Tagged: Toronto
Another Batch From McFarland That is Sure to Please
A few weeks ago we looked at a new batch of books recently published by McFarland. I touched on the obscure factor that some of their books tend to embrace and how they fill a niche spot in the baseball book market. Today we are going to look at a few more because honestly McFarland has a little something for every baseball fan.
By:Richard Bressler-2016
McFarland is always willing to publish team history books. Looking at both the powerhouse teams that are part of the baseball fabric as well as those that time has essentially forgotten. The year 1910 was an interesting point for the two teams involved in this volume and shows how it laid the groundwork for a streak that lasts to this day.
The 1910 World Series brought us the end of one dynasty and the birth of another. The Chicago Cubs, coming off several very successful years and a win in the 1908 series were nearing the end of their reign. While Connie Mack's Athletics were poised to start a championship run of their own. It was a fairly anti-climatic Series, but did offer an interesting historical note. For the first time in World Series history, game two to be precise, was the first time all nine starters recorded a hit in the same game. Its a neat little trivia factoid you can now impress all your friends with.
This is a timely book with the Cubs poised to possibly end their World Series drought and also it allows the reader to travel back in time to see an entirely different generation of the game. Fans of either of these teams or of this era, will not be disappointed in this one.
By:Jeremy Lehrman-2016
This one takes a look at the history of the Most Valuable player award in Baseball. It looks at the voting results and provides current statistical analysis to see what may have been different by todays standards.
It is an interesting view as at what may have been overlooked by voters in the past as well as what other factors may have played into the voting results. It also shows how race may have been an underlying issue on some of the ballots. The book is a good mix of history, commentary and statistical analysis. For fans of these types of "what did we miss books" this is another one you will really enjoy.
By:Brian Martin-2016
Finally, as the title says, Pud Galvin, not only the owner of an odd name was baseball's first 300 game winner. Enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1965, 63 years after his death, his numerous records and 300+ wins still did not keep him from dying penniless. One of the first real superstars of the game he had some amazing accomplishments on the field and helped grow the credibility of the early game.
One of the other footnotes to Galvin's story is he may have been the first user of Performance Enhancing Drugs in Major League Baseball. An advocate of using a monkey testosterone elixir, it seemed to enhance his on field performance. The difference from today to over 100 years ago is that everyone was on board with the use of the concoction. It shows a very different time in Baseball and quite honestly is a very interesting story for fans of the early eras of baseball.
You can check out these books and other great titles offered by this publisher at the following link:
Written by Gregg K. 4 Comments Posted in A's, Hall of Fame, History	Tagged with 1908 world series, 300 game winner, ALCS, ALDS, anthony rizzo, Baseball hall of fame, Biography, chance, Chicago Cubs, clayton kershaw, Cleveland Indians, connie mack, cubs curse, evers, joe maddon, kris bryant, los angeles dodgers, mlb, most valuable player award, NLCS, NLDS, ped's, Philadelphia A's, pud galvin, steroids, steve bartman, tinkers, Toronto, World Series, World Series mvp, Wrigley Field, Yankees
Canada-No Longer a Vast Wasteland for Baseball Books !!!
Canada has always in my opinion, been an overlooked area when we read about baseball. I realize it really only came into play in the last 45 years or so, but I never thought it got the attention it deserved. In reality over the last 50 years it has created two strong teams, introduced Canadian fans to the game and to some degree cut into the Hockey monopoly in Canada. With talk of the Rays possibly packing up and moving to Montreal, I thought now would be a good time to see what books are available for the teams north of the border.
The Expos in Their Prime 1977-84
By Alain Usereau – McFarland & Co. 2013
To me it feels like the Expos didn't exist. Maybe its a matter of nobody remembers that they were even there or that nobody wants to remember. But whatever the case may be they did exist at one point. During that existence they had a span of years where they were always at the top of the standings fighting for the division crown. The years from 1977-84 were really the defining years of the franchise. They had a steady parade of Hall of Famers on the roster but could never quite get over the hump to glory. When you have names like Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Pete Rose, Tony Perez and countless other stars like Rusty Staub, Ellis Valentine and Warren Cromartie, you would think they would be able to pull it off a few times during those years.
Obviously they did not, but Alain Usereau has taken a deep, hard look at the Expos during their glory years. You get some behind the scenes look at the way the team operated on and off the field, both as a group and individually. You see the mind-set of the front office and why they made some of the moves they did during those years. The reader also gets a look at what the team meant to the fans of Montreal. This book proved to me that Montreal is still today, a viable option for a MLB team as the fans would support it there. Perhaps it was the poor product on the field in the final years of the Expos that contributed to poor fan support. It seems that in Montreal if you build it, they will come……if it's a decent product.
This book gives a lot of insight to an often forgotten team with limited success. It's overall a good book, that most baseball fans should enjoy. I only mention this next thing because it is a pet-peeve of mine. It would have benefitted from a little better copy editing because their were to many grammatical errors for my liking in a finished book. But as I said its a good book that most fans will enjoy.
You can get this book from the nice folks at McFarland & Co Publishing, http://www.mcfarlandbooks.com
Lets look at the other side of the coin in Canada, the Toronto Blue Jays. Since their inception they have had good fan support and produced some serious thrills for their fans. A few division titles, and oh yeah, two World Series Championships, which make for a happy fan base. While the Blue Jays had their growing pains in the beginning, they seemed to stumble upon a better plan for on-field success that the Expos could never quite attain. But what happens in Toronto when the team and the fans have huge expectations and it blows up in their faces?
Great Expectations, The Lost Toronto Blue Jays Season
By Shi Davidi and John Lott – 2013 ECW Press
For all intents and purposes, 2013 was supposed to be the Toronto Blue Jays year. Much like the Chicago Cubs have done this off-season, the Blue Jays blew up the roster and started over. The looked at weaknesses at every position and went out and brought in some of the best names in the game to fix their problems. On paper the Blue Jays looked like the team to beat and at the start of the 2013 season other teams noticed. But as the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, the 2013 was a flat-out train wreck. Injuries, career declines and pretty much the fact that anything that could go wrong……did go wrong, the Blue Jays had a dismal year.
Davidi and Lott take the reader on a journey through the 2013 season. They look at the blockbuster trades that were made in the off-season, free agent signings, spring training and of course the season. They give a nice look at the operations side of the Toronto front office and how the fans had embraced the new hope in Toronto. It also shows the mindset of the GM and what management felt they were accomplishing by assembling this team on the field. The book gives a detailed look at how the season in Toronto, and in the end the fans turned on the team and the front office. It is a great look at how the Blue Jays and its fan base operate and feed off of each other.
The 2014 season was a little better than 2013, and probably the residue of this 2013 team will achieve the initial success they expected eventually. But I think much like the Expos, the Blue Jays are often an afterthought to fans outside of Toronto. But it is nice to see that books are coming forth that show the Canadian pride in their teams and most of the time they are just as good if not better than the other teams out there. Just because most of the country is hockey crazy does not mean that they have forgotten how to love baseball.
Written by Gregg K. 4 Comments Posted in American League, Blue Jays, Expos, National League, Teams	Tagged with Alain Usereau, Blue Jays, Canada, Expos, front office, Montreal, Montreal Expos, Toronto, Toronto Blue Jays