What do you think?
Rate this book
The Old Ball Game: How John McGraw, Christy Mathewson, and the New York Giants Created Modern Baseball
In The Old Ball Game, Frank Deford, NPR sports commentator and Sports Illustrated journalist retells the story of an unusual friendship between two towering figures in baseball history.
At the turn of the twentieth century, Christy Mathewson was one of baseball's first superstars. Over six feet tall, clean cut, and college educated, he didn't pitch on the Sabbath and rarely spoke an ill word about anyone. He also had one of the most devastating arms in all of baseball. New York Giants manager John McGraw, by contrast, was ferocious. The pugnacious tough guy was already a star infielder who, with the Baltimore Orioles, helped develop a new, scrappy style of baseball, with plays like the hit-and-run, the Baltimore chop, and the squeeze play. When McGraw joined the Giants in 1902, the Giants were coming off their worst season ever. Yet within three years, Mathewson clinched New York City's first World Series for McGraw's team by throwing three straight shutouts in only six days, an incredible feat that is invariably called the greatest World Series performance ever. Because of their wonderful odd-couple association, baseball had its first superstar, the Giants ascended into legend, and baseball as a national pastime bloomed.
At the turn of the twentieth century, Christy Mathewson was one of baseball's first superstars. Over six feet tall, clean cut, and college educated, he didn't pitch on the Sabbath and rarely spoke an ill word about anyone. He also had one of the most devastating arms in all of baseball. New York Giants manager John McGraw, by contrast, was ferocious. The pugnacious tough guy was already a star infielder who, with the Baltimore Orioles, helped develop a new, scrappy style of baseball, with plays like the hit-and-run, the Baltimore chop, and the squeeze play. When McGraw joined the Giants in 1902, the Giants were coming off their worst season ever. Yet within three years, Mathewson clinched New York City's first World Series for McGraw's team by throwing three straight shutouts in only six days, an incredible feat that is invariably called the greatest World Series performance ever. Because of their wonderful odd-couple association, baseball had its first superstar, the Giants ascended into legend, and baseball as a national pastime bloomed.
241 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
102 people are currently reading
1116 people want to read
About the author
Frank Deford
39 books58 followersFrank Deford (born December 16, 1938, in Baltimore, Maryland) is a senior contributing writer for Sports Illustrated, author, and commentator.
DeFord has been writing for Sports Illustrated since the early 1960s. In addition to his Sports Illustrated duties, he is also a correspondent for HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel and a regular, Wednesday commentator for National Public Radio's Morning Edition.
His 1981 novel, "Everybody's All-American," was named one of Sports Illustrated's Top 25 Sports Books of All Time and was later made into a movie directed by Taylor Hackford and starring Dennis Quaid.
In the early 1990s Deford took a brief break from NPR and other professional activities to serve as editor-in-chief of The National (newspaper), a short-lived, daily U.S. sports newspaper. It debuted January 31, 1990 and folded after eighteen months. The newspaper was published Sundays through Fridays and had a tabloid format.
Deford is also the chairman emeritus of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He became involved in cystic fibrosis education and advocacy after his daughter, Alexandra ("Alex") was diagnosed with the illness in the early 1970s. After Alex died on January 19, 1980, at the age of eight, Deford chronicled her life in the memoir Alex: The Life of a Child. The book was made into a movie starring Craig T. Nelson and Bonnie Bedelia in 1986. In 1997, it was reissued in an expanded edition, with updated information on the Defords and Alex's friends.
Deford grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and attended the Gilman School in Baltimore. He is a graduate of Princeton University and now resides in Westport, Connecticut, with his wife, Carol. They have two surviving children: Christian (b. 1969) and Scarlet (b. 1980). Their youngest daughter Scarlet was adopted a few months after the loss of Alex.
DeFord has been writing for Sports Illustrated since the early 1960s. In addition to his Sports Illustrated duties, he is also a correspondent for HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel and a regular, Wednesday commentator for National Public Radio's Morning Edition.
His 1981 novel, "Everybody's All-American," was named one of Sports Illustrated's Top 25 Sports Books of All Time and was later made into a movie directed by Taylor Hackford and starring Dennis Quaid.
In the early 1990s Deford took a brief break from NPR and other professional activities to serve as editor-in-chief of The National (newspaper), a short-lived, daily U.S. sports newspaper. It debuted January 31, 1990 and folded after eighteen months. The newspaper was published Sundays through Fridays and had a tabloid format.
Deford is also the chairman emeritus of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He became involved in cystic fibrosis education and advocacy after his daughter, Alexandra ("Alex") was diagnosed with the illness in the early 1970s. After Alex died on January 19, 1980, at the age of eight, Deford chronicled her life in the memoir Alex: The Life of a Child. The book was made into a movie starring Craig T. Nelson and Bonnie Bedelia in 1986. In 1997, it was reissued in an expanded edition, with updated information on the Defords and Alex's friends.
Deford grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and attended the Gilman School in Baltimore. He is a graduate of Princeton University and now resides in Westport, Connecticut, with his wife, Carol. They have two surviving children: Christian (b. 1969) and Scarlet (b. 1980). Their youngest daughter Scarlet was adopted a few months after the loss of Alex.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
February 18, 2024
“[A]s with [John] McGraw, there are no Mathewson heirs. All that they left behind were incredibly vivid numbers and the hazy recollections of the lovely things they accomplished together on the diamond back when the American national sport was just finding itself in New York, and all the innings were in the sunlight…”
- Frank Deford, The Old Ball Game: How John McGraw, Christy Mathewson, and the New York Giants Created Modern Baseball
Major League Baseball has implemented several initiatives to add speed and excitement to baseball games, thereby appealing to a younger demographic. This includes larger bases, fewer pickoff attempts by the pitcher, and a pitch clock. As a person who has aged out of the target market, I have mixed feelings about this.
On the one hand, it is nice to be able to know what the St. Louis Cardinals did before going to sleep at night.
On the other hand, part of baseball’s charm – at least for me – is its essential inessential-ness. There are a lot of games during a season, and most of them are meaningless. When you go to a game, you don’t have to watch every second, or hang on every move. You can just enjoy the sunshine, enjoy the beer, and enjoy this brief moment where it feels like time has stopped.
Frank Deford’s The Old Ball Game is an ode to that sensation. Written well before the idea of hurrying baseball along had ever been mooted, it is a short, languidly-paced account of some of the early years of America’s national pastime.
***
The subtitle of The Old Ball Game – “How John McGraw, Christy Mathewson, and the New York Giants Created Modern Baseball” – makes it seem like it has an argument to make, or a point to prove. It does not. Mostly, this is a nostalgic ramble, a collection of anecdotes of a bygone, partly-imagined time, told by a skilled storyteller.
To be sure, Mathewson and McGraw serve as an organizing principle, and a study in contrasts.
Mathewson was tall, clean-cut, and known as “the Christian Gentleman,” which makes him a bit boring, save for the fact that he was also one of the best pitchers of his era. McGraw – Mathewson’s manager on the New York Giants – was shorter, a bit stumpy, with a pot-belly and a driving desire to win. Unlike Mathewson, with his outward perfection, McGraw had a filthy mouth, though – as Deford wryly notes – few of his contemporaries were willing to preserve his actual words for posterity.
The Old Ball Game contains elements of a dual biography, sports writing, and social history, but there is a looseness to it. Generally speaking, it concentrates on the years from 1905 to 1916, when McGraw, with the help of his star pitcher, turned the Giants into a perennial contender. Nevertheless, it hops around in time – Mathewson died before McGraw, but McGraw’s death is narrated before Mathewson’s – and skips over large periods to focus on what Deford finds interesting. There are some descriptions of the games, but not as many as you’d expect in a book with this title. An entire World Series, for instance, might be dispensed with in a page. At other points, though, Deford will dwell a little longer on the action. To take one example, he has fun relating the tale of “Merkle’s Boner,” which sounds like an X-rated movie, but actually involves a young ballplayer failing to touch second base, which also could be an X-rated movie title, I suppose.
***
While The Old Ball Game is infused with more than a bit of nostalgia, Deford is not blind to the uglier realities. As he notes early on, by 1880, black ballplayers had been excluded by organized baseball, and would not be allowed into the Major Leagues until 1947. The white players were at the mercy of the owners, who paid them a fraction of what they were entitled to make.
Then there’s the physical conditioning.
You often hear it said that today’s players would dominate those of yesteryear. In 2018, a relief pitcher named Adam Ottavino – solid, but not elite – made some waves by claiming he’d strike out Babe Ruth. Leaving aside Ruth’s obvious disadvantage – that of being dead – most people seemed to agree. As you read The Old Ball Game, you start to see it the opposite way. If you sent Ottavino back in time, rather than bringing Ruth forward, I doubt he’d even be able to throw a pitch. Instead, he’d be dead of typhus or run over by a streetcar while walking to the park.
Taking into account the lack of exercise, the quality of their diets, the level of alcohol consumption, and the insane workload, it’s a minor miracle that these guys competed at all, much less at such high levels. In the early 1900s, a guy like Mathewson simply pitched until his arm fell off.
***
Today, Major League Baseball is a business. The more it is corporatized, the farther from it I feel. Teams are appreciating assets, investment opportunities for the super-super wealthy. Owners are billionaires. The players are millionaires. All aspects of the sport are monetized. Gambling – once the game’s bane – is increasingly legal, and MLB, in its infinite hypocrisy, has embraced it fully.
To say that the old days were better, however, is ludicrous, and Deford knows that. Baseball at the turn of the century had the same greedy owners we have today, but it also kept the players from demanding commensurate salaries, while maintaining the aforementioned strict racial segregation. Still, there was a closeness between fans and ballplayers that is hard to imagine now, creating powerful bonds of loyalty and affection. It wasn’t better back then, but it was certainly more interesting – with rough edges, sharp spikes, plentiful tobacco stains, and no night games – and The Old Ball Game captures that beautifully.
- Frank Deford, The Old Ball Game: How John McGraw, Christy Mathewson, and the New York Giants Created Modern Baseball
Major League Baseball has implemented several initiatives to add speed and excitement to baseball games, thereby appealing to a younger demographic. This includes larger bases, fewer pickoff attempts by the pitcher, and a pitch clock. As a person who has aged out of the target market, I have mixed feelings about this.
On the one hand, it is nice to be able to know what the St. Louis Cardinals did before going to sleep at night.
On the other hand, part of baseball’s charm – at least for me – is its essential inessential-ness. There are a lot of games during a season, and most of them are meaningless. When you go to a game, you don’t have to watch every second, or hang on every move. You can just enjoy the sunshine, enjoy the beer, and enjoy this brief moment where it feels like time has stopped.
Frank Deford’s The Old Ball Game is an ode to that sensation. Written well before the idea of hurrying baseball along had ever been mooted, it is a short, languidly-paced account of some of the early years of America’s national pastime.
***
The subtitle of The Old Ball Game – “How John McGraw, Christy Mathewson, and the New York Giants Created Modern Baseball” – makes it seem like it has an argument to make, or a point to prove. It does not. Mostly, this is a nostalgic ramble, a collection of anecdotes of a bygone, partly-imagined time, told by a skilled storyteller.
To be sure, Mathewson and McGraw serve as an organizing principle, and a study in contrasts.
Mathewson was tall, clean-cut, and known as “the Christian Gentleman,” which makes him a bit boring, save for the fact that he was also one of the best pitchers of his era. McGraw – Mathewson’s manager on the New York Giants – was shorter, a bit stumpy, with a pot-belly and a driving desire to win. Unlike Mathewson, with his outward perfection, McGraw had a filthy mouth, though – as Deford wryly notes – few of his contemporaries were willing to preserve his actual words for posterity.
The Old Ball Game contains elements of a dual biography, sports writing, and social history, but there is a looseness to it. Generally speaking, it concentrates on the years from 1905 to 1916, when McGraw, with the help of his star pitcher, turned the Giants into a perennial contender. Nevertheless, it hops around in time – Mathewson died before McGraw, but McGraw’s death is narrated before Mathewson’s – and skips over large periods to focus on what Deford finds interesting. There are some descriptions of the games, but not as many as you’d expect in a book with this title. An entire World Series, for instance, might be dispensed with in a page. At other points, though, Deford will dwell a little longer on the action. To take one example, he has fun relating the tale of “Merkle’s Boner,” which sounds like an X-rated movie, but actually involves a young ballplayer failing to touch second base, which also could be an X-rated movie title, I suppose.
***
While The Old Ball Game is infused with more than a bit of nostalgia, Deford is not blind to the uglier realities. As he notes early on, by 1880, black ballplayers had been excluded by organized baseball, and would not be allowed into the Major Leagues until 1947. The white players were at the mercy of the owners, who paid them a fraction of what they were entitled to make.
Then there’s the physical conditioning.
You often hear it said that today’s players would dominate those of yesteryear. In 2018, a relief pitcher named Adam Ottavino – solid, but not elite – made some waves by claiming he’d strike out Babe Ruth. Leaving aside Ruth’s obvious disadvantage – that of being dead – most people seemed to agree. As you read The Old Ball Game, you start to see it the opposite way. If you sent Ottavino back in time, rather than bringing Ruth forward, I doubt he’d even be able to throw a pitch. Instead, he’d be dead of typhus or run over by a streetcar while walking to the park.
Taking into account the lack of exercise, the quality of their diets, the level of alcohol consumption, and the insane workload, it’s a minor miracle that these guys competed at all, much less at such high levels. In the early 1900s, a guy like Mathewson simply pitched until his arm fell off.
***
Today, Major League Baseball is a business. The more it is corporatized, the farther from it I feel. Teams are appreciating assets, investment opportunities for the super-super wealthy. Owners are billionaires. The players are millionaires. All aspects of the sport are monetized. Gambling – once the game’s bane – is increasingly legal, and MLB, in its infinite hypocrisy, has embraced it fully.
To say that the old days were better, however, is ludicrous, and Deford knows that. Baseball at the turn of the century had the same greedy owners we have today, but it also kept the players from demanding commensurate salaries, while maintaining the aforementioned strict racial segregation. Still, there was a closeness between fans and ballplayers that is hard to imagine now, creating powerful bonds of loyalty and affection. It wasn’t better back then, but it was certainly more interesting – with rough edges, sharp spikes, plentiful tobacco stains, and no night games – and The Old Ball Game captures that beautifully.
February 13, 2024
A beautifully written twin biography covering the lives of two of our greatest contributors to baseball. It covers the period from the turn of the century into the Roaring Twenties. Christy Mathewson was the gentleman and college educated pitcher. His manager on the Giants for sixteen years, John McGraw, was a great player in the 1890s in his own right but was better known as the legendary skipper who took his teams to the World Series ten times.
Mathewson was one of only five men elected in that first Hall of Fame class in 1936. Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson and Honus Wagner were the others. McGraw was elected by the Veteran’s Committee the following year along with Connie Mack. Neither Mathewson nor McGraw lived long enough to receive their awards. Mathewson died from the lingering effects of being gassed while training in France during WWI. He was only 45 years of age. McGraw died nine years later of a kidney ailment at age 60, although he had not been well the last few years of his life.
What makes the biography so good is Frank Deford, the author and legendary sportswriter, displays a deft touch that allows his humanity to shine throughout the book. You won’t find a lot of statistical references in this book other than Mathewson’s victory totals and some references to ERAs but you will find a lot of well placed quotes and Deford’s legendary flair for descriptors.
This book is not a contentious one. Mathewson and McGraw were close to one another, despite coming from very different backgrounds and possessing contrasting personalities. Their wives Jane Mathewson and Blanche McGraw were also friends and the four took many vacations together. As was typical of the times there were many family members who passed away from TB, the flu and other ailments so while the book is uplifting there is a necessary soberness that you would expect in most well written biographies.
Here are some of my favorite quotes
“McGraw was only five-feet, six-and-a-half inches tall; not for nothing would he be known as “The Little Napoleon.”
“He wore his coiffure fashionably swirled on the sides in what was known then as the fishhook effect. Not to put too fine an Irish point on it but McGraw looked like a leprechaun without a conscience.”
“McGraw was, by then, probably the most famous athlete in America, his renown the measure of James J. Jeffries, the heavyweight champ.”
“Only one percent of ballplayers are leaders of men,” McGraw declared once. “The other ninety-nine per cent are followers of women.”
McGraw often monitored his player’s weight snd fitness.... “Shanty Hogan, would have the waiter put down “asparagus” when he ordered pie a la mode. One year at spring training, Hogan arrived in a suit he had bought that was purposely three sizes too big. He hoped thereby to convince McGraw that he was shucking weight. It didn’t work. “You still look like the back end of a truck,” McGraw told Shanty.”
On John McGraw’s character ... “Eddie Brannick, a Giant employee who was his confidant for many years, explained: “John really had a dual personality. He was a study in human nature. He was tough with tough people and warm with soft ones.”
Deford on how little America cared about the match between the senior circuit, the National League, and the junior circuit, the American League in 1903 .... “Perhaps it tells us more about how little the first World Series mattered, when Boston played Pittsburgh in 1903, but notwithstanding, in the New York Times, the newspaper of record, the first game of the first Series was simply listed under a roundup headline that read: YESTERDAY’S BASEBALL GAMES, while the larger headline on that same sports page concerned a match on Staten Island”
Snippets emphasizing how different the times were then are peppered throughout the book, “In one of the strangest of all baseball coincidences, in 1901, Mathewson’s first full season in the majors, the Giants actually had three deaf-mutes on their pitching staff—George Leitner, Billy Deegan, and Taylor. All, naturally, were called Dummy ...... From his deaf pitchers, he learned signing and used that for baseball signs.”
“Mathewson may have been the only rival the misanthropic Ty Cobb ever liked. “Matty was a hero of mine,” the “Georgia Peach” said. “He was truly magnificent in every way—no other phrase fits”
So one of the best sports books I’ve read in a long while. One area that could have been improved, and this has been noted elsewhere, was some repetition in the middle of the book where John McGraw’s year was rehashed again. It seemed that switching between Mathewson and McGraw’s bios, caused Deford to lose track of his place for a chapter or so. But the writing was so colorful and I didn’t really mind as much as I normally might.
Frank Deford passed away last year. I wish I’d read this book when it was written some thirty years earlier.
Mathewson was one of only five men elected in that first Hall of Fame class in 1936. Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson and Honus Wagner were the others. McGraw was elected by the Veteran’s Committee the following year along with Connie Mack. Neither Mathewson nor McGraw lived long enough to receive their awards. Mathewson died from the lingering effects of being gassed while training in France during WWI. He was only 45 years of age. McGraw died nine years later of a kidney ailment at age 60, although he had not been well the last few years of his life.
What makes the biography so good is Frank Deford, the author and legendary sportswriter, displays a deft touch that allows his humanity to shine throughout the book. You won’t find a lot of statistical references in this book other than Mathewson’s victory totals and some references to ERAs but you will find a lot of well placed quotes and Deford’s legendary flair for descriptors.
This book is not a contentious one. Mathewson and McGraw were close to one another, despite coming from very different backgrounds and possessing contrasting personalities. Their wives Jane Mathewson and Blanche McGraw were also friends and the four took many vacations together. As was typical of the times there were many family members who passed away from TB, the flu and other ailments so while the book is uplifting there is a necessary soberness that you would expect in most well written biographies.
Here are some of my favorite quotes
“McGraw was only five-feet, six-and-a-half inches tall; not for nothing would he be known as “The Little Napoleon.”
“He wore his coiffure fashionably swirled on the sides in what was known then as the fishhook effect. Not to put too fine an Irish point on it but McGraw looked like a leprechaun without a conscience.”
“McGraw was, by then, probably the most famous athlete in America, his renown the measure of James J. Jeffries, the heavyweight champ.”
“Only one percent of ballplayers are leaders of men,” McGraw declared once. “The other ninety-nine per cent are followers of women.”
McGraw often monitored his player’s weight snd fitness.... “Shanty Hogan, would have the waiter put down “asparagus” when he ordered pie a la mode. One year at spring training, Hogan arrived in a suit he had bought that was purposely three sizes too big. He hoped thereby to convince McGraw that he was shucking weight. It didn’t work. “You still look like the back end of a truck,” McGraw told Shanty.”
On John McGraw’s character ... “Eddie Brannick, a Giant employee who was his confidant for many years, explained: “John really had a dual personality. He was a study in human nature. He was tough with tough people and warm with soft ones.”
Deford on how little America cared about the match between the senior circuit, the National League, and the junior circuit, the American League in 1903 .... “Perhaps it tells us more about how little the first World Series mattered, when Boston played Pittsburgh in 1903, but notwithstanding, in the New York Times, the newspaper of record, the first game of the first Series was simply listed under a roundup headline that read: YESTERDAY’S BASEBALL GAMES, while the larger headline on that same sports page concerned a match on Staten Island”
Snippets emphasizing how different the times were then are peppered throughout the book, “In one of the strangest of all baseball coincidences, in 1901, Mathewson’s first full season in the majors, the Giants actually had three deaf-mutes on their pitching staff—George Leitner, Billy Deegan, and Taylor. All, naturally, were called Dummy ...... From his deaf pitchers, he learned signing and used that for baseball signs.”
“Mathewson may have been the only rival the misanthropic Ty Cobb ever liked. “Matty was a hero of mine,” the “Georgia Peach” said. “He was truly magnificent in every way—no other phrase fits”
So one of the best sports books I’ve read in a long while. One area that could have been improved, and this has been noted elsewhere, was some repetition in the middle of the book where John McGraw’s year was rehashed again. It seemed that switching between Mathewson and McGraw’s bios, caused Deford to lose track of his place for a chapter or so. But the writing was so colorful and I didn’t really mind as much as I normally might.
Frank Deford passed away last year. I wish I’d read this book when it was written some thirty years earlier.
May 23, 2020
Frank Deford was so colorful. His love of storytelling and passion for great sports figures infuses the whole book. The book jumps around, it's by no means a definitive history of anything, but it's great. Mathewson and McGraw come alive. How incredible would it have been to see that 1905 World Series?
July 30, 2015
I happened to come across this book in looking for another baseball title on Amazon. As a fan of early baseball, particularly its greatest pitchers, this book seemed as if it would be a great vacation read. I was not disappointed. The author does a great job of bringing Mathewson and McGraw to life, warts and all. Most fascinating is how this unlikely pair became so close, proving once again that opposites attract. And, as the subtitle indicates, we do get a sense of how baseball changed from the time McGraw started playing (1891) until he finished managing (1932) -- and it was more than simply the dead ball era coming to life. One only needs to be a baseball fan to enjoy this story.
August 14, 2019
The comic is hands down awesome.
September 27, 2018
Frank Deford alternates between being very factual to writing in a folksy voice in The Old Ball Game. At times, he offers interesting tidbits and nuggets of information - especially about phrases (for example where "pinch hitter" and "the old college try" came from) - but then he also writes like he's just sittin' on the porch talkin' baseball with the fellows. He oft refers to McGraw as "Muggsy" and Mathewson as "Matty" and"Big Six."
Still, this is a good book and Deford writes well. I am not a huge fan of turn-of-the-century baseball, but Deford puts this in good context with the rest of modern baseball. McGraw and Mathewson are the first two "superstars" of baseball and Deford notes that in how baseball began drawing more attention to the sport. Of course, it all changed when Babe Ruth followed two decades later, but Deford sets the stage with these two at a time when baseball was outlawed on Sundays in most parks and players were seen more as ragmuffin types than heroes.
He also writes game recaps well. His account of Fred Merkle's mishap in 1908 had more context than any other thing I've read about the "boner" of his missing second base. His recount of the 1905 World Series in which Mathewson pitched three shutouts in the most dominating effort by a pitcher ever was great.
McGraw and Mathewson are polar opposites, but Deford shows how the two became close friends and helped bring attention to the relatively newborn sport. Sports fans and historians alike should really enjoy this book
Still, this is a good book and Deford writes well. I am not a huge fan of turn-of-the-century baseball, but Deford puts this in good context with the rest of modern baseball. McGraw and Mathewson are the first two "superstars" of baseball and Deford notes that in how baseball began drawing more attention to the sport. Of course, it all changed when Babe Ruth followed two decades later, but Deford sets the stage with these two at a time when baseball was outlawed on Sundays in most parks and players were seen more as ragmuffin types than heroes.
He also writes game recaps well. His account of Fred Merkle's mishap in 1908 had more context than any other thing I've read about the "boner" of his missing second base. His recount of the 1905 World Series in which Mathewson pitched three shutouts in the most dominating effort by a pitcher ever was great.
McGraw and Mathewson are polar opposites, but Deford shows how the two became close friends and helped bring attention to the relatively newborn sport. Sports fans and historians alike should really enjoy this book
July 31, 2020
Frank Deford apparently expanded a magazine article on McGraw and Mathewson into a book and it shows in this folksy account of two of the major personalities in baseball of the early twentieth century. The subtitle is very misleading as I did not find any evidence that Deford tells us how these two men created modern baseball, or even what Deford thinks is modern baseball.
There is not much new in this book that has not been told many times in many other works on baseball during this era. There is a very good biography of McGraw and Mathewson's life has also been greatly chronicled. There is not really any analysis of what made Matty great and certainly very little about McGraw's managerial acumen.
I did learn a little about the personal life of each man and Deford does a good job of explaining how unique the friendship between the two men was as compared to most players' relationship with their managers.
It was a fast read and certainly had a nice style and would have made a nice magazine article.
There is not much new in this book that has not been told many times in many other works on baseball during this era. There is a very good biography of McGraw and Mathewson's life has also been greatly chronicled. There is not really any analysis of what made Matty great and certainly very little about McGraw's managerial acumen.
I did learn a little about the personal life of each man and Deford does a good job of explaining how unique the friendship between the two men was as compared to most players' relationship with their managers.
It was a fast read and certainly had a nice style and would have made a nice magazine article.
May 23, 2019
This was a great book. Not as much play by play from the old games, but more the ins and outs of the several players that dominated the sport in that time. The side stories of different interactions and stories from the non-baseball lives of these players is very entertaining. It felt like I was sitting around a campfire listen to grandpa tell stories about the good old days.
This book captures the origin story of so many small parts of baseball, the elephant mascot for the A's, the writing of Casey at the Bat, the origin of Take me Out to The Ballgame, the fact that polo was never played at the Polo Grounds, why there were so many nicknames back then, the beginnings of player contracts and so much more.
I would have loved to see a ballgame at the old Polo Grounds. Comisky Park. Ebbets field. So many great stadium icons filled with iconic players, it feels like these times are so far gone that nothing similar will be seen again. But then I realize that my grandkids will be reading books about Trout, Griffey, Pedroia, Jeter, Posey, Scherzer, Verlander, Atuve, etc and will be just as enthralled.
I got to see Will Clark play, wanna hear a few stories about that? Still, Tinker to Evers to Chance is hard to beat!
This book captures the origin story of so many small parts of baseball, the elephant mascot for the A's, the writing of Casey at the Bat, the origin of Take me Out to The Ballgame, the fact that polo was never played at the Polo Grounds, why there were so many nicknames back then, the beginnings of player contracts and so much more.
I would have loved to see a ballgame at the old Polo Grounds. Comisky Park. Ebbets field. So many great stadium icons filled with iconic players, it feels like these times are so far gone that nothing similar will be seen again. But then I realize that my grandkids will be reading books about Trout, Griffey, Pedroia, Jeter, Posey, Scherzer, Verlander, Atuve, etc and will be just as enthralled.
I got to see Will Clark play, wanna hear a few stories about that? Still, Tinker to Evers to Chance is hard to beat!
July 23, 2021
Giants manager John J. McGraw was a dark and complicated figure, but Frank Deford keeps the tone light as he recycles old baseball lore and garnishes it with simplistic, feel-good nostalgia. Only one line grabbed me, and it probably says as much about Deford (and his whole generation of aging, alcoholic white sportswriters) as it does about McGraw. "The meaner John J. got, the sweeter the past seemed to him." You said a mouthful, Mr. Deford. And the past is exactly where your kind belongs!
July 23, 2021
I am just reading random Kindle books about baseball history that are on sale and I have to say it's working out for me; this was apparently an interesting time in baseball history that I had no idea about, and I'm glad I read it. There was a lot of entertaining information and trivia, and the two men profiled in it seem to have led exciting lives. It's also an interesting look at the rise of baseball fandom. So if you just like to read people being fans of things in history, this is worth it from that perspective. I've also been watching the Giants a lot this season, and the announcers don't often talk about statistics from when they were in New York, so I kind of wanted to know how they'd been. This answers that pretty well.
I learned a whole lot of entertaining facts about baseball, and basically how modern baseball came to be, and what baseball fandom used to be like, and it was pretty neat, actually. I'm glad I read it. The most horrifying fact I learned was that Mathewson apparently ruined his lungs in WWI because he was put in charge of supervising gas mask drills and they used actual poison gas in the drills. I just. What. What. No.
I also learned several new slurs; the book does not exactly shy away from quoting the past in all its obscenity. At one point, the book quotes a 1923 article that was trying to make the point "anyone can play baseball" which the article unfortunately expressed as "the [slur for Irish people], the [slur for Jewish people], the [slur for Italian people], the Dutch and the [slur for Chinese people], the [slur for Native Americans], the [slur for Japanese people] or the so-called Anglo-Saxon -- his nationality is never a matter of moment." Yeah. When I read that, I wondered if they really couldn't think of a slur for the Dutch, but I suspect now that they actually meant Germans, which is... well, at least it's not as bad as some of the others. Thanks, history!
Anyway. The organization could have been a little better -- it's not exactly in chronological order, which is confusing in several spots. But it's still an entertaining read. Recommended.
I learned a whole lot of entertaining facts about baseball, and basically how modern baseball came to be, and what baseball fandom used to be like, and it was pretty neat, actually. I'm glad I read it. The most horrifying fact I learned was that Mathewson apparently ruined his lungs in WWI because he was put in charge of supervising gas mask drills and they used actual poison gas in the drills. I just. What. What. No.
I also learned several new slurs; the book does not exactly shy away from quoting the past in all its obscenity. At one point, the book quotes a 1923 article that was trying to make the point "anyone can play baseball" which the article unfortunately expressed as "the [slur for Irish people], the [slur for Jewish people], the [slur for Italian people], the Dutch and the [slur for Chinese people], the [slur for Native Americans], the [slur for Japanese people] or the so-called Anglo-Saxon -- his nationality is never a matter of moment." Yeah. When I read that, I wondered if they really couldn't think of a slur for the Dutch, but I suspect now that they actually meant Germans, which is... well, at least it's not as bad as some of the others. Thanks, history!
Anyway. The organization could have been a little better -- it's not exactly in chronological order, which is confusing in several spots. But it's still an entertaining read. Recommended.
April 30, 2018
Some repetition. It could have been more tightly edited. Deford takes the reader back to the lively days of the deadball era, painting an accurate portrait of two baseball idols, McGraw and Mathewson, and their accomplices. It's a great read, overall, and Deford's summation of the impact of the two men in the final chapters are artfully rendered.
July 5, 2019
People, let me tell you about Muggsey and Matty. Casey was at bat, Ring Lardner was officiating, and sometimes the boys acted like boys. Then they moved in together, after they were boys. There was a hush as McGraw got into it with the Ump, but Christy was a paragon. They died, but baseball was a different game than when they started. John went to Cuba a lot and named a bar. Connie Mack gives him a carved white elephant. Big Six was supposed to be a preacher.
This book is (forgive me) inside baseball. Deford obviously enjoyed the writing, but it rambles as a result of his compulsion to include every tedious random detail. It is full of period jargon used only because Deford wanted to get it in somewhere. There is no narrative arc really, and to really like this book I think you already need to know the story of the early days of the NY Giants. In the end it seems if Deford wanted this to be a tale of the two men in the title, or the story of the dynasty they created in the first decade of the 20th century, couldn't decide which he liked better, so neither is really achieved. The hero is apparently Christy, who established a new all-American identity for baseball that helped move it to the mainstream, and as much as Deford wants to present Matty as an irreplaceable, utterly essential player in the success of the NY Giants it is undercut entirely by McGraw building another post-Christy team that is equally dominant. That is just one piece of evidence that Deford just can't seem to find the story here. This book takes off on tangents from tangents and has so many nested recursive subordinate clauses that you could start the book on any page in the middle and have the same experience as if you started on page one. Not really worth the reading, unfortunately.
This book is (forgive me) inside baseball. Deford obviously enjoyed the writing, but it rambles as a result of his compulsion to include every tedious random detail. It is full of period jargon used only because Deford wanted to get it in somewhere. There is no narrative arc really, and to really like this book I think you already need to know the story of the early days of the NY Giants. In the end it seems if Deford wanted this to be a tale of the two men in the title, or the story of the dynasty they created in the first decade of the 20th century, couldn't decide which he liked better, so neither is really achieved. The hero is apparently Christy, who established a new all-American identity for baseball that helped move it to the mainstream, and as much as Deford wants to present Matty as an irreplaceable, utterly essential player in the success of the NY Giants it is undercut entirely by McGraw building another post-Christy team that is equally dominant. That is just one piece of evidence that Deford just can't seem to find the story here. This book takes off on tangents from tangents and has so many nested recursive subordinate clauses that you could start the book on any page in the middle and have the same experience as if you started on page one. Not really worth the reading, unfortunately.
May 31, 2012
As a baseball fan who has had virtually a lifelong love of the game and its history, this was an enjoyable book to read. Both John McGraw, the pugnacious manager of the New York Giants and one of baseball's great minds of the early 20th century, and Christy ("Matty") Mathewson, the great pitcher and moral paragon among players, helped to lift up the stature of the game and broaden its national appeal. (In the process, baseball became the national pastime til football supplanted its claim to the title in the 1960s.)
The book also is a dual biography, informing the reader about the lives of both McGraw and Mathewson. Both men, given their disparate backgrounds and temperaments, could not be more different. Yet when they both became part of the New York Giants, they worked very well together. In fact, McGraw, who could be a bit of a control freak in terms of how he managed his players, gave Mathewson considerable latitude in the games he pitched. "Matty" was free to pitch as he saw fit and became one of the most successful pitchers in major league history. Long before the New York Yankees became the pre-eminent team of the major leagues, it was the New York Giants who were one of the great powerhouse teams of baseball. They dominated the game between the early 1900s and the immediate post-First World War era.
Any person who loves a good human interest story or who loves baseball will enjoy this book. It's easy to read and is not at all taxing.
The book also is a dual biography, informing the reader about the lives of both McGraw and Mathewson. Both men, given their disparate backgrounds and temperaments, could not be more different. Yet when they both became part of the New York Giants, they worked very well together. In fact, McGraw, who could be a bit of a control freak in terms of how he managed his players, gave Mathewson considerable latitude in the games he pitched. "Matty" was free to pitch as he saw fit and became one of the most successful pitchers in major league history. Long before the New York Yankees became the pre-eminent team of the major leagues, it was the New York Giants who were one of the great powerhouse teams of baseball. They dominated the game between the early 1900s and the immediate post-First World War era.
Any person who loves a good human interest story or who loves baseball will enjoy this book. It's easy to read and is not at all taxing.
July 24, 2020
If you're looking for a history that outlines the evolution of the NY Giants under Manager John McGraw - keep looking because this isn't the book.
The title claims to discuss how McGraw and Mathewson created modern baseball, but the title is not accurate. This is a book about McGraw and Mathewson's relationship as Manager and superstar of the NY Giants.
There is a good story here, but you're going to have wade through some things to get to it. Deford has decided to use a folksy turn that often feels forced, so be ready for some "by golly's." This is also Deford's opportunity to explain his views on topics such as why soccer will never really catch on in the US, why the quality of athlete's nicknames have declined (Deford blames TV), his views on the legal profession, the inadvisability of comparing stats between baseball eras, and many more sprinkled throughout.
The focus on this book is McGraw and Mathewson and their rise as baseball icons. By reputation, McGraw was a noted and innovative leader. The title of the book alludes to McGraw's role in creating modern baseball, but there is no discussion in here of McGraw's innovations such as the creation of hitting platoons. Oddly, Deford spends a fair amount of time about McGraw decrying the "modern" game - again, at odds with the title.
If you wade through Deford's asides and forced folksiness, there is a good story here, but it is mainly focused on McGraw-Mathewson's rise to prominence.
The title claims to discuss how McGraw and Mathewson created modern baseball, but the title is not accurate. This is a book about McGraw and Mathewson's relationship as Manager and superstar of the NY Giants.
There is a good story here, but you're going to have wade through some things to get to it. Deford has decided to use a folksy turn that often feels forced, so be ready for some "by golly's." This is also Deford's opportunity to explain his views on topics such as why soccer will never really catch on in the US, why the quality of athlete's nicknames have declined (Deford blames TV), his views on the legal profession, the inadvisability of comparing stats between baseball eras, and many more sprinkled throughout.
The focus on this book is McGraw and Mathewson and their rise as baseball icons. By reputation, McGraw was a noted and innovative leader. The title of the book alludes to McGraw's role in creating modern baseball, but there is no discussion in here of McGraw's innovations such as the creation of hitting platoons. Oddly, Deford spends a fair amount of time about McGraw decrying the "modern" game - again, at odds with the title.
If you wade through Deford's asides and forced folksiness, there is a good story here, but it is mainly focused on McGraw-Mathewson's rise to prominence.
August 17, 2020
It sure is different reading a book about baseball from a WRITER, rather than a historian... most of the others I've read fall into the later category.. there's alot of fact, with a bit of color thrown in.
This book is the opposite... it's all color, with just a few facts here and there. On the one hand, I probably would have got more out of the book if I hadn't already read several books about the era (and the Giants in particular), since very little of it was new to me.
I could definitely see it being a great read for someone who is checking out the details of that era for the first time, though.
My big quibble.. the title. John McGraw certainly did not create modern baseball.. he held one to the dead ball era as long as he possible could, until Babe Ruth literally clobbered it away. I guess it makes for good copy, but it's totally wrong.
Anyway, definitely a good primer on the McGraw and Mathewson.
This book is the opposite... it's all color, with just a few facts here and there. On the one hand, I probably would have got more out of the book if I hadn't already read several books about the era (and the Giants in particular), since very little of it was new to me.
I could definitely see it being a great read for someone who is checking out the details of that era for the first time, though.
My big quibble.. the title. John McGraw certainly did not create modern baseball.. he held one to the dead ball era as long as he possible could, until Babe Ruth literally clobbered it away. I guess it makes for good copy, but it's totally wrong.
Anyway, definitely a good primer on the McGraw and Mathewson.
November 17, 2025
I have been waiting more than forty years for a book by Frank DeFord that would display his considerable writing skills. Two score years ago, maybe longer, I read ALEX, the beautiful and tragic story of DeFord’s daughter, a victim of cystic fibrosis. I even used the book as a case study for a paper I wrote while studying for the ministry.
Since then I have been disappointed in DeFord’s books; the one exception was not a book but his tribute to John Unitas following his death on 9/11/02.
That DeFord was a native of Baltimore, a trait we shared, added to my disappointment. I wanted to love his books, but I didn’t… UNTIL NOW.
DEFORD joined the classic sportswriters, baseball writers, of the early 20th Century, with THE OLD BALL GAME. The style, the words of the scribes of a hundred years past are present in their words, wisely included by DeFord, and his own, as if Ring Lardner’s, for example, had penetrated DeFord’s mind and heart by osmosis. Indeed, DeFord uses words I knew from my childhood—- how I knew them I know not.
And what a pair to focus on: John McGraw and Christy Mathewson, both featured as Immortals in Branch Rickey’s coffee table book THE AMERICAN DIAMOND, written in the early 1960’s. Muggsy and Matty put New York City on the baseball map before Babe Ruth and the Yankees rose to prominence in the 1920’s. And, as an added bonus, DeFord, true to his heritage, included much material on the National League Baltimore Orioles of the late Nineteenth Century.
I hesitate to use this word but DeFord has written a Masterpiece, one with laughs and a tear-jerking final chapter in the spirit of ALEX.
One day I hope to convey my gratitude to DeFord as we sit together in our heavenly Field of Dreams, Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium, perhaps witnessing an argument between McGraw and umpire Bill Klem while Mathewson waits calmly on the mound.
Five stars
Since then I have been disappointed in DeFord’s books; the one exception was not a book but his tribute to John Unitas following his death on 9/11/02.
That DeFord was a native of Baltimore, a trait we shared, added to my disappointment. I wanted to love his books, but I didn’t… UNTIL NOW.
DEFORD joined the classic sportswriters, baseball writers, of the early 20th Century, with THE OLD BALL GAME. The style, the words of the scribes of a hundred years past are present in their words, wisely included by DeFord, and his own, as if Ring Lardner’s, for example, had penetrated DeFord’s mind and heart by osmosis. Indeed, DeFord uses words I knew from my childhood—- how I knew them I know not.
And what a pair to focus on: John McGraw and Christy Mathewson, both featured as Immortals in Branch Rickey’s coffee table book THE AMERICAN DIAMOND, written in the early 1960’s. Muggsy and Matty put New York City on the baseball map before Babe Ruth and the Yankees rose to prominence in the 1920’s. And, as an added bonus, DeFord, true to his heritage, included much material on the National League Baltimore Orioles of the late Nineteenth Century.
I hesitate to use this word but DeFord has written a Masterpiece, one with laughs and a tear-jerking final chapter in the spirit of ALEX.
One day I hope to convey my gratitude to DeFord as we sit together in our heavenly Field of Dreams, Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium, perhaps witnessing an argument between McGraw and umpire Bill Klem while Mathewson waits calmly on the mound.
Five stars
September 29, 2020
My San Francisco Giants recently missed the playoffs by losing a game on the very last day of the season. I wonder if I started reading this book because I knew, on a subconscious level, that my Giants were going to lose and I wanted to sooth my spirit with the glories of days gone by (long, long by).
If so, mission not accomplished. I really enjoyed this book, but it's a reminder that even incredibly good teams that are managed by the likes of John McGraw and that can put Big Six on the mound generally fall short of becoming champions, and although they won one World Series, the pre-WWI Giants fell short in heartbreaking ways on plays that were given names that have gone down in history and now sound incredibly silly. To wit: The Merkle Boner and the $30,000 Muff. WWI was far worse than any boner or muff and Mathewson was accidentally gassed in a training exercise (Ty Cobb was there when it happened, and was nearly gassed himself) and had his health permanently ruined.
This book combines a biography of the brilliant, crude, combative, competitive and usually winning John McGraw with a biography of the honest, sportsmanlike, decent, educated, and extraordinarily talented Christy Mathewson. It's a snapshot of America's pastime towards the end of the dead ball era that would be smashed in the 1920s by Babe Ruth and the Murderer's Row Yankees (with the help of newer, livelier baseballs).
If so, mission not accomplished. I really enjoyed this book, but it's a reminder that even incredibly good teams that are managed by the likes of John McGraw and that can put Big Six on the mound generally fall short of becoming champions, and although they won one World Series, the pre-WWI Giants fell short in heartbreaking ways on plays that were given names that have gone down in history and now sound incredibly silly. To wit: The Merkle Boner and the $30,000 Muff. WWI was far worse than any boner or muff and Mathewson was accidentally gassed in a training exercise (Ty Cobb was there when it happened, and was nearly gassed himself) and had his health permanently ruined.
This book combines a biography of the brilliant, crude, combative, competitive and usually winning John McGraw with a biography of the honest, sportsmanlike, decent, educated, and extraordinarily talented Christy Mathewson. It's a snapshot of America's pastime towards the end of the dead ball era that would be smashed in the 1920s by Babe Ruth and the Murderer's Row Yankees (with the help of newer, livelier baseballs).
March 7, 2018
Veteran sportswriter Frank DeFord takes us back to the early days of baseball in this warm and anecdotal account of the unlikely friendship between Manager John McGraw and pitcher Christy Matthewson. In their day these two men were among the most famous men in America. This was the era when baseball became the national pastime and New York was the greatest city in the nation. Christy and Muggsy were the face and the driving force of the New York Giants who played in the Polo Grounds and were one of the best teams in the National League. DeFord tells this history with confidence and grace. His tone is informal but well written, fun but insightful. He is able to focus on the first decade of the twentieth century and place it in the larger history of sports in America. This is one of the true joys of the book, when DeFord makes casual references to the broader world of athletic history — Bill Tilden or Alex Rodriquez - and uses them to put his story in context. He does this is with a mastery that comes from decades of observations.
This short readable book is a great introduction to a now forgotten era, before the Homer and the New York Yankees took over the National pastime.
This short readable book is a great introduction to a now forgotten era, before the Homer and the New York Yankees took over the National pastime.
April 10, 2021
To celebrate the start of baseball season, I decided to read a baseball book. I've liked Frank Deford on NPR, so I picked up his book on Christy Mathewson (one of the greatest pitchers ever) and John McGraw (a great scrappy player and manager). Mathewson was the first great sports idol -- the clean all-American boy, who attended college, was well read, and could also play great baseball. McGraw was prone to get into fights, and at least on the field was more of the rough and tumble sort. As a manager, think someone like Earl Weaver. But the two became very good friends, and Mathewson spent all his playing career playing for McGraw.
Both died young -- Mathewson tragically so, of TB, but with his lungs damaged by poison gas drills in World War I. But both made their mark on the sport.
Both died young -- Mathewson tragically so, of TB, but with his lungs damaged by poison gas drills in World War I. But both made their mark on the sport.
May 16, 2022
Frank Deford was a rock star writer for Sports Illustrated in my youth, and I was hoping this book would remind me about what I liked about Deford’s writing. While I walk away from this read unsure if I appreciate the impact that McGraw and Mathewson had on sports in the early 20th century that Deford reveals, Deford’s writing did create wonderful images of life in NYC in the early 1900s. I’m a baseball nerd, so I knew the facts and figures Deford provides. What I took away from this book was an appreciation of how our country’s sports world was centered on New York so many years ago. This book was a time machine back to an era where baseball’s grip on the country’s sports world was really starting to take hold. Thanks Frank, for the safe passage.
January 26, 2018
I had mixed feelings about this book. On one hand DeFord can write really well, and on another, he seemed intent on a folksy pal sort of narrative. Being mostly familiar with his work late in his career on NPR, I liked him those modest doses. Here it seemed a bit much. At that, I'm not quite sure that he ever really got down to how this all created "modern baseball." It seems it was more coincidental; that they lived in the moment it occurred and played some part in it, but weren't, in my opinion, the only driving force. Still, it's a quick read and there was content that was informative and enjoyable, once you get past "Muggsy" & "Matty."
November 15, 2019
Fascinating story of two of the greats from the early modern era of baseball. McGraw was a rough, tough, nasty Irishman while Mathewson was a religious, soft-spoken son of Pennsylvania. McGraw never went past elementary school while Mathewson attended Bucknell. Yet they became the closest of friends, and they and their wives actually lived together in New York.
This book explores the lives of the two protagonists, their years together on the New York Giants, and the long term influence they had individually and as a pair on the evolution of the game. Highly recommended to baseball aficionados.
This book explores the lives of the two protagonists, their years together on the New York Giants, and the long term influence they had individually and as a pair on the evolution of the game. Highly recommended to baseball aficionados.
June 20, 2020
Veteran sportswriter Deford gives us a dual biography of two of baseball's early icons: gentleman-ruffian John McGraw and classy collegian Christy Matthewson, both of the New York Giants. It's a thin relationship to spin a book from: simple, respectful, appreciative - yet welcome, as a breezy, bemused breather from the dryly detailed work of the revisionist historians and the ax-wielding investigations of "locker room gossip" practitioners. Deford's big sell, however, that these heroes of the Polo Grounds were instrumental in shaping the modern game, seems to have disappeared within his infatuations with the idiosyncratic aspects of his subjects and their time.
May 8, 2021
A interesting biography of two of America's baseball pioneers of the early twentieth century. At times, equally enlightening and moving, especially when going into the later lives of Mcgraw who spiralled into alcoholism and Mathewson, who while serving his country in WW1 was gassed and later developed tuberculosis which would sadly kill him.
Frank De Ford's narration was very good, and almost had a story book like quality to it, like an uncle recounting memories of early baseball.
I throughly enjoyed this audiobook and would recommend it to anyone interested in baseball, especially the early history of the sport.
Frank De Ford's narration was very good, and almost had a story book like quality to it, like an uncle recounting memories of early baseball.
I throughly enjoyed this audiobook and would recommend it to anyone interested in baseball, especially the early history of the sport.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 16, 2022
The story of two greats who, though very different, were best of friends. McGraw, the best coach of his era, and Mathewson, the best pitcher, performing in the first city of the world, made baseball a bigger sport. Its a story of lots of success on the field (though they only won one world series together), but plenty of tragedy off the field, both dying young. Told the story of baseball in first decade or so of the 20th century.
Highly recommended, its a fast read and is a solid story of friendship and the beginnings of baseball being the national pastime.
Highly recommended, its a fast read and is a solid story of friendship and the beginnings of baseball being the national pastime.
July 16, 2017
Deford has a wonderful mix of poetic description and well-researched detail. The reader is there, at that moment, but also is in the once-future/now to appreciate the differences and importance of that time. Some of the baseball terms and nicknames get explained (pinch hitter, bleachers, Baltimore chop, "Home Run" Baker, "Dummy" and "Dutch," etc.) and players' and owners' faults and traits make them more human and realistic than just a history or statistical account would do.
August 16, 2017
This was a fantastic non-fiction book that read like a novel. I know little about the history of baseball, and knew nothing about the 2 main subjects of the book. I loved learning all I did!! I know my mom & her siblings would have warm feelings about the prominent Irish presence in baseball, and that a friend of the family's son(graduate of St Bonaventure/draftee of the Orioles) might be intrigued by Muggsy McGraw's history!
December 26, 2017
Well-written, interesting account of the life of two of baseball’s first greats. I’ve always liked Christy Mathewson and thought it was very cool to share an alma mater; even more-so now that I have learned about the kind, honest pitcher. McGraw was certainly an interesting character as well! Great read for any baseball fan, as it also covers early baseball history, especially the important role of these two legends.
July 22, 2018
It was a nice quick read about a classic time of baseball between 1900-1920. And while it covered McGraw and Mathewson well and delve too deeply into the minutiae of every season they played together, I felt like it was too rushed, glossing over some of the accomplishments in both of their respective careers. It felt like Deford made such a concerted effort to cover what McGraw and Mathewson did together that he rushed over some of the other aspects of their careers.
April 23, 2020
The book was interesting and easy to read, but I’m still not sure how these 2 changed baseball. I wonder if it wasn’t just the natural evolution of the game, but Deford really doesn’t argue that point, so I wonder what the counter argument is. Certainly the Babe changed the game and Mathewson was a great pitcher and a fine man, but I wonder if anyone has argued that something else changed the game at that time. Certainly wasn’t doing too well after the black Sox scandal.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews