What do you think?
Rate this book
Games We Used to Play
A collection of expert sports pieces touches on locker-room controversies and politics while inviting readers to share in the passion, grace, energy, and intense concentration involved in playing sports
- GenresNonfictionBaseball
Hardcover
First published March 1, 1992
1 person is currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Roger Kahn
47 books65 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Roger Kahn was best known for The Boys of Summer, about the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Roger Kahn was best known for The Boys of Summer, about the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 6, 2019
So why am I putting down something about a book written in 1992? For one thing, I just got through reading it and no, it didn't take me 27 years to read! This was one of those unexpected surprises: a co-worker was retiring and cleaning out his office, and had a pile in the "Free Help Yourself" book area and as I was walking by, Roger Kahn's name jumped out at me, and I figured "price is right" so I grabbed it. Brand new copy - I don't think it had ever been read. You can't beat that.
Roger Kahn over the years wrote a number of good - and great - sports books - mostly about baseball and is no doubt remembered best for the classic "The Boys Of Summer" which came out in 1972. Having always enjoyed his writing, it seemed this would be a good one to add to my Kahn collection.
Unlike the others, this is a collection of magazine and newspaper columns covering players from all sports, but mostly baseball and is one of those books you can start and read at your leisure since most of the pieces are relatively short. There are articles about Muhammad Ali, Stan Musial,, Mickey Mantle, and a blistering one on Joe Namath (Kahn definitely was not a fan of Broadway Joe!) and many others. Some names you'll recognize, and there are ones you won't, but one thing is certain, they all contributed something to the world of sports. You'll laugh (a lot) and you might even be brought to tears a few times.
Overall, a highly enjoyable book and something I can remember my retired co-worker by. If you get a chance, pick it up, it's an enjoyable read.
Roger Kahn over the years wrote a number of good - and great - sports books - mostly about baseball and is no doubt remembered best for the classic "The Boys Of Summer" which came out in 1972. Having always enjoyed his writing, it seemed this would be a good one to add to my Kahn collection.
Unlike the others, this is a collection of magazine and newspaper columns covering players from all sports, but mostly baseball and is one of those books you can start and read at your leisure since most of the pieces are relatively short. There are articles about Muhammad Ali, Stan Musial,, Mickey Mantle, and a blistering one on Joe Namath (Kahn definitely was not a fan of Broadway Joe!) and many others. Some names you'll recognize, and there are ones you won't, but one thing is certain, they all contributed something to the world of sports. You'll laugh (a lot) and you might even be brought to tears a few times.
Overall, a highly enjoyable book and something I can remember my retired co-worker by. If you get a chance, pick it up, it's an enjoyable read.
July 25, 2019
I enjoyed reading Roger Kahn's Boys of Summer years ago. Lost a lot of respect for Kahn after his last book on Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson. But for a cross country plane trip I decided to pull this one off my shelves where it had sat for years. It's a compilation of articles Kahn wrote from the 1950s to the early 80s for newspapers (mostly New York papers) and magazines (Sport, Esquire) on various personalities in sports ranging from Baseball (Mickey Mantle) to hockey (Glenn Hall & Howie Morenz) to boxing (Muhammed Ali & George Foreman) to football (Joe Namath). Any sports fan over 50 or who enjoys sports history will enjoy these glimpses into the past. Kahn includes some brief comments to describe what happened to the subject of the article since the article was originally written. An enjoyable sports book. Some of the content though is not for the younger sports fan.
December 2, 2023
Games We Used To Play: book review
Aging, Books, History, Racism, sports
Games We Used To Play is actually a history book. It is about professional sports in America from 1947 to 1990. Written by Roger Kahn, it is a collection of pieces he wrote for
Prominent news publications:
The New York Herald Tribune
The American Scholar
Sports Illustrated
The Saturday Evening Post
Esquire
Sport
Time
The New York Times
Playboy
Newsweek
And others. His methodology was to spend time with his subjects. Sometimes several days, and even travel with them. He wrote about the players, ballparks, management, owners, other writers, and cultural trends. Kahn had a lot to say. He tried to be accurate and fair. However, he wasn’t without his blind spots. Roger Kahn, who loved to play baseball, drink, and had an eye for beautiful women, was in awe of Mickey Mantle. Subsequently he seemed to give him a pass on his womanizing and alcoholism. A sort of “boys will be boys” attitude.
Ted Williams, “Teddy ballgame”, he called an “egocentric emotionalist in need of a spanking.”
In my notes I wrote:
Kahn, full of himself. Why he hates Joe Namath & Teddy Ballgame? Projection of his Shadow?
It’s hard to say. Kahn died in 2012. He was Jewish and his son died of a heroin overdose in 1987. Kahn had this to say about Brooklyn:
Jewish children who would grow up to teach philosophy lived beside incipient terrorists who became loan sharks, basketball fixers, even killers. … Brooklyn was troubled — it is a dangerous fiction that urban troubles are new — and contentious and disparate and joined.
He writes about racism, sexism , and bigotry as it existed throughout those 40 plus years. The corruption that TV’s money and fame have on some people. Most people?
Subjects were:
Jackie Robinson
Willie Mays
Stan Musial
Roger Maris
Mickey Mantle
Joe Namath
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Don King
Muhammad Ali
George Foreman
Tommy Lasorda
Pete Rose
And others. And so much more. Such as: The psychology of the athlete. What it’s like to always be special, and then past your prime at the age of thirty-five. When most men are just hitting their stride. How most athletes don’t read books; but make millions of dollars from their own “autobiographies”.
Conclusion.
Should you read this book? Definitely, if you are a young sports fan. (The book details what life was like before The Internet.) Maybe, if you’re an old sports fan, like me. (You might not like what your heroes were like off the field.) Probably not, if you’re one of those special few who are good enough to make it to the show. (It’s a hard look in the mirror.) For sure, if you’re an aspiring sport journalist. It’s good writing. For the most part good journalism.
Tagged: baseball, behavior, drinking, Heroes, reading, writing
Aging, Books, History, Racism, sports
Games We Used To Play is actually a history book. It is about professional sports in America from 1947 to 1990. Written by Roger Kahn, it is a collection of pieces he wrote for
Prominent news publications:
The New York Herald Tribune
The American Scholar
Sports Illustrated
The Saturday Evening Post
Esquire
Sport
Time
The New York Times
Playboy
Newsweek
And others. His methodology was to spend time with his subjects. Sometimes several days, and even travel with them. He wrote about the players, ballparks, management, owners, other writers, and cultural trends. Kahn had a lot to say. He tried to be accurate and fair. However, he wasn’t without his blind spots. Roger Kahn, who loved to play baseball, drink, and had an eye for beautiful women, was in awe of Mickey Mantle. Subsequently he seemed to give him a pass on his womanizing and alcoholism. A sort of “boys will be boys” attitude.
Ted Williams, “Teddy ballgame”, he called an “egocentric emotionalist in need of a spanking.”
In my notes I wrote:
Kahn, full of himself. Why he hates Joe Namath & Teddy Ballgame? Projection of his Shadow?
It’s hard to say. Kahn died in 2012. He was Jewish and his son died of a heroin overdose in 1987. Kahn had this to say about Brooklyn:
Jewish children who would grow up to teach philosophy lived beside incipient terrorists who became loan sharks, basketball fixers, even killers. … Brooklyn was troubled — it is a dangerous fiction that urban troubles are new — and contentious and disparate and joined.
He writes about racism, sexism , and bigotry as it existed throughout those 40 plus years. The corruption that TV’s money and fame have on some people. Most people?
Subjects were:
Jackie Robinson
Willie Mays
Stan Musial
Roger Maris
Mickey Mantle
Joe Namath
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Don King
Muhammad Ali
George Foreman
Tommy Lasorda
Pete Rose
And others. And so much more. Such as: The psychology of the athlete. What it’s like to always be special, and then past your prime at the age of thirty-five. When most men are just hitting their stride. How most athletes don’t read books; but make millions of dollars from their own “autobiographies”.
Conclusion.
Should you read this book? Definitely, if you are a young sports fan. (The book details what life was like before The Internet.) Maybe, if you’re an old sports fan, like me. (You might not like what your heroes were like off the field.) Probably not, if you’re one of those special few who are good enough to make it to the show. (It’s a hard look in the mirror.) For sure, if you’re an aspiring sport journalist. It’s good writing. For the most part good journalism.
Tagged: baseball, behavior, drinking, Heroes, reading, writing
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews