Catfish, Yaz, and Hammerin' Hank: The Unforgettable Era That Transformed Baseball

by Phil Pepe, Bucky Dent (Foreword)

In Catfish, Yaz, and Hammerin' Hank , sportswriter Phil Pepe talks to the stars of the day about their fondest memories and their greatest highlights from an era gone by. The spirit of the day is nostalgically captured in Pepe's priceless interviews and through scores of archival photographs. This book proves to be as enjoyable as the era it so thoroughly depicts.

Genres: Baseball

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Brian Schnack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun (albeit Yankee-heavy) oral history of 1970’s baseball, covering a decade of radical change in the sport.

Well worth the read for baseball fans who came of age in the 70’s

[Todd Stockslager · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review title: Oral history of the MLB '70s Show
Phil Pepe has written and ghostwritten many sports books, and in this outing he puts together a fast moving oral history of the 1970s on and off the diamond.

The decade started with the game-changing off-the-field salvo of Curt Flood's challenge to the reserve clause, and ended with the on-the-field triumph of the 1979 "We are Fam-a-lee" Pittsburgh Pirates in the bold gold stretch double-knit and stovepipe hats. Pepe weaves together short recaps of key events with long quotes from key participants like

* Marvin Miller, the union lawyer who made the MLB Players Association a real union with power to change the game.
* Billy Martin, the flamboyant and lamented late manager who helped remake the Yankee legacy in between sparring rounds with the Boss.
* Reggie Jackson, the loud and powerful slugger and helped the two dynasties of the decade (the Oakland A's and the Yankees) keep a hammerlock on the World Series.
* Tommy John, the pitching master who gave his name to the surgery that remade the careers of every pitcher thereafter.

The stories between the lines, at the negotiating table, and in the locker room help explain the eternal draw of America's game during a decade of transition while it was still at the peak of its cultural, entertainment, and athletic influence. It was (and may be the last) decade when baseball's superstars outshone those on the basketball court or football field. Pete, Hank, Reggie, Nolan, were some of the first one-name superstars everybody knew.

The book comes with a DVD with a 45-minute documentary which is more of a history of labor problems fighting the reserve clause than it is of the decade. The best part of the DVD are the interviews with Catfish Hunter, whose North Carolina drawl and knack for storytelling should have earned him his own hour. The DVD material was not up to the quality of the book.

If you are are of an age to remember baseball in the glory days of the 1970s you will love this book and wish there was more.

[Len Knighton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of the book is a sham. The book, for the most part, is a history of the Yankees in the 70's, especially in the latter half of the decade. Ten pages on the death of Thurman Munson, preceded by four pages explaining why the Yankees' injuries would keep them from winning the AL East in 1979. Yes, the author was the Yankees beat writer in those days but I expected more balance. Pepe wrote very little about Catfish, Yaz, and Hammerin' Hank. His open chapter which focused on Curt Flood's challenge of the reserved clause was very good.

[Chris Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Repackaged version of "Talkin' Baseball" by Pepe, with this version containing a DVD. The narratives and personal reflections are obviously what makes the book and Pepe does a good job of stringing them together in a cohesive fashion. More of a coffee-table style book than its predecessor.