start, the book progressed slowly and dragged at times. The writer didn't deliver on his excellent premise.

[Dale Bentz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of twists and turns, some expected, some not. Some plausible, some not. Perhaps more fantasy than fiction, but still an enjoyable read overall.

[Reed Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Fictional history is always good and add baseball to the mix and it is great.

[Tom Shrimplin · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books about baseball I've every read! What a season! If you like baseball, you HAVE to read this book!

[Jerry Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn’t keep all of the characters straight. The writing could have been condensed to make it a better story.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked up at a library book sale and read because I'm gearing up for the season to start by reading any and all baseball-themed books I have handy.

It was a little weird to read about real players and other folks in such a fictionalized way, but I enjoyed it.

[J.S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

According to baseball lore, a flamboyant investor/owner named Bill Veeck tried to purchase the Philadelphia Phillies in 1942, planning to staff the team entirely with stars from the Negro League (this was back in the days when baseball was racially segregated). Veeck claimed that Baseball Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis refused to allow him to buy the team. But... what if it *had* happened?

Everyone knows the names of Babe Ruth, Joe Dimaggio, Ty Cobb, Lou Gherig. But fewer know Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, "Cool Papa" Bell, Buck Leonard, Martín Dihigo - all of them in the Baseball Hall of Fame. What if you were able to sign those guys - every bit as fantastic as the better known white players (and sometimes more so) - and play them on a single team? Would they win? Could they lose?

That's the premise behind this book - that Veeck had compiled a team of some of the greatest Negro League baseball players for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1944. It seemed like a sure-fire way to success... except it's not that simple. Racism is a big part of the story; the difficulties Veeck faces with Judge Landis, other teams, fans at home and around the league. I enjoyed the beginning as the team is coming together, and was reminded of Kadir Nelson's beautifully illustrated We Are the Ship, which I continually referenced to remember names. The middle, however, had almost no action and the realistic problems faced by the team were no fun reading whatsoever. I quit reading it for a while but eventually came back to it, and the last 50 pages or so were much more exciting as the season winds down.

There's not a lot of play-action in the book, and what there is is very episodic. The men are portrayed as foul-mouthed and gritty, which is presumably realistic. Nonetheless, you can't help but cheer for them and hope for their success. It's just a "what if," but if you can get through the middle, the ending is pretty good.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I tend to be a pretty generous grader... 5 stars might be a touch optimistic but 4.5 would be fair, so I'm going with 4. The premise of this book was pretty unique (to me, at least) and it was very well researched. Bill Veeck Junior buys the lowly Philadelphia A's in 1944 and assembles a team of the greatest Negro League players he can find, integrating baseball with an entire team (3 years before Jackie Robinson).

On paper, the team is the best in the league, but adapting to the pressures of breaking the color barrier, playing in the major leagues and being under constant scrutiny takes its toll on the team. The team story follows a fairly predictable arc (though with a twist ending) but Schilling does a great job describing the baseball action. The last few chapters really race by as the season winds down, but the faster pace of the book fits the final days of the pennant race wonderfully.

The characters in the book are well developed and realistic. They don't just blend seamlessly into the major leagues without some of their former selves coming through. Roy Campanella, Buck Leonard, Josh Gibson, Piper Davis, Cool Papa Bell, Satchel Paige and Martin Dihigo are the most prominent, but other legends play a big role as well. The book is a who's who of Negro League talent. If you don't have a lot of knowledge of Negro League history, you might be a bit lost, but even without the background it's a fine book that is easily enjoyed. Having just finished Willie's Boys and already having some background, it was a good fit for me.

Schilling also does a good job describing the historical context (WWII, Communism, struggles with integration in society, war shortages, etc) which makes me wonder if he has a historical background. History buffs will find enough here to keep themselves satisfied.

[Spiros · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Everyone knows Custer died at Little Big Horn; what this book presupposes is: maybe he didn't?" - Eli Cash

This book takes a fascinating sidebar from the history of Baseball (Bill Veeck's plan to buy the moribund Philadelphia Athletics in 1943, and replace the roster with an All-Star team from the Negro Leagues), and runs with it. The story is replete with such gaudy characters as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, J. Edgar Hoover, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, and, of course, the brilliant eccentric Bill Veeck, Jr., freshly returned from losing a leg at Guadalcanal, with a determination to set Baseball on its ear. With such a cast to draw on, the book cannot fail to be engaging. What the book suffers from is what I think of as "No-Foulball Syndrome", which manifests itself in baseball movies in which one never sees players hitting a foul ball: every pitch results either in a strike out or a home run. In this novel the syndrome manifests itself in the manner in which the Athletics spend the first hundred games of the season playing like the Bad News Bears, and then the rest of the season like a team of Roy Hobbses. It smacks of literary contrivance: in baseball, the margin between winning and losing is so thin that even a bad team, such as my beloved Giants, plays good ball in the midst of a losing streak.
Two other niggling quibbles: the use of the word "paparazzi" in a story set nearly twenty years before the release of LA DOLCE VITA is grating, and anybody offering to settle a $20 bet with a "sawbuck" is a welcher, since a sawbuck is in fact a ten dollar bill.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book I really wanted to be great that is merely good. It really needed to be longer. There are a lot of characters in this book and some of them get a short shrift. One character in particular that comes in late. He is nothing more than a uniform that plays well. I'm not even sure he has a speaking part.

I was disappointed by the portrayal of Satchell Paige. From what I have read when he made it to the major leagues he toned down his Satchell Paige act and concentrated on showing the world he belonged in big league baseball. In this book he behaves like he's barnstorming around the country. I found that to be a false portrayal of the man.

The center of this book and the most rounded character is Bill Veeck. He is the heart of and soul of the book. He's driven, smart, funny and fallible. Veeck and his partner Sam Dailey are the two most realized and living characters in the novel. Scenes that contain the two can sometimes be so good that other scenes, often involving the players, pale in comparison.

Other reviewers have mentioned that some of the baseball scene are unrealistic, and they are. Unrealistic in, I think, a purposeful way. I think the writer was trying to create a mythic season mixed with realistic characters and he doesn't quite get there.

If you enjoy a good baseball novel then you will enjoy this book even if, like me, you find it a little uneven.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Try as they may, the vast majority of writers struggle mightily to write passable dialogue between male characters engaged in some sort of serious endeavor (war, police work, athletic competition, etc). In trying to recreate how guys talk in the heat of battle, most writers end of creating dialogue that, while not worthy or George Lucas, is pretty tough to take.

Add Peter Schilling to the list of writers who struggles to write passable male-male conversations.

That minor issue aside. The End of Baseball takes a creative premise for a story (Bill Veeck buys the lowly Philadelphia A's in 1944 and staffs the team with the best Negro League talent that he can find) and then takes that basic story through creative (if not always believable) loop-the-loops in pursuit of an answer to the grand question of "what if." There are several dozen moments in the novel in which incredible creativity as well as solid historical research shine through.

Like a lot of sports books/movies, this book follows the well-worn path of a team starting slow then getting hot then playing in one final climactic game. In addition to the dialogue, the somewhat cookie cutter approach to the team's wins and losses over the course of the season is the book's primary flaw. There must be another way to tell a compelling sports story that does not involve a team losing prodigiously and then going on a bat-out-of-hell winning streak.

[DT · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's 1943, and Philadelphia A's owner Bill Veeck has decided that he's going to integrate the game of baseball by fielding an entire team of Negro League players for the 1944 season. The Establishment reacts predictably. What ensues is one of the most enjoyable sports books I've read in a long time. If you're not a baseball fan, you may not love this as much as I did. If you loved Buck Leonard in Ken Burns' Baseball miniseries, or if you know who Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige are, I suspect you will.

Regardless, it's a well-written book that avoids cliches and predictable plot turns. It's the author's first book, and it's meticulously researched. There are points where he could be forgiven for reaching into fantasy, but he never does anything implausible. We've only ever read about Jackie Robinson going it alone, but this is a gripping and believable alternate reality.