Fay Vincent (1938–2025)

The worst thing about this book is the title, which is sentimental bullshit. You would have played for nothing? Then how come nearly every star of the era (the ones with leverage) was involved in protracted salary disputes? Why did they sit out Spring training and the beginnings of seasons? Why did they have mysterious injuries and even throw games for money? But most of the memories in the book *are not* sentimentalist bullshit, and several of the old players have some real insight.

This is a fascinating collection of interviews from the former MLB commisioner with players from an era of sports (not just baseball) that is gone forever. Much like the many WWII oral history projects being recorded today, Vincent does us a great service by recording the stories of these players. My only quibble with the narrative was it seemed to have been transcribed directly from recordings without any of the normal corrections for grammar. This sometimes checks the eye of the reader but show more it's a small issue. show less

I loved this book of interviews with Baseball Hall of Famers from the 50s and 60s. The pitchers were especially interesting as they talked about different pitches and the difference in pitching then and now. Many of the stars interviewed were childhood heroes of mine like Duke Snider and Whitey Ford, which made this book especially interesting to me.

A good book for baseball fans. It tells of a simpler time. It talks of the struggles of integration both for the black player and the Jewish player. It is nostalgic without being sappy.

The only reservation is that it comes from interviews with former players. For some reason, they did not edit the interviews very well. You are treated to the interviewees changing the subject in mid sentence.

If you can get past that, which I did, it is worth the read.

See my other thoughts from my blog, some show more of which are duplicated. show less