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They Played the Game: Memories from 47 Major Leaguers
"A wide-ranging collection of baseball voices from the 1920s to the 1970s"--
- GenresBaseball
320 pages, Hardcover
Published April 1, 2019
3 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
About the author
Norman L. Macht
53 books4 followersNorman Macht is a freelance baseball historian who has authored numerous books and innumerable articles in publications such as Baseball Digest, The Sporting News, National Sports Daily, Sports Heritage, USA Today Baseball Weekly, The San Francisco Examiner and The National Pastime (plus other SABR publications).
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 7, 2019
Some of the best storytellers are former major league baseball players. No matter how long his career lasted or how he compiled his statistics, a baseball player is always eager to share his experiences. Author Norman Macht has collected anecdotes from 47 former players who played from the Deadball Era of the early 20th century up to the 1970’s in this fast-paced book.
As is the case for any collection of stories, essays, or other writing, this is a mixed bag. Some of the stories were very entertaining, some were hilarious and some of them might leave a reader scratching his or her head, trying to figure out just what the man was talking about. Personally, while I enjoyed reading all of them, I didn’t find any one particular anecdote that would stand out above the rest.
The best aspect to reading this book is that the reader will be taken back to certain events in a way that a neutral author could not capture. Reading about a moment in which the player was there to experience helps the reader picture the scene even better. This is true even of events that have been written about many times. Two very good examples of this involved stores I enjoyed about Babe Ruth. One came from former Yankee Mark Koenig, who described the Babe’s legendary nightlife, and the other was from Carmen Hill, who was thrilled more than fifty years later about the fact he pitched to Ruth in the 1927 World Series.
If those two names don’t sound familiar, then that is the norm for this book – there are many more stories from players who did not become household names or superstars. Instead, these could be considered as simply stories about the work life of a baseball player much like stories shared in the office at the water cooler, albeit these are about a worklife that many people dream about having when they are kids.
I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
As is the case for any collection of stories, essays, or other writing, this is a mixed bag. Some of the stories were very entertaining, some were hilarious and some of them might leave a reader scratching his or her head, trying to figure out just what the man was talking about. Personally, while I enjoyed reading all of them, I didn’t find any one particular anecdote that would stand out above the rest.
The best aspect to reading this book is that the reader will be taken back to certain events in a way that a neutral author could not capture. Reading about a moment in which the player was there to experience helps the reader picture the scene even better. This is true even of events that have been written about many times. Two very good examples of this involved stores I enjoyed about Babe Ruth. One came from former Yankee Mark Koenig, who described the Babe’s legendary nightlife, and the other was from Carmen Hill, who was thrilled more than fifty years later about the fact he pitched to Ruth in the 1927 World Series.
If those two names don’t sound familiar, then that is the norm for this book – there are many more stories from players who did not become household names or superstars. Instead, these could be considered as simply stories about the work life of a baseball player much like stories shared in the office at the water cooler, albeit these are about a worklife that many people dream about having when they are kids.
I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
July 15, 2019
There's nothing fancy here - no gimmicks or pretenses, merely what the title claims it to be. And therein lies much of the charm. The preface sets the tone perfectly, quoting Studs Terkel: "In their rememberings are their truths." In other words, forget the fact checking, just sit back and imagine yourself as the author listening to these men reminisce. It certainly put a smile on this fan's face.
March 27, 2019
Culled from the hundreds of hours of interviews Macht has conducted over many years - and brilliantly curated and edited - this book just might be the most entertaining and educational collection of baseball oral history since The Glory of Their Times.
October 17, 2025
Great book for the most part. It's essentially a sequel to Glory of their times, well worth a read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews