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Macho Row: The 1993 Phillies and Baseball's Unwritten Code
Colorful, shaggy, and unkempt, misfits and outlaws, the 1993 Phillies played hard and partied hard. Led by Darren Daulton, John Kruk, Lenny Dykstra, and Mitch Williams, it was a team the fans loved and continue to love today. Focusing on six key members of the team, Macho Row follows the remarkable season with an up-close look at the players’ lives, the team’s triumphs and failures, and what made this group so unique and so successful.
With a throwback mentality, the team adhered to baseball’s Code . Designed to preserve the moral fabric of the game, the Code’s unwritten rules formed the bedrock of this diehard team whose players paid homage and respect to the game at all times. Trusting one another and avoiding ideas of superstardom, they consistently rubbed the opposition the wrong way and didn’t care. William C. Kashatus pulls back the covers on this old-school band of brothers, depicting the highs and lows and their brash style while also digging into the suspected steroid use of players on the team. Macho Row is a story of winning and losing, success and failure, and the emotional highs and lows that accompany them.
With a throwback mentality, the team adhered to baseball’s Code . Designed to preserve the moral fabric of the game, the Code’s unwritten rules formed the bedrock of this diehard team whose players paid homage and respect to the game at all times. Trusting one another and avoiding ideas of superstardom, they consistently rubbed the opposition the wrong way and didn’t care. William C. Kashatus pulls back the covers on this old-school band of brothers, depicting the highs and lows and their brash style while also digging into the suspected steroid use of players on the team. Macho Row is a story of winning and losing, success and failure, and the emotional highs and lows that accompany them.
423 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 1, 2017
16 people are currently reading
98 people want to read
About the author
William C. Kashatus
6 books7 followersWilliam C. Kashatus is an historian, educator and author. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Earlham College, he earned an MA in history at Brown University and a PhD in history education at the University of Pennsylvania. He currently teaches history at Luzerne County Community College in northeastern Pennsylvania.
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September 12, 2020
The 1993 Philadelphia Phillies are likely to be the most beloved team in all of Philadelphia Sports. It was only the second team in Base Ball who finished in last place tp previous year (1992) to finish first the following year. It was the doing of General Manager Lee Thomas who did not go after stars but rather went after good players. He took players that teams no longer wanted. John Kruk was struggling in San Diego, Lenny Dykstra was no longer wanted in the Mets organization and Mitch Williams was not wanted in Chicago with the Cubs. Pete Incavalio was struggling in Texas as well. Lee Thomas took all these players into a Philadelphia Phillies system. He also drafted third baseman Dave Hollins in the Rule 5 draft.
These players along with catcher Darren Daulton became the Macho Row players that is mentioned in the title. They played hard and spent hours after a game discussing how to improve upon the game. They became great friends in the process.
Darren Daulton was the enforcer of the team. If he caught a player not playing up to their potential he was would scold them. He was built like a Greek god. And was very handsome but he was an extremely tough individual.
John Kruk was overweight but could hit. He would also chew up to 40 pieces of bubble gum per game. Lenny Dykstra relished in big time games like the playoffs and World Series.
They won the Nation League East's division fairly easy despite always being compared the 1964 Phillies who had blown a 6 game lead at the end of the season. However this Phillies team didn't fade.
Then they did the impossible and defeated the heavily favored Atlanta Braves in the National League Playoffs. The Braves have two of those players sitting in the Hall of Fame now, the Phillies have 0. The Braves had played in the previous two World Series. However the Phillies showed them who was the better team.
The Phillies played the Toronto Blue Jays who wear the defending World Champions. Two games standout why the Phillies lost to the Blue Jays. One was a 15 to 14 loss. It was the highest World Series score in history. The Phillies lead the Blue Jays in most of that game but blew it the end.
The 6th game was also hard to swallow as a life long Phillies fan. Lenny Dykstra hit a home run that put the Phillies ahead in the 7th inning. Mitch Williams, the Phillies closer, pitched the 9th and final Blue Jays at bat and Joe Carter smashed a home run that ended the Phillies dream. It would have been only the second World Series win for the Phillies in its 100 year history. Fortunately, we would get our second World Series win in 2008.
Billy Beane watched the Phillies and saw how they excelled at on base percentage and slugging percentage. And he based drafted Oakland A's more on those stats than the typical statistics of batting average, home runs and RBI.
I like how the author lets you know what became of the former players of the 1993 Phillies. Most of Macho Row did not turn out to good. Dykstra spent time in Jail. Pitcher Curt Shilling lost of all his Base ball money in a video game project, Darren Daulton had passed away from brain cancer and Dave Hollins found out he had diabetes and struggled on in Base Ball for a few more years.
It was a fun book to read. And I found that as my favorite Phillies team as well.
These players along with catcher Darren Daulton became the Macho Row players that is mentioned in the title. They played hard and spent hours after a game discussing how to improve upon the game. They became great friends in the process.
Darren Daulton was the enforcer of the team. If he caught a player not playing up to their potential he was would scold them. He was built like a Greek god. And was very handsome but he was an extremely tough individual.
John Kruk was overweight but could hit. He would also chew up to 40 pieces of bubble gum per game. Lenny Dykstra relished in big time games like the playoffs and World Series.
They won the Nation League East's division fairly easy despite always being compared the 1964 Phillies who had blown a 6 game lead at the end of the season. However this Phillies team didn't fade.
Then they did the impossible and defeated the heavily favored Atlanta Braves in the National League Playoffs. The Braves have two of those players sitting in the Hall of Fame now, the Phillies have 0. The Braves had played in the previous two World Series. However the Phillies showed them who was the better team.
The Phillies played the Toronto Blue Jays who wear the defending World Champions. Two games standout why the Phillies lost to the Blue Jays. One was a 15 to 14 loss. It was the highest World Series score in history. The Phillies lead the Blue Jays in most of that game but blew it the end.
The 6th game was also hard to swallow as a life long Phillies fan. Lenny Dykstra hit a home run that put the Phillies ahead in the 7th inning. Mitch Williams, the Phillies closer, pitched the 9th and final Blue Jays at bat and Joe Carter smashed a home run that ended the Phillies dream. It would have been only the second World Series win for the Phillies in its 100 year history. Fortunately, we would get our second World Series win in 2008.
Billy Beane watched the Phillies and saw how they excelled at on base percentage and slugging percentage. And he based drafted Oakland A's more on those stats than the typical statistics of batting average, home runs and RBI.
I like how the author lets you know what became of the former players of the 1993 Phillies. Most of Macho Row did not turn out to good. Dykstra spent time in Jail. Pitcher Curt Shilling lost of all his Base ball money in a video game project, Darren Daulton had passed away from brain cancer and Dave Hollins found out he had diabetes and struggled on in Base Ball for a few more years.
It was a fun book to read. And I found that as my favorite Phillies team as well.
February 11, 2017
During the 1993 baseball season, the Philadelphia Phillies were considered the surprise team. Not only because they unexpectedly won the National League pennant and took the defending champion Toronto Blue Jays to six games in the World Series, but also because of their image of being a rag-tag collection of misfits and outlaws. This book by William C. Kashatus shows that this image was well-deserved as he examines that season and the six men who played the biggest roles in projecting that image and also for playing good baseball.
The six players on which book focuses are Lenny Dykstra, Mitch Williams, John Kruk, Pete Icavigulia, Dave Hollins and Darren Daulton. To understand the team, one must understand these six players, their personalities and what “the Code” (the unwritten rules of baseball) mean to them. That is the strength of this book as the reader will learn a lot about these six men. Kashatus writes about each one’s personality, what drove them on the field and how they loved being part of a team of misfits that was beloved by a city known to be hard on its sports teams.
There is plenty of writing about the baseball played on the field as well as the reader relieves many of the key moments of the season, including all of the games of the National League Championship Series and the World Series. The former was the biggest surprise of that season as the Phillies defeated the heavily favored Atlanta Braves and it was in this section where I felt the best baseball writing was done in the book as it felt like I was at old Veterans Stadium celebrating along with the six members of “Macho Row.”
While the attention to detail is very good, at times that made the book a bit difficult to follow as the reader may have to refer back to understand a point made. Also, at times I felt there were contradictions in the opinions made by the author, such as how he felt about one of the players, Lenny Dykstra. On one hand, I thought he really liked Dykstra because of his hard-nosed play and the joy the author felt when he and his teammates later became winners. On the other hand, when the subject of performance enhancing drugs is discussed, the author makes his feelings clear that those who used them were cheaters. Because Dykstra’s use of PED’s is documented throughout the book, I wasn’t sure how the author truly felt about this key member of the team.
Nonetheless, this is a book that was as fun to read as was the lifestyle after games that “Macho Row” lived. Phillies fans will especially enjoy this book as it is one that should certainly be added to their bookcase.
I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
http://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/201...
The six players on which book focuses are Lenny Dykstra, Mitch Williams, John Kruk, Pete Icavigulia, Dave Hollins and Darren Daulton. To understand the team, one must understand these six players, their personalities and what “the Code” (the unwritten rules of baseball) mean to them. That is the strength of this book as the reader will learn a lot about these six men. Kashatus writes about each one’s personality, what drove them on the field and how they loved being part of a team of misfits that was beloved by a city known to be hard on its sports teams.
There is plenty of writing about the baseball played on the field as well as the reader relieves many of the key moments of the season, including all of the games of the National League Championship Series and the World Series. The former was the biggest surprise of that season as the Phillies defeated the heavily favored Atlanta Braves and it was in this section where I felt the best baseball writing was done in the book as it felt like I was at old Veterans Stadium celebrating along with the six members of “Macho Row.”
While the attention to detail is very good, at times that made the book a bit difficult to follow as the reader may have to refer back to understand a point made. Also, at times I felt there were contradictions in the opinions made by the author, such as how he felt about one of the players, Lenny Dykstra. On one hand, I thought he really liked Dykstra because of his hard-nosed play and the joy the author felt when he and his teammates later became winners. On the other hand, when the subject of performance enhancing drugs is discussed, the author makes his feelings clear that those who used them were cheaters. Because Dykstra’s use of PED’s is documented throughout the book, I wasn’t sure how the author truly felt about this key member of the team.
Nonetheless, this is a book that was as fun to read as was the lifestyle after games that “Macho Row” lived. Phillies fans will especially enjoy this book as it is one that should certainly be added to their bookcase.
I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
http://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/201...
February 18, 2017
The increased democratization of publishing and the rise of long-tail, niche content have likely lowered the bar for what constitutes a team/season worth memorializing in a book. Thankfully, the 1993 Philadelphia Phillies, a ragtag assemblage of castoffs from other teams that went from last place to first and the World Series, make for good reading. William Kashatus' new book on the subject, Macho Row, is a light and enjoyable volume on one of the quirkier MLB teams of recent memory.
Macho Row is structured like most "single-season-retrospective" books, with a particular focus on the colorful characters employed by the Phillies in 1993. Kashatus devotes a good bit of his attention on the denizens "Macho Row," an especially-raucous section of the clubhouse where stars Darren Daulton, Lenny Dykstra, John Kruk, Mitch Williams, Pete Incavlia, and Dave Hollins resided. The book delves into the backstories of each member and these extended profiles were the highlight of the book for me. Dykstra, who was bursting at the seams with equal parts passion, hubris, and recklessness and the deceptively-clever Kruk were particularly compelling to read about. Kashatus got to interview many major players for the book and these interviews helped further enrich the sketches of each player. Macho Row doesn't actually get to the start of the season until about a third through the book, with extended passages on about half of Macho Row as well as some background on the Phillies and how their fortunes took a pretty severe dip after winning the World Series in 1980 and the NL East in 1983.
There are a few more biographical digressions peppered in the rest of the book but once the account of the season starts the book can get a bit monotonous. Kashatus seems to give brief summaries of each series over the season with a few basic statistics and noting the top performers. While most readers likely do not remember the game-by-game fate of the Phillies in 1993 it still doesn't make for the most gripping prose and occasionally feels like reading a massive volume of Associated Press game recaps (a frequent gripe I have with this type of book in general). This is further exacerbated by the fact that the Phils were largely cruising through their 1993 campaign, beginning every month of the season in first place. Besides a September slump that briefly injected a bit of suspense into the NL East title race, there wasn't a ton of drama. The fact that a rag-tag team of castoffs that finished in last place the previous year won their division the following season was remarkable, but the way they did so was rather humdrum (which makes their dominance even more remarkable, but not always the most captivating reading material when recounted). Kashatus' occasional asides on baseball's "code" also aren't going to be tremendously illuminating for a reader who is a big enough baseball fan to pick up a book about the Phillies' 1993 campaign. Furthermore, such an emphasis doesn't make a ton of sense given that several major Phillies such as Curt Schilling and Lenny Dykstra blatantly broke key components of the code during the season and over the course of their careers.
Those issues aside, the overall reading experience is a pleasant one and I'm ultimately glad I read Macho Row. Kashatus, a historian and college professor who has previously written books on American and baseball history, writes well and does an excellent job linking the trends of the 1993 season with what came before it and what followed, such as how the Phillies served as the inspiration for Billy Beane's Moneyball philosophy. Macho Row is a good read that will help pass the time until Opening Day. I don't think it quite has the "crossover" appeal to be worth being read by non-Phillies fans as if you're a big baseball fan you probably already are familiar with these players' basic backgrounds and careers but Phillies fans should get a lot out of it and enjoy revisiting one of the team's better seasons with some additional insight and interviews from the squad.
6.5 / 10
Macho Row is structured like most "single-season-retrospective" books, with a particular focus on the colorful characters employed by the Phillies in 1993. Kashatus devotes a good bit of his attention on the denizens "Macho Row," an especially-raucous section of the clubhouse where stars Darren Daulton, Lenny Dykstra, John Kruk, Mitch Williams, Pete Incavlia, and Dave Hollins resided. The book delves into the backstories of each member and these extended profiles were the highlight of the book for me. Dykstra, who was bursting at the seams with equal parts passion, hubris, and recklessness and the deceptively-clever Kruk were particularly compelling to read about. Kashatus got to interview many major players for the book and these interviews helped further enrich the sketches of each player. Macho Row doesn't actually get to the start of the season until about a third through the book, with extended passages on about half of Macho Row as well as some background on the Phillies and how their fortunes took a pretty severe dip after winning the World Series in 1980 and the NL East in 1983.
There are a few more biographical digressions peppered in the rest of the book but once the account of the season starts the book can get a bit monotonous. Kashatus seems to give brief summaries of each series over the season with a few basic statistics and noting the top performers. While most readers likely do not remember the game-by-game fate of the Phillies in 1993 it still doesn't make for the most gripping prose and occasionally feels like reading a massive volume of Associated Press game recaps (a frequent gripe I have with this type of book in general). This is further exacerbated by the fact that the Phils were largely cruising through their 1993 campaign, beginning every month of the season in first place. Besides a September slump that briefly injected a bit of suspense into the NL East title race, there wasn't a ton of drama. The fact that a rag-tag team of castoffs that finished in last place the previous year won their division the following season was remarkable, but the way they did so was rather humdrum (which makes their dominance even more remarkable, but not always the most captivating reading material when recounted). Kashatus' occasional asides on baseball's "code" also aren't going to be tremendously illuminating for a reader who is a big enough baseball fan to pick up a book about the Phillies' 1993 campaign. Furthermore, such an emphasis doesn't make a ton of sense given that several major Phillies such as Curt Schilling and Lenny Dykstra blatantly broke key components of the code during the season and over the course of their careers.
Those issues aside, the overall reading experience is a pleasant one and I'm ultimately glad I read Macho Row. Kashatus, a historian and college professor who has previously written books on American and baseball history, writes well and does an excellent job linking the trends of the 1993 season with what came before it and what followed, such as how the Phillies served as the inspiration for Billy Beane's Moneyball philosophy. Macho Row is a good read that will help pass the time until Opening Day. I don't think it quite has the "crossover" appeal to be worth being read by non-Phillies fans as if you're a big baseball fan you probably already are familiar with these players' basic backgrounds and careers but Phillies fans should get a lot out of it and enjoy revisiting one of the team's better seasons with some additional insight and interviews from the squad.
6.5 / 10
October 7, 2018
This is closer to a 3.5 book rather than a 3. I enjoyed a lot being taken back in time for the 1993 season with the Phillies, who were a wild rag-tag bunch with players like John Kruk, Lenny Dkystra, Mitch Williams, Darren Daulton, Pete Ingivilia, Dave Hollins, Danny Jackson, Curt Schilling and many others. But the book was also sad, because the author does a good job of not shying away from controversy and he details the steroid use as well as the falling out between a number of players after the team lost the World Series. Dykstra's story is especially sad because you wonder if he was ever a good player without the steroids. A thing that turned me off a little about this book was certain typos, errors that should have been caught by an editor. For instance, the Tigers did not win the World Series in 1985, they won in 1984. Tommy Greene's name is spelled wrong a bunch of times as Tommy Green, sometimes two different ways in the same sentence. So if those things are wrong, I wonder what else is wrong. That being said, I did enjoy this book as a ride down memory lane. Philly fans may love it or hate it, because it might bring up some bad memories as well as good ones.
June 8, 2020
This was really disappointing. I don't ask for much from my season-in-review books, but this is probably the worst I've read on the genre.
The actual writing and day-to-day recap was fine. It wasn't exceptional, but it told the facts and touched on the importance of the highlights. I enjoyed most of that as I was totally into the 1993 season as a kid, but living in Cleveland I didn't have the up-close perspective of what was a very unique Phillies team.
But the fact-checking was embarrassing. There were too many to be detailed here, but right off the bat there was a lazy statement about how the late-70's Phillies had won five straight pennants (the "We Are Family" Pirates would like a word) where I knew there was going to be trouble. There were plenty more, but total whiffs on basic baseball details makes a reader mistrust anything else to follow.
I almost gave a one-star review but that felt too harsh. On the plus side, this book did inspire me to officially join the SABR games project to fact-check community submitted accounts of historic games, so that's a plus.
The actual writing and day-to-day recap was fine. It wasn't exceptional, but it told the facts and touched on the importance of the highlights. I enjoyed most of that as I was totally into the 1993 season as a kid, but living in Cleveland I didn't have the up-close perspective of what was a very unique Phillies team.
But the fact-checking was embarrassing. There were too many to be detailed here, but right off the bat there was a lazy statement about how the late-70's Phillies had won five straight pennants (the "We Are Family" Pirates would like a word) where I knew there was going to be trouble. There were plenty more, but total whiffs on basic baseball details makes a reader mistrust anything else to follow.
I almost gave a one-star review but that felt too harsh. On the plus side, this book did inspire me to officially join the SABR games project to fact-check community submitted accounts of historic games, so that's a plus.
February 2, 2026
We moved from Chicago to Philadelphia in October 1992, from one city with a history of losing baseball to another. Regardless, we bought season tickets for the 1993 Phillies and our lives were frankly never the same again.
Gruff but loveable is one way to describe the 1993 team. They were throwbacks, rejects, bench players and they came together for one magical season where they almost won it all. The season was magical. We had the highs and lows, the first Phillies team with a winning record and the first to make the playoffs since the 1983 World Series team. We saw a tight race with Montreal in September, watched at the vet as Mitch Williams got Bill Pecota out to win the National League pennant and took a punch to the gut watching from our West Mount Airy living room when Mitch Williams gave up a three-run World Series winning home run to Joe Carter.
As the title suggests, the book focuses on the six players who occupied Macho Row (as dubbed by the press) of The Ghetto (as dubbed by the players) in the clubhouse: Darren Daulton, Lenny Dykstra, Dave Hollins, Pete Incaviglia, John Kruk and Mitch Williams.
Willam Kashatus does an excellent job of reporting the high and lows of that special season. So much of that season remain fresh all of these years later. His work brings back lots of good, warm memories.
And yet I am giving this work three stars for two reasons.
Reason one: the subtitle refers to "baseball's unwritten code": respect the game, protect your teammates and, most importantly, what happens in the clubhouse stays in the clubhouse. Kashatus reminds the reader of what comprises the Code at least once a chapter, which becomes irritating.
Reason two: Kashatus spends the last twenty or so pages calling out players for steroid use, real and alleged, for infidelity, financial problems and alleged alcohol and drug problems and wraps the book up by faulting the players whose work ethic he has celebrated for not being role models.
What started as a celebration of a special baseball season ends with a moralizing lecture.
Gruff but loveable is one way to describe the 1993 team. They were throwbacks, rejects, bench players and they came together for one magical season where they almost won it all. The season was magical. We had the highs and lows, the first Phillies team with a winning record and the first to make the playoffs since the 1983 World Series team. We saw a tight race with Montreal in September, watched at the vet as Mitch Williams got Bill Pecota out to win the National League pennant and took a punch to the gut watching from our West Mount Airy living room when Mitch Williams gave up a three-run World Series winning home run to Joe Carter.
As the title suggests, the book focuses on the six players who occupied Macho Row (as dubbed by the press) of The Ghetto (as dubbed by the players) in the clubhouse: Darren Daulton, Lenny Dykstra, Dave Hollins, Pete Incaviglia, John Kruk and Mitch Williams.
Willam Kashatus does an excellent job of reporting the high and lows of that special season. So much of that season remain fresh all of these years later. His work brings back lots of good, warm memories.
And yet I am giving this work three stars for two reasons.
Reason one: the subtitle refers to "baseball's unwritten code": respect the game, protect your teammates and, most importantly, what happens in the clubhouse stays in the clubhouse. Kashatus reminds the reader of what comprises the Code at least once a chapter, which becomes irritating.
Reason two: Kashatus spends the last twenty or so pages calling out players for steroid use, real and alleged, for infidelity, financial problems and alleged alcohol and drug problems and wraps the book up by faulting the players whose work ethic he has celebrated for not being role models.
What started as a celebration of a special baseball season ends with a moralizing lecture.
February 3, 2026
The 1993 Philadelphia Phillies may have been one of the best "one season wonder" teams in the history of baseball. Going from last place in their division in 1992, to a heartbreaking loss in game 6 of the '93 World Series on a Joe Carter walkoff home run off of the man known as "Wild Thing" Mitch Williams who was one of the six members of "Macho Row," the primary subjects of this book.
These six players, Williams, Darren Daulton, Dave Hollins, John Kruk, Pete Incaviglia and Lenny Dykstra, defined the "rebel" baseball player look of the 1990's. They were dirty, unkempt, unwashed and uncouth. They drank beer, partied hard, and lived by baseball's unwritten "code," rules set by the players that are only enforced in the clubhouses and behind the scenes, things that the fans aren't supposed to know about. The hard living caught up to all of them after their playing days were over. Bankruptcy, both moral and financial, premature deaths, blacklisted from baseball, and prison time. These were not nice guys and it can safely be said that they will never be forgotten by baseball fans. They played like their hair was on fire and were so fun to watch you almost wished they had won it all.
This author does a good job with individual profiles of each of these players, as well as a few of the other players and coaches on that team. People like Curt Schilling, who never met a microphone that he didn't like to get in front of to talk about himself, and Jim Fregosi, the manager, whose ego made it difficult to allow the players to take any of the spotlight. There was also a breakdown of each of the playoff and World Series games with statistics and boxed scores.
Overall, it was a "C," the editing was awful. Pitcher Tommy Greene was called Tommy "Green" several times, Cardinals catcher Tom Pagnozzi was called Tom Pagnotti and Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux was called "Craig Maddox". A little proofreading would have helped. Also, it was a bit monotonous and dull at times, he used too many cliches. It wasn't good or bad, it just was.
I can't recommend this. Of all the baseball books, this was one of them....
These six players, Williams, Darren Daulton, Dave Hollins, John Kruk, Pete Incaviglia and Lenny Dykstra, defined the "rebel" baseball player look of the 1990's. They were dirty, unkempt, unwashed and uncouth. They drank beer, partied hard, and lived by baseball's unwritten "code," rules set by the players that are only enforced in the clubhouses and behind the scenes, things that the fans aren't supposed to know about. The hard living caught up to all of them after their playing days were over. Bankruptcy, both moral and financial, premature deaths, blacklisted from baseball, and prison time. These were not nice guys and it can safely be said that they will never be forgotten by baseball fans. They played like their hair was on fire and were so fun to watch you almost wished they had won it all.
This author does a good job with individual profiles of each of these players, as well as a few of the other players and coaches on that team. People like Curt Schilling, who never met a microphone that he didn't like to get in front of to talk about himself, and Jim Fregosi, the manager, whose ego made it difficult to allow the players to take any of the spotlight. There was also a breakdown of each of the playoff and World Series games with statistics and boxed scores.
Overall, it was a "C," the editing was awful. Pitcher Tommy Greene was called Tommy "Green" several times, Cardinals catcher Tom Pagnozzi was called Tom Pagnotti and Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux was called "Craig Maddox". A little proofreading would have helped. Also, it was a bit monotonous and dull at times, he used too many cliches. It wasn't good or bad, it just was.
I can't recommend this. Of all the baseball books, this was one of them....
March 2, 2025
Kashatus does a very good job capturing the essence of the players who made up the core of the 1993 Phillies, giving us solid biographical backgrounds and explaining what drove them. He sets up the recent history of the Phillies franchise and how new GM Lee Thomas went about remaking the team. He also directly confronts the sordid lives of the players - the steroids, the hard living, and the aftermath of those lifestyle choices. I've seen reporting on this team over the years, so I knew a lot of the story, but having it all assembled in one place really puts the entire narrative together and Kashatus should be commended for that.
I was 17 in the fall of 1993 when these Phillies were chasing the World Series. I loved them like crazy. Sadly, I don't look back on them as fondly now. The suspicion of steroid use among multiple players adds a sheen of disappointment, but mostly, I'm just repulsed by Dykstra and his performance was so important to that roster's success, which makes the entire thing so hard to appreciate.
I was 17 in the fall of 1993 when these Phillies were chasing the World Series. I loved them like crazy. Sadly, I don't look back on them as fondly now. The suspicion of steroid use among multiple players adds a sheen of disappointment, but mostly, I'm just repulsed by Dykstra and his performance was so important to that roster's success, which makes the entire thing so hard to appreciate.
July 20, 2025
I wouldn’t recommend it unless you really, really love the 1993 Phillies. My dad was a Phillies fan so I enjoyed it. I don’t usually nitpick except about a baseball book. There were a lot of inconsistencies and inaccurate information. There were also a few misspelling and grammatical errors. Did this guy even have an editor check his work? He also rightly or wrongly kind of assumed some guys used steroids even if there hasn’t been proof of it. Not a fan of that. But overall a mostly good rehash of that team.
February 18, 2023
This book was sneaky good. Just when I read a couple of pages of stuff that I had known for years, the author hit me with stories I never knew.
Now that I relived that World Series and the entire 1993 season, I can't help but think this: Why in the world did they keep running Mitch Williams out there?
Now that I relived that World Series and the entire 1993 season, I can't help but think this: Why in the world did they keep running Mitch Williams out there?
May 19, 2025
Kashatus does a good job in his books of taking on the hard truths of his subjects, but this book tries to do that AND celebrate the '93 team, which feels a bit weird and scattered. They cheated and were very messed up people, sadly.
September 16, 2021
1993 phillies
This was great read I loved it thank you for writing this book this was great it was crazy ride
This was great read I loved it thank you for writing this book this was great it was crazy ride
May 16, 2023
This was a great read. There’s so much about the team I didn’t know and I think it’s a very insightful read.
February 26, 2026
This book brought back a lot of good memories from that magical 1993 season.
March 16, 2024
Of course for Phillies fans only but if you were around in 1993, you’ll love this book. This was the most amazing group of Phillies’ characters ever assembled. Dykstra, Hollins, Kruk, Inky, and Williams will make you laugh and make you cry. The shit they did, the fun they had and still won the pennant. If you ever wondered how, this is your book. Kudos to my friend Julian McCracken who did some of the research on the book. I actually learned that when reading the forward.
June 14, 2023
Fun, easy read, good trip down memory lane of one of the most memorable Phillies baseball seasons in my life. This was the first Phillies team in my sports consciousness to have any success. I put it that way b/c I was technically alive when the Phillies won the World Series in 1980 and when they played in another in 1983, but I was far too young to know about it. But not the 1993 team. I turned 16 that summer and it was the first time I saw the Phillies play good baseball. Unfortunately a lot of the guys on that club turned out to be real losers. And the book doesn't sugarcoat it at all. They used steroids, they got in car wrecks, they abused alcohol, they went to jail, some multiple times, some went totally off the deep end and some are social assholes. Some got cancer. In retrospect it wasn't a team with any heroes on it at all. But at the time, for one season, they were gods. I think what made that season so great was how unexpected it was. The Phillies were a horrible team in 1992. No one saw it coming. And it was such a ridiculous band of misfits, the city just went wild for them b/c they somehow seemed a lot closer to the city's blue collar workers than the million dollar ball players they were. It was magic. I even went to game five of the World Series that year - the only home game they would win in the series. A 2-0 complete game shut out by Schilling. I can still feel the Vet shaking in my 600 level seat as the stadium thundered "whoop there it is" over the PA system when the final out was recorded. It was amazing. It was the 90's! But it also wasn't meant to be. The Game 4 loss was brutal and a Phillies win in that game would have changed the whole complexion of the series. Maybe they win it, maybe they don't. But letting that game slip away pretty much sealed their fate. But somehow even though they weren't Champions, the city fell in love with that team all the same. It's still considered one of the fondest Phillies teams of all time and might be even more appreciated now than then. And that's pretty amazing. In fact, there's some shades of 1993 in what happened last year to the 2022 Phillies. They weren't quite the same level of misfits, but they also came out of nowhere to have a magical run that also ended in a 4-2 World Series defeat, just like the 1993 team. Hopefully 30 years removed we won't find out that team turned out to be dominated by a bunch of losers too. And let me say this about Mitch Williams. There is no way that team gets to the World Series without Mitch Williams. He may have thrown the final pitch, but I never once blamed him. He got a bad rap. He was indeed wild every time he came into a game but it was never boring. And he was often successful. Lastly, Kruk is probably the only respectable star from the whole team and that's saying something b/c as much as I like him, he's not innocent either. Although, at least he never claimed to be. It's not the most sophisticated book ever but I enjoyed it and I like that it included box scores and stats at the end - the heartbeat of baseball. Worth a read if you're a Phillies fan. Good memories.
February 8, 2017
MACHO ROW by William C Kashatus follows the 1993 Philadelphia Phillies, particularly six men on the team called Macho Row. Those men set the tone and effort of the team, deemed "The Code", a specific pathos of loyalty, togetherness, and encouragement that the team embodied and it took the team as far as the 1993 World Series.
The six players (Darren Daulton, Lenny Dykstra, John Kruk, Mitch Williams, Dave Hollins, and Pete Incaviglia) are the centerpiece of the book and Kashatus provides a short history of each of them. He also reviews how the 1993 team was put together from farm system, trades, free agent signings, etc. The bulk of the book, though, is a detailed reliving of the Phillies 1993 season highlighting Macho Row and the employment of "The Code". Kashatus is careful to point out faults and problems (steroids, drugs, gambling, etc) as they happened with the team, not sugarcoating events or glossing over details. As much as possible, too, he has taken the words of the players, rather than his paraphrasing, to paint the picture of the wild and wonderful 1993 team. There are a few instances where Kashatus reiterates a story and/or detail unnecessarily, which slowed the book down a little, but for the most part his thoroughness and easy to digest style of writing was good. At the end of the book Kashatus provided a post 1993 update on a few players and how the result of the 1993 World Series was so emotional that for many years after, it still affects some of the player's relationships with each other.
For Phillies fans and really any baseball fan, MACHO ROW is a book to check out. The motley crew of the 1993 Phillies were one of a kind and played all out in a way few, if any, teams before or after ever did or ever will.
Thank you to University of Nebraska Press, Williams C Kashatus, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The six players (Darren Daulton, Lenny Dykstra, John Kruk, Mitch Williams, Dave Hollins, and Pete Incaviglia) are the centerpiece of the book and Kashatus provides a short history of each of them. He also reviews how the 1993 team was put together from farm system, trades, free agent signings, etc. The bulk of the book, though, is a detailed reliving of the Phillies 1993 season highlighting Macho Row and the employment of "The Code". Kashatus is careful to point out faults and problems (steroids, drugs, gambling, etc) as they happened with the team, not sugarcoating events or glossing over details. As much as possible, too, he has taken the words of the players, rather than his paraphrasing, to paint the picture of the wild and wonderful 1993 team. There are a few instances where Kashatus reiterates a story and/or detail unnecessarily, which slowed the book down a little, but for the most part his thoroughness and easy to digest style of writing was good. At the end of the book Kashatus provided a post 1993 update on a few players and how the result of the 1993 World Series was so emotional that for many years after, it still affects some of the player's relationships with each other.
For Phillies fans and really any baseball fan, MACHO ROW is a book to check out. The motley crew of the 1993 Phillies were one of a kind and played all out in a way few, if any, teams before or after ever did or ever will.
Thank you to University of Nebraska Press, Williams C Kashatus, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
August 28, 2017
While a bit reliant on hackneyed Philly sports cliches (they're inescapable), this was a fun look back at one of the best teams in Phillies history. The 93 Phillies were a major impact on my childhood and reading Macho Row brought back a lot of memories and emotions. The team really did inspire something in fans with a whacky cast of characters and a wild season of come back victories. Kadhatus has a smooth writing style interjecting a bit of fandom into his recounting without losing objectivity. There's some amazement at individual feats but no hero worship. He sets the context and ably addresses the fall out that followed the members of Macho Row after their careers ended. Definitely worth reading for fans of this team, the Phillies, or baseball in general.
September 23, 2017
Honest portrayal of a 1993 Phillies team that went from Last place in 1992 to Game 6 of the 1993 World Series. The author did not gloss over the use of steroids by several members of the team which to me (despite being a Phillies fan), taints the '93 season. Nonetheless, some funny stories and insights - good read for Phillies or baseball fans in general.
April 2, 2017
A good read for fans of the '93 Phillies and people who want to understate baseball's silly unwritten code.
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