No Cheering in the Press Box

by Jerome Holtzman (Editor)

Paul Gallico, Shirley Povich, Ford Frick, Red Smith, Jimmy Cannon: these are among the twenty-four sportswriters Jerome Holtzman interviewed, reporters who were most active in what's known as the Golden Age of Sports, the time between the two world wars when newspapers, not TV, re-created the drama of the boxing ring, the racetrack, and, above all, the baseball field. This revised and updated edition includes six previously unpublished chapters, offering more of the era's most famous sportswriters - Wendell Smith, Al Abrams, Fred Russell, Gene Kessler, Ray Gillespie, and Jim Schlemmer - and a new introduction by the great journalist himself. In their own casual, spicy words, these men give us their reminiscences and opinions - a collection that stands as a landmark of American oral history.

Genres: Sports, Baseball, History, Oral History, Nonfiction

363 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[John Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oral history interviews with about 20 famous sportswriters. These types of books ("The Glory of Their Times") are always told with a breezy, nostalgic style. Great memories from the Golden Age of sports and sports reporting. Rated by Sports Illustrated a few years ago as one of the top 100 sports books ever written -- and well-deserved.

[Clay Kallam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this book since it came out in the early '70s, and for whatever reason, never opened it until the 2020s. Even then, I read the interviews -- done by sportswriter Jerome Holtzman -- only sporadically, finally finishing the last one long after the first.

But the 18 writers, who all speak in the first person in one long essasy, reveal a world of journalism that has long since disappeared. Many were born in the late 19th century, and found their way into sportswriting by being in the right place at the right time, or knowing someone who knew someone. Some, in fact, who built a career in writing, didn't even graduate from high school.

All, though, uncover aspects of early 20th century journalism we have forgotten or never knew. There's talk of writers on the take, of sportswriters who partied with Babe Ruth and then wrote about the Yankees, of imperious editors, and of a world gone by.

You don't need to know the names of the writers, though I knew many, to enjoy "No Cheering in the Press Box." The description of journalism and sports less than a century ago is fascinating. Both have changed dramatically, yet there's enough in common that much of this book rings true today.

And if nothing else, the window into American life in those not-so-long-ago days shown by the life stories of these writers is fascinating on its own.

[Josh Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting look at sportswriting in the mid 20th-century. Having been born in the 1980's, I was unfamiliar with almost all of the sportswriters (this book was published in the 1970's), but I especially enjoyed the behind-the-scenes stories of famous sports figures like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Jimmie Foxx. It was also enlightening to hear how different sportswriters got their jobs.