John McGraw

by Charles C. Alexander

Alexander's marvelous biography of McGraw does what McGraw's own My Thirty Years in Baseball couldn't: it lets the volcano that was the man erupt in all its raw glory. A true baseball original, McGraw, as Alexander describes, "ate gunpowder every morning and washed it down with raw blood." He loved to win, but he hated losing more, and as manager of both the old Baltimore Orioles and New York Giants, he's the only skipper in the game's history to win almost 1,000 games more than he lost. McGraw was so outsized, flamboyant, fiery, and, at times, sentimental, that it would be easy to caricature him; Alexander's remarkable achievement here is that he doesn't (nor does he succumb to hero worship or bubble bursting). His triumph is letting McGraw stand on his own two spikes; the man--and the legend--have no problem standing up for themselves. --Jeff Silverman

Genres: Baseball, Biography, Sports, Nonfiction, History

368 pages, Paperback

First published April 19, 1988

Reviews

[George Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good biography of one of the most important figures in late 19th and early 20th century baseball.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book helped me develop a deep appreciation for my grandfather's team and for the loss that it meant to him, Manhattan, and consequently the underlying deprivation that permeated where I grew up. By the time I could appreciate anything 'The Yankees' were all-stars on their high ride, winning every game. The effects of the loss of Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds were still hanging in the air, but they were a mystery to me.

Compared to what I've been accustomed to, baseball from the 1890's on, was brutally rough and unruly. I don't remember players intentionally digging the bottoms of the spikes of their shoes into umpires ankles or other players' feet. Fans taunted players but back in the early days it was in a much more intimate setting. Brawls broke out on and off the field. Players fought umpires' decisions and other players. Teams were hell-bent on winning any way they could. To describe the game as rowdy would be putting it mildly.

At a very young age McGraw fled an abusive father and settled with a neighbor who ran a hotel nearby in Truxon, south of Syracuse, New York. He had lost his mother and four siblings in an epidemic for which there was no vaccine, called diphtheria. It traumatized the family, especially McGraw's dad. He needed help and John was drawn to baseball which didn't make money. Their fights were brutal.

John got accustomed to a more normal life, a routine, chores at the hotel and school work. He saved money, was spotted and joined a league at age sixteen and never went back. He developed an aggressive style where bases were stolen. He practiced diligently. He negotiated a deal to coach at St. Bonaventure College in exchange for tuition. He worked as hard at his education as he did at baseball.

The first time I learned about McGraw I searched the internet and determined that The New York Giants played for 49 years in Washington Heights at 151st St in upper Manhattan on a piece of land between the East and Harlem Rivers. All that's left is a rocky outcropping called Coogan's Bluff.

McGraw's face had an unusual handsomeness that had instant appeal. As I continued to research it became more evident how tough he was! Maybe he's not as appealing as I'd like to think? Although his style was aggressive, it intensified the work of his team mates and crowds came out to see the games. Arguments, fines and suspensions were part of the game.

It was brought to my attention that since my grandfather played semi-pro baseball in New York in the 1910's up to 1920, he probably knew McGraw, the rest of the Giants, opposing teams and players. He would support the National League. I had heard my dad say he may have been offered to play at a minor league in St. Louis or Toledo. After reading this, the likelihood is that I probably heard dad say *Toledo* because of National league connections there. But, grandfather didn't leave Manhattan, he married and settled on East 90th and had a long career in the City of New York Hall of Records. He was a apparently tough but married a very kind lady.

Despite the abundance of statistics, trades, leagues, lawsuits, injuries, errors and complicated league arrangements, I came away with a heart felt love for McGraw as well as a small distain for the Yankees. The end of his life saddened me deeply. It surprises me that I'd have a en emotional response to a book about baseball. Learning about McGraw broadened by understanding of the game and the rivalry against the team to whom I'd been a nominal fan most of my life.

A person never worked so hard switching and trading players to make a winning team. His dedication was legendary. The intricacies of betting on games and playing numberers was a big part of life and something out of my scope and will probably remain so.

I would have appreciated the book to cover more about what McGraw and other athletes did in vaudeville and more about their lives outside baseball. I did not try to keep track of all the switching players and teams.

It's fascinating that McGraw and his wife wintered in Havana. He invested in pool halls and enjoyed the track. They had a place Harlem then bought a house in Pelham, later downsizing to a home in Pelham Manor. He knew John Ringling and attempted property development in Sarasota Florida that went bust. He suffered so many injuries, seasonal nasal infection, bouts of malaria and still came back to play and manage for decades. He called every play for every pitcher. Some baseball players had serious alcohol problems and were frequently suspended. He was intensely scheming deals to win the next season. He inspired others and really is the foundation from which baseball flows.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is definitely for the baseball history buff as opposed to the general reader. McGraw is one of the most famous characters in baseball in the late 19th century as a player and in the first three decades of the 20th century as a manager. In almost 30 years of managing the New York Giants, McGraw racked up a record of success matched by few other managers. Alexander has written a number of biographies of old time baseball players. His style is fairly straightforward, recounting the narrative of McGraw’s life chronologically, looking at his life both on and off the field. As opposed to the more gentlemanly style of Connie Mack, McGraw’s only challenger for best manager of the first half of the 20th century, McGraw was more of a rough and tumble street fighter who took as much advantage of bending the rules as he could, both in baseball and in life. An interesting look at the early days of professional baseball and one of it’s most interesting personalities.

[Chris Witt · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the one hand, a great overview of McGraw's career in baseball. But on the other hand, felt like it could be so much more.
Maybe it's life in the 21st century, but I was hoping for a more psychological examination of McGraw and was disappointed to get so much of a focus on different player's batting averages and pitching win totals from each season.
What I really hoped for was more of a treatise on McGraw's beliefs on racial matters, politics, his marriage, how he felt about children, his family relationships (or lack thereof) and so forth.
It's fine for what it is, but in some ways felt like reading Baseball Reference and not a biography of one of the game's most important figures.
Compared to the multi-volume bio being done on Connie Mack, this pales in comparison.

[Colin Post · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good bio of an interesting and important figure in baseball history. Alexander covers the major details of McGraw’s life and positions him well in the bigger history of baseball, but Alexander doesn’t quite develop some of the themes of who McGraw was and the significance of him as a person. Some of the things Alexander highlights in the closing pages - a drive to win above all, his managerial insights and blunders - are only somewhat discussed among the recounting of McGraw’s days in the previous chapters.

[Kerry Gleason · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful look into the life of a complex man who created champions in baseball and contributed much to its lore.

[Luke Koran · Rating 3 out of 5]

While attempting to pay tribute to one of the most notorious ballplayers - and later a world-renowned manager - in the history of baseball, author Charles Alexander presents in the 1988 book "John McGraw" a meticulously researched and detailed biography that provides one of the most comprehensive histories of John J. McGraw and of the Baltimore Orioles and New York Giants teams he was involved with. Unfortunately, this book failed to reward this particular reader by not providing much analysis or, maybe most importantly, enjoyable, lively prose; both of these detriments took away from my overall reading experience from what otherwise was a biography composed of an incredible boatload of research. If after having read the 2006 book "The Old Ball Game" and I still wish to learn who McGraw truly was, I will then revisit this book by Alexander. I just hope that I am not tempted to again employ a start-and-stop reading experience as before, because I really want to look behind the dry literary style and instead focus on the great detail that explores the character of John McGraw.

[Calvin]

In many ways it a story of the New York Giants and Baseball from 1890-1930 as much as its McGraw's story.

[Ronald · Rating 4 out of 5]

read SOMETIME in 1997