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Entangled in Ivy
The ultimate misdirection play, responsibility for the Cubs' near- century-long championship drought is placed on curses, hexes, billy goats, black cats, and other perceived supernatural forces. Yet, the team's crazy, quirky history is far from unexplainable. Management decisions and on-field strategies have resulted in Wrigley Field's incessant October silence since 1945--the season of the team's last National League pennant. The Cubs' status is unlike any other team in baseball, and the team itself operates like no other team in the game--especially a big-market team with such abundant financial resources at its disposal. Author George Castle takes the reader behind the management philosophies and inside the Cubs clubhouse in a unique manner rarely employed by the media. This book details the Cubs' unbelievable situation in the words of the front office, the many managers, and the players themselves. Incorporating Castle's coverage of the Cubs over the past 25 years, Entangled in Ivy emphasizes the flow of the franchise since the turn of the millennium. The author has developed a wealth of relationships, past and present, at all levels of the organization, and he uses that access to deliver a one-of-a-kind perspective. From 95-loss seasons to the seminal moment of Cubs history--The Bartman Incident--and back again, Castle weaves the story of one of the country's most popular sports franchises and analyzes why its history of shortfalls has continued despite its efforts to succeed. Fresh interviews from Cubs personnel past and present--including former team president Andy MacPhail, current GM Jim Hendry, former manager Dusty Baker, former Cubs great Mark Grace, and several others at all levels of the organization--provide remarkable insight into the greatest mystery in baseball. Entangled in Ivy is a must-read for any fan who desires to go beyond the stereotypes and simple play-by-play, who wants to look at the Cubs from the inside out, who needs to understand why this beloved team has not been able to drink from baseball's holy grail for nearly 100 years.
273 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
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May 17, 2008
Subtitled "Inside the Cubs' Quest for October," this is a disappointing book about a disappointing team.
George Castle has served as the Cubs beat reporter for The Times of Northwest Indiana. Entangled in Ivy is less an examination of the disappointment of the Andy MacPhail era as it a autobiography of Castle's coverage of the MacPhail era and his retrospective observations. Which is by no means a bad thing, in and of itself.
Unfortunately, there is little new in this book for longtime followers of the Cubs. Castle does provide a nice overview of the problems of the MacPhail era. He writes of MacPhail's philosophy of trying to be "competitive" rather than trying to win the World Series, the lack of position player development, the lack of hitters' patience at the plate, and a too-small front office team (the Cubs have an assistant general manager -- Randy Bush -- this year for the first time since the Cubs hired MacPhail). In the process, though, Castle puts blame on minor issues. He argues that Wrigley Field is too old to have necessary amenities for the players, and the last few pages of the book are devoted to the supposed perils of day games at Wrigley.
Castle also provides some nice profiles of various Cubs' personalities, including Derrek Lee, Carlos Zambrano, Michael Barrett, and Len Kasper. You will come away from this book liking Ryan Dempster more than you do now, even if you already like him a lot.
Too much of Entangled in Ivy ends up being about Castle himself. Two of his complaints are of 1) the food spreads for the media, or lack thereof, at certain press conferences, and 2) the working conditions for the media at Wrigley Field.
Too much of the book is also consumed by quotes Castle obtained in interviews, as if the sole fact that someone significant made the quote makes it worth repeating. Sometimes the quote is insignificant or boring. Of course, some of the quotes probably save us from passages like this (p. 230):
"Both [Zambrano and Barrett] have tremendous baseball intellect, some of it as yet untapped. They'll be among the best at their craft when they can maximize their diamond knowledgeability while controlling their sometimes white-hot emotions.
"Both must learn as they go."
Additionally, there are some frustrating aspects of the style of this book. Castle often utilizes the staple of the sportswriter: passive voice construction. "MacPhail was questioned . . ." "Concerns were raised . . ." Etc. Who raised the concerns?; usually, it's likely the writer writing the story. It would be better for us to know. Castle also jumps back and forth in time from paragraph to paragraph without explaining he is doing so, so that you are not always sure what the context of a particular quote is.
The production of the book was also subpar. Strangely, the introduction in my copy of the book was cut off before the end, and there were more than a book's fair share of spelling and grammatical errors.
Entangled in Ivy is a good resource on the MacPhail era, without going into the specifics of every personnel decision. It just is not that compelling of a read.
George Castle has served as the Cubs beat reporter for The Times of Northwest Indiana. Entangled in Ivy is less an examination of the disappointment of the Andy MacPhail era as it a autobiography of Castle's coverage of the MacPhail era and his retrospective observations. Which is by no means a bad thing, in and of itself.
Unfortunately, there is little new in this book for longtime followers of the Cubs. Castle does provide a nice overview of the problems of the MacPhail era. He writes of MacPhail's philosophy of trying to be "competitive" rather than trying to win the World Series, the lack of position player development, the lack of hitters' patience at the plate, and a too-small front office team (the Cubs have an assistant general manager -- Randy Bush -- this year for the first time since the Cubs hired MacPhail). In the process, though, Castle puts blame on minor issues. He argues that Wrigley Field is too old to have necessary amenities for the players, and the last few pages of the book are devoted to the supposed perils of day games at Wrigley.
Castle also provides some nice profiles of various Cubs' personalities, including Derrek Lee, Carlos Zambrano, Michael Barrett, and Len Kasper. You will come away from this book liking Ryan Dempster more than you do now, even if you already like him a lot.
Too much of Entangled in Ivy ends up being about Castle himself. Two of his complaints are of 1) the food spreads for the media, or lack thereof, at certain press conferences, and 2) the working conditions for the media at Wrigley Field.
Too much of the book is also consumed by quotes Castle obtained in interviews, as if the sole fact that someone significant made the quote makes it worth repeating. Sometimes the quote is insignificant or boring. Of course, some of the quotes probably save us from passages like this (p. 230):
"Both [Zambrano and Barrett] have tremendous baseball intellect, some of it as yet untapped. They'll be among the best at their craft when they can maximize their diamond knowledgeability while controlling their sometimes white-hot emotions.
"Both must learn as they go."
Additionally, there are some frustrating aspects of the style of this book. Castle often utilizes the staple of the sportswriter: passive voice construction. "MacPhail was questioned . . ." "Concerns were raised . . ." Etc. Who raised the concerns?; usually, it's likely the writer writing the story. It would be better for us to know. Castle also jumps back and forth in time from paragraph to paragraph without explaining he is doing so, so that you are not always sure what the context of a particular quote is.
The production of the book was also subpar. Strangely, the introduction in my copy of the book was cut off before the end, and there were more than a book's fair share of spelling and grammatical errors.
Entangled in Ivy is a good resource on the MacPhail era, without going into the specifics of every personnel decision. It just is not that compelling of a read.
Displaying 1 of 1 review