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A Day In The Bleachers
From the subway ride to the ballpark, through batting practice and warm-ups, to the game-winning home run, A Day in the Bleachers describes inning by inning the strategies, heroics, and ineluctable rhythms of the opening game of the 1954 World Series. Here are the spectacular exploits of the Indians and Giants, and of a young player named Willie Mays, who made the most-talked-about catch in baseball history.
169 pages, Paperback
First published November 30, 1954
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
November 5, 2015
This was a great book. I'm surprised it took me so long to find it.
This recounts the author's experience of being at the first game of the 1954 World Series between the NY Giants and the Cleveland Indians, in which Willie Mays made his legendary catch. The Indians lost the game in extra innings, and went on to be swept in the series, after having racked up 111 wins in the regular season. This crushing blow came only days before my own birth in Cleveland, and set the tone for decades of frustration for Cleveland fans like myself. In 1997, my hopes tentatively resurrected, Cleveland again blew the World Series, this time in extra innings of game 7. Oh well.
This is a short book, but one to savor. The author sits in the bleachers, which I have never done. Part of that experience, then anyway, was banter among the denizens of the bleachers. This was amusing, and added to the account.
Things that he lingered over were sometimes things still of interest now, such as the pace of the game. He complained sometimes about the time involved between pitches. Apparently there was a 20-second rule that the umps were supposed to enforce, but rarely did. He looked back (p. 149) on the good old days when games were more like an hour and thirty or forty minutes. We now look back at the good old days of the 1970's, when the average time was 2 and a half hours. In 2014 the average time of a game had crept above 3 hours. And some new rules instituted this year decreased the average time by 8 MINUTES! Maybe fans should just think of it is as getting more for their money over the decades.
Other things he lingered over are of less concern now. In the chapter where he recounts Mays' amazing catch (Chapter 10) he spends time describing (pp. 116-124) where he looked during the hit/catch/throw back to the infield. He watched the ball, he watched Mays running toward the ball, he watched the 2 runners (on first and second) and how they reacted to the hit, he watched the throw, he watched where the infielders placed themselves for the throw. Of course all this was happening at the same time, so he couldn't see it all. But, as a good watcher of baseball, he didn't want to simply watch the ball, as there was so much else of interest to see at the same time. In a way, this is still a dilemma for a fan watching a game in person. But instant reply, both at the stadium, and much more so on TV, has made this dilemma almost irrelevant. Far from watching everything at once, you can miss the play altogether and still see it, from all angles, ad nauseum. This is of course particularly true on TV, where interesting plays can be replayed 4 or 5 times, from different angles, before we move on. It's a technological advance we can enjoy and regret. The author dislikes the fact that people brought transistor radios to the game with them, as though they needed someone to tell them what they were seeing. He even imagines a day when people might bring portable TV's with them to the game--a day that has in fact arrived (60 years later). And he dislikes the fact that televising games at home decreases the chance that people will come out to the game themselves. All of which is now true, but also probably for the good.
He also voices concerns about teams moving (Boston Braves had gone to Milwaukee by then, the St. Louis Browns had just become the Baltimore Orioles), and about players being traded from team to team (which happens MUCH more now, not to mention free agency). Back then there was much more of a sense that a team was constituted by a set of players that one grew to know and, presumably, love. Now a team is much more a name and a location, with a very fluid association with players that temporarily make it up. The 2015 World Series that just concluded, Mets vs. Royals, was notable for the fact that the Mets had the longest tenured player in MLB, David Wright--at 11 years. And this is notable now not for the longevity so much as the rarity.
The author seemed sure in advance that the Giants would win that series. It could be just what a (Giants) fan would say. But he claimed that the Indians got their many wins by bottom-feeding: beating up on the bad teams in the league, while only breaking even with the good teams. I hadn't known that. But, in the course of the telling of this game, he gained a considerable respect for the Indians even so.
Another interesting thing was how much he talked about superstition. He would take certain things as good or bad signs. E.g., if a player does well in batting practice--you could take that to mean he will do well in the game, but you might also take it to mean he has shot his wad before the game and now will do less well. The author is rather self-conscious about this in his telling of it. But it resonates even now, I think fans (well, I) do this same kind of thinking in the course of games.
Suffice it to say I loved this book, for what it recalled, as well as for the perspective it gave on the present.
This recounts the author's experience of being at the first game of the 1954 World Series between the NY Giants and the Cleveland Indians, in which Willie Mays made his legendary catch. The Indians lost the game in extra innings, and went on to be swept in the series, after having racked up 111 wins in the regular season. This crushing blow came only days before my own birth in Cleveland, and set the tone for decades of frustration for Cleveland fans like myself. In 1997, my hopes tentatively resurrected, Cleveland again blew the World Series, this time in extra innings of game 7. Oh well.
This is a short book, but one to savor. The author sits in the bleachers, which I have never done. Part of that experience, then anyway, was banter among the denizens of the bleachers. This was amusing, and added to the account.
Things that he lingered over were sometimes things still of interest now, such as the pace of the game. He complained sometimes about the time involved between pitches. Apparently there was a 20-second rule that the umps were supposed to enforce, but rarely did. He looked back (p. 149) on the good old days when games were more like an hour and thirty or forty minutes. We now look back at the good old days of the 1970's, when the average time was 2 and a half hours. In 2014 the average time of a game had crept above 3 hours. And some new rules instituted this year decreased the average time by 8 MINUTES! Maybe fans should just think of it is as getting more for their money over the decades.
Other things he lingered over are of less concern now. In the chapter where he recounts Mays' amazing catch (Chapter 10) he spends time describing (pp. 116-124) where he looked during the hit/catch/throw back to the infield. He watched the ball, he watched Mays running toward the ball, he watched the 2 runners (on first and second) and how they reacted to the hit, he watched the throw, he watched where the infielders placed themselves for the throw. Of course all this was happening at the same time, so he couldn't see it all. But, as a good watcher of baseball, he didn't want to simply watch the ball, as there was so much else of interest to see at the same time. In a way, this is still a dilemma for a fan watching a game in person. But instant reply, both at the stadium, and much more so on TV, has made this dilemma almost irrelevant. Far from watching everything at once, you can miss the play altogether and still see it, from all angles, ad nauseum. This is of course particularly true on TV, where interesting plays can be replayed 4 or 5 times, from different angles, before we move on. It's a technological advance we can enjoy and regret. The author dislikes the fact that people brought transistor radios to the game with them, as though they needed someone to tell them what they were seeing. He even imagines a day when people might bring portable TV's with them to the game--a day that has in fact arrived (60 years later). And he dislikes the fact that televising games at home decreases the chance that people will come out to the game themselves. All of which is now true, but also probably for the good.
He also voices concerns about teams moving (Boston Braves had gone to Milwaukee by then, the St. Louis Browns had just become the Baltimore Orioles), and about players being traded from team to team (which happens MUCH more now, not to mention free agency). Back then there was much more of a sense that a team was constituted by a set of players that one grew to know and, presumably, love. Now a team is much more a name and a location, with a very fluid association with players that temporarily make it up. The 2015 World Series that just concluded, Mets vs. Royals, was notable for the fact that the Mets had the longest tenured player in MLB, David Wright--at 11 years. And this is notable now not for the longevity so much as the rarity.
The author seemed sure in advance that the Giants would win that series. It could be just what a (Giants) fan would say. But he claimed that the Indians got their many wins by bottom-feeding: beating up on the bad teams in the league, while only breaking even with the good teams. I hadn't known that. But, in the course of the telling of this game, he gained a considerable respect for the Indians even so.
Another interesting thing was how much he talked about superstition. He would take certain things as good or bad signs. E.g., if a player does well in batting practice--you could take that to mean he will do well in the game, but you might also take it to mean he has shot his wad before the game and now will do less well. The author is rather self-conscious about this in his telling of it. But it resonates even now, I think fans (well, I) do this same kind of thinking in the course of games.
Suffice it to say I loved this book, for what it recalled, as well as for the perspective it gave on the present.
March 10, 2021
got a weird itch to read a baseball book. i am drifting away from baseball, for inane personal reasons as well as the general lameness of the rob manfred regime of weenies, but i will always have a stinky little drawer in my heart for stuff like this (even though it's a close narration of my cleveland team losing). TIL the vic wertz fly ball that willie mays caught famously was the only pitch that pitcher threw. i could live without some of the nebbishness here re "newfangled bad, oldtimey good" (it is and has forever been thus with baseball nebbishes) but this is just a warm and loving adoration of a weird and grubby game.
November 13, 2012
The Giants have had their share of memorable moments these past few years: Matt Cain's perfect game, Barry Bonds breaking the single-season home run record and two World Series Championships in 2010 and 2012 are probably the biggest events that Giants fans would cite. But perhaps the biggest Giants moment of all came in 1954, when the best Giant of all, Willie Mays, made what is routinely described as the best catch of all time. You've seen the famous photograph of Mays at the fence of the Polo Grounds, number 24 clearly showing on the back of his jersey, glove above his head, just about to catch the ball. Or perhaps you've seen video of the play on one of MLB network's "Countdown" shows. Most baseball fans have a familiarity with the play.
But even if you've seen the video a hundred times, it's worth it to read Arnold Hano's account of The Catch in his 1955 book A Day in the Bleachers. Hano recounts all the aspects of going to the game on September 29, 1954, at New York's Polo Grounds to see the hometown Giants take on the Cleveland Indians in the first game of the '54 Fall Classic. The reader follows Hano as he waits in line, buys a ticket, settles himself in the bleacher seats, watches bp, interacts with fans (Giants fans, a few Indians fans, and a lady in a red hat who is normally a Dodger fan, but is rooting for the Indians that day, for obvious reasons), and takes in a World Series game.
Hano does an excellent job of weaving together details of the bleacher experience and statistical context with an interesting play-by-play account of the game. It's easy to get caught up in the drama of the contest, and even though I knew that "The Catch" was coming and what the outcome of the game would be, I still greatly enjoyed the journey. It was also interesting to see how similar in many ways the experience of going to an important ball game is today to what it was in Hano's day. His snarky comments concerning the baseball intelligence of Yankees and Dodgers fans (Hano has low opinions of both), along with the differences between the American and National leagues (and this is before the advent of the designated hitter, remember) still hold true today. But in other ways, the experience is very different. There are no replays of the action, for instance, and Hano has little idea what type of team the Indians are, having had few (if any) chances to see them play. The contrast between this and today's MLB.com-ESPN-Quick Pitch world is astounding.
For any baseball fan, but especially any Giants fan, this book is an absolute must-read.
But even if you've seen the video a hundred times, it's worth it to read Arnold Hano's account of The Catch in his 1955 book A Day in the Bleachers. Hano recounts all the aspects of going to the game on September 29, 1954, at New York's Polo Grounds to see the hometown Giants take on the Cleveland Indians in the first game of the '54 Fall Classic. The reader follows Hano as he waits in line, buys a ticket, settles himself in the bleacher seats, watches bp, interacts with fans (Giants fans, a few Indians fans, and a lady in a red hat who is normally a Dodger fan, but is rooting for the Indians that day, for obvious reasons), and takes in a World Series game.
Hano does an excellent job of weaving together details of the bleacher experience and statistical context with an interesting play-by-play account of the game. It's easy to get caught up in the drama of the contest, and even though I knew that "The Catch" was coming and what the outcome of the game would be, I still greatly enjoyed the journey. It was also interesting to see how similar in many ways the experience of going to an important ball game is today to what it was in Hano's day. His snarky comments concerning the baseball intelligence of Yankees and Dodgers fans (Hano has low opinions of both), along with the differences between the American and National leagues (and this is before the advent of the designated hitter, remember) still hold true today. But in other ways, the experience is very different. There are no replays of the action, for instance, and Hano has little idea what type of team the Indians are, having had few (if any) chances to see them play. The contrast between this and today's MLB.com-ESPN-Quick Pitch world is astounding.
For any baseball fan, but especially any Giants fan, this book is an absolute must-read.
June 3, 2020
A quick read (about 4 hours) and a fun glimpse into a very different time in baseball history, when someone could walk up on game day and get a ticket for one of the most famous World Series games of all time.
Not all elements of the book have aged well: There are some (tongue in cheek?) takedowns of other fan bases and there's a lot of casual or overt sexism in here. But if you can look past that, it's like opening a window to a world that doesn't exist anymore, climbing through and taking a seat for an amazing contest.
The author is still alive at 98 years old and I bought this book after hearing him on Episode 1536 of Effectively Wild, my favorite podcast.
Not all elements of the book have aged well: There are some (tongue in cheek?) takedowns of other fan bases and there's a lot of casual or overt sexism in here. But if you can look past that, it's like opening a window to a world that doesn't exist anymore, climbing through and taking a seat for an amazing contest.
The author is still alive at 98 years old and I bought this book after hearing him on Episode 1536 of Effectively Wild, my favorite podcast.
November 17, 2021
A baseball classic that has a good deal of literary value.
5 stars
5 stars
March 29, 2022
3.5 rounded up ☺️
June 26, 2008
Like Annie Savoy, I know things. I know that any Giants game I attend will be effected by a variety of factors: which route I take to the ballpark (Columbus to Pacific, across Jackson Square, across Justin Herman Plaza, along the Embarcadero to the centerfield gate), and more importantly, which cap I wear (a rotation of my "lucky" Giants cap, purchased at St. Mark's Place the day after the Yankees beat the Braves in the '96 Series, my Pirates cap, my "backup" Giants cap, purchased a few years ago when my "lucky" cap started to smell a bit rank, my "in memoriam" all-black Expos cap, and my newly acquired Seals cap; my Red Sox cap, purchased after the 2003 season, has been mothballed until such time as I am able to distinguish Bosox fans from Yankees fans). I know that if I wait to go to the bathroom until the bottom of the inning, the Giants will have a better chance of putting together a rally. I know that I could walk around the concourse level counter-clockwise, from leftfield to behind home to rightfield to my seat in the centerfield bleachers; I also know that somebody would have to be holding a gun to my ribs, and convince me that the gun contained live rounds, to get me to not procede clock-wise. At that, it would have to be a .32 or higher. In testament of the the efficacy of what some uncharitable people would undoubtedly regard as "superstitions", I offer my record at the 'yard so far this season (6-6), against the Giants' overall home record this season (14-24), and I rest my case.
Arnold Hano is a man very much after my own kidney. In this wonderful description of the events at the Polo Ground on September 29, 1954 (The Catch), he reveals himself, unselfconsciously, to be a crank. Also, I found myself falling in love with Mrs. Hano, whose opinions about the Game, however ill-informed, are proved to be invariably correct.
Arnold Hano is a man very much after my own kidney. In this wonderful description of the events at the Polo Ground on September 29, 1954 (The Catch), he reveals himself, unselfconsciously, to be a crank. Also, I found myself falling in love with Mrs. Hano, whose opinions about the Game, however ill-informed, are proved to be invariably correct.
October 3, 2018
Still the best "man in the stands" baseball book. What are the odds that Hano would be in the perfect spot to witness the greatest play in the history of the game? His account is worthy of the opportunity.
November 7, 2024
A baseball classic I finally got around to reading, 50 years after the fact. I guess it was worth the wait.
November 3, 2018
I first read A Day in the Bleachers more than 35 years ago. Rob Neyer's Power Ball made me think I needed to re-read this book. And I am glad that I did.
Hano writes about his day watching game one of the 1954 World Series from the bleachers. He mixes in information on his life, the ball park, the fans, and the players. Hano was in the bleachers at the Polo Grounds with a close view for Willie Mays' play on Vic Wertz's hit that became known as "The Catch". It is fascinating to have a first-hand contemporaneous telling of "The Catch" from someone who was no more than 100 feet from the play. In Hano's telling "The Catch" was considerably less dramatic than it is regarded in history. Hano says it was not the best catch he saw Mays make - and Mays has over time said similar things. But it is legendary.
This is a fascinating view of what it is like to be a fan at a ball game. The writing it lively and quick-paced. A Day in the Bleachers is a short, compact book. I re-read the book in a few hours. But it is the exact length it needs to be.
This edition includes an epilogue of the lives of the players involved in that day's game, and a little less on Hano's life, that was not in the original version I read in the early 80s. An interesting addition which adds a nice perspective to the work.
Hano has inspired others - Daniel Okrent's Nine Innings and Rob Neyer's Power Ball, most specifically. Both of those are very good books but neither is as good as this little gem.
Hano writes about his day watching game one of the 1954 World Series from the bleachers. He mixes in information on his life, the ball park, the fans, and the players. Hano was in the bleachers at the Polo Grounds with a close view for Willie Mays' play on Vic Wertz's hit that became known as "The Catch". It is fascinating to have a first-hand contemporaneous telling of "The Catch" from someone who was no more than 100 feet from the play. In Hano's telling "The Catch" was considerably less dramatic than it is regarded in history. Hano says it was not the best catch he saw Mays make - and Mays has over time said similar things. But it is legendary.
This is a fascinating view of what it is like to be a fan at a ball game. The writing it lively and quick-paced. A Day in the Bleachers is a short, compact book. I re-read the book in a few hours. But it is the exact length it needs to be.
This edition includes an epilogue of the lives of the players involved in that day's game, and a little less on Hano's life, that was not in the original version I read in the early 80s. An interesting addition which adds a nice perspective to the work.
Hano has inspired others - Daniel Okrent's Nine Innings and Rob Neyer's Power Ball, most specifically. Both of those are very good books but neither is as good as this little gem.
December 11, 2021
150 pages of baseball bliss. What a time machine. Hano does an incredible job describing the game and the atmosphere. He takes you back to the Polo Grounds and you can almost smell the hot dogs, beer, and, yes, coffee (you’ll understand if you read it). I loved reading about his banter with nearby fans and his unapologetic opinions about players and teams. It gave the book a conversational tone that few books about baseball have achieved. For a few hours you get to escape back to the golden era of baseball and converse with a devoted Giants fan as he describes Game 1 of the ‘54 World Series. It was a joy to read. I love baseball and am a little embarrassed I had not heard of this excellent book until I read Hano’s obituary in the NYT. Better late than never though. I have read numerous books on baseball; without question this is one of my favorites.
November 30, 2022
This short book should have been a quick read, but I was traveling and had various conflicts that delayed my completion of the book. It was a well-written story of a famous 1954 World Series game featuring "the Catch" by Willie Mays. While the author's personal interactions with other fans and his baseball insights provided some entertainment, he and I clearly don't experience baseball in the same manner. I am not one to yell at players, nor do I feel compelled to yell responses to the complaints offered by surrounding fans. Moreover, player analytics have changed so much that I didn't have a good feel for most of the players discussed in the book as the author emphasized statistics or less quantifiable qualities that are not viewed in the same way after all these decades.
March 18, 2025
Arguably the greatest baseball book ever written, this is an inning-by-inning account of the first day of the 1954 World Series, The NY Giants v. the Cleveland I[deleted]ns. Hano is no objective observer; he is pro-Giants all the way. yet, his enthusiasm for and love of the game should warm the heart of any baseball fan. This is a sensory experience --the sights, the sounds, the smells (to quote Rob Reiner) of a hot day in a crowded ball park. The book's highlight is Willie Mays's over the shoulder catch in the eighth inning, which essentially broke the spirit of the Cleveland team. A great piece of reporting, even for those who don't follow the sport.
October 5, 2020
As COVID took away this baseball season, I turned to this book after listening to a podcast interview with the author. I set it aside for the summer as interests turned to other things but picked it up again after the baseball season had resumed and we headed into the playoffs. I am glad I read it. It is a period piece in many ways, looking at NYC in the 50s, but it is also timeless baseball. I think it deserves its reputation as a classic baseball book. For a single game, it highlights aspects of the game I had never considered plus a way of watching a game that I have never experienced.
January 12, 2022
A baseball book unlike any other. Published in 1955, and reissued in 2005, it chronicles the first game of the 1954 World Series between the New York Giants and the Cleveland Indians, as told from, obviously, the perspective of a writer sitting in the bleachers.
It captures its time and place so perfectly, and the writing is crisp and sharp, and while the writer is a true fan of his Giants, he never fawns or exaggerates. Truly a gem.
It captures its time and place so perfectly, and the writing is crisp and sharp, and while the writer is a true fan of his Giants, he never fawns or exaggerates. Truly a gem.
May 16, 2020
Despite being close to 70 years old the book reads very easily. What an amazing look into what it was like in that day and age. Funny thing he complained about reliance on homers and too long of games... in 1954. Amazing to live though his eyes. Hopefully those “portable televisions” will never take over. I’d hate to see what fans would do at games with them!
September 9, 2020
This book was much better than I expected. Even though I doubted the author intended it to be a comedy, there were several places where I laughed out loud at the author's words. It held my interest from start to finish and I really enjoyed the author's description of "The Catch."
Read
November 18, 2021Great book,, especially for a person who thought (thinks??) that baseball is a boring, simplistic game. The author explains things like left hand pitcher and left hand batters; why a pitcher finds new pitches as his fastball burns out. Really good snack book at about 170 pp.
December 13, 2022
A solid 3.9 stars. Hano paints a clear picture of what watching a game in the Polo grounds was really like. His description of Mays' "the catch" is second to none. And I love what he has to say about Yankee and Dodger fans.
March 4, 2025
I have over five hundred books in my baseball library. This is my favorite. The ultimate story of a fortuitous ticket purchase and a historic game, written by a diehard fan with an eye for detail and an ability to turn a phrase. There's nothing else quite like it in sports literature.
May 10, 2020
For a book I had not heard about up until two months ago, this was tremendous. Simple and real.
February 14, 2021
Great for baseball fans...but if you aren’t I don’t think it’s archaic style and cultural references will be of interest
April 1, 2024
If you know about THE CATCH, then read about Willie and the boys of summer.
November 20, 2024
Lovely little book (if you love baseball)—a trip back in time.
May 3, 2022
With a new foreword by Ray Robinson (2004), an introduction by Roger Kahn (1981, and an afterword by the author (2004). I almost forgot Arnold Hano is the author.
July 18, 2016
A delightful account of "a day in the bleachers" for one of the most memorable games in baseball history: Willie Mays' famous catch in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series. This book not only gives you an evocative sense of Mays' greatness in his first full season of a Hall of Fame career, it also brings to life all the colorful characters on that Giants team as seen through one knowledgeable fan's eyes. Hano lives and dies with each pitch on that tense afternoon, and so do many other fans surrounding him in the Polo Grounds that day. He relates the conversations (and trash-talking!) that he engages in with other fans and puts the reader right beside him in that grand old ballpark that no longer exists. We ride the subway with Hano up to Harlem and stand in line hoping that the bleacher seats don't sell out, and watch batting practice with him, too. For those of us not old enough to have seen a game at the Polo Grounds in person, reading this book is the next-best thing.
June 1, 2009
Hano tells the story of going to the Polo Grounds to watch the New York Giants play the Cleveland Indians in game one of the 1954 World Series. He goes without a ticket and buys a bleacher seat on game day. That certainly couldn't be done today. He describes the action of the game and the back and forth dialouge with other fans. Hano is a knowledgeable fan who isn't afraid to get into it with other fans about something. He made me feel like I was there for the game. His desciption of Willie Mays was enlightening. He wrote this after Mays 2nd season. He talks about what a great fielder Mays is and a good hitter although he might not end up a great hitter. There are also a lot of slams of the American League from a National League guy which I enjoyed. I an also a Giants fan so it was kind of like a time machine taking you back to 1954. Good quick read.
March 7, 2008
As far as baseball books go this one should be very close to the top of anybody's list. Hano wrote the thing in one night after watching that now famous game one of the '54 series at the Polo Grounds. Another reason to refer to "The Catch" as "The Throw", which is a great argument starter with any baseball fan. Almost as good as saying, "Scoreboard," in a dull monotone when your team is ahead. Almost...
February 13, 2011
A pure delight. Though the game at the center of the book took place two decades before I was even born, having read Hano's book, I feel like I was there.
If you're a baseball fan - not reading this one would be an error.
If you're a baseball fan - not reading this one would be an error.
June 5, 2013
"On reflection, I am glad I did not ask the next question, 'Depends on what?' He might have said, in his drawl, 'On whether they got room for us or not.' Still, such a question would deserve such an answer."
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews