A Review of the Book Giants Past and Present - Written by Dan Fost

▷▷▷A Review of the Book Giants Past and Present - Written by Dan Fost

Dan Fost is a freelance writer who lives in the San Francisco area, he focuses mainly on technology subjects but is also a serious baseball fan who has written his first baseball book Giants Past & Present, which is part of a series published by MVP Books.

Upon moving to San Francisco in 1989, Dan was struck by the storied aspects of the franchise and was immediately immersed in a World Series, and then four years later in one of the all-time great pennant races, when the Giants lost to the Dodgers on the last day of the season. The 1993 team won 103 games on the year but lost the NL West to the Braves by one game.

This beautiful coffee table book is set up in a Giants Past & Present format with each chapter examining and comparing the owners, the managers, key players for each position, even the details of the ballparks. All of this is surrounded by over 200 stunning photographs.

With a franchise as storied as the Giants, but with two very distinct eras as an east coast and west coast team, we were curious as to whether fans actually make any sort of distinction. Dan is encouraged that ownership under Peter Magowan really embraces the team's heritage and includes all of the New York Giants players in all-time stats, and displays the team pennants at the ballpark. The fans in the area were slow to embrace all of the players who arrived in 1957 epitomized by the great quote Dan sent in an email:

"This is the damnedest town," wrote Frank Conniff, covering a visit to San Francisco by Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev. "They cheer Khrushchev and boo Willie Mays."

We felt we should turn the tables and let Dan tell us about some players that he feels deserves some attention.

Buck Ewing is a player who Dan believes does not get discussed enough when the conversation turns to "best of all time", but Buck's legacy should be that he is one of the best catchers to ever play the game.

John Montgomery Ward was a versatile player who helped the Giants to Championships in 1888 and 1889. He also put his skills as a lawyer to use by organizing the players and negotiating for better rights and conditions, to the point he started his own league with players who defected from the '89 Champions.

Dan points to a book by Frank DeFord called The Old Ball Game, about John McGraw and Christy Mathewson as an intriguing character study, particularly the dichotomies of McGraw. Dan also uses McGraw's records as another example that the Giants have been a franchise that can rival the storied Cubs and for many years the Red Sox as never reaching the ultimate goal and always succumbing to heartbreak.

Part of the way that we like to look at a team's history is to mentally visit the ballparks in which they played. The Polo Grounds in New York, built below Coogan's Bluff seemed to be a wonderful place to watch a game. Similar to the viewing perches outside of Wrigley Field, Coogan's Bluff allowed for an easy line of site to the action. Dan recounts how on the day when the Giants had to replay the Cubs to resolve the "Merkle's Boner" transgressions.. over 200,000 fans showed up and had to be turned away. Forty thousand approximately ended up on Coogan's Bluff trying to get a view.

In a nod the baseball tradition of a "Knothole Gang", the new home of the Giants AT&T Park contains a fenced area for fans to watch the game.

Dan has season's tickets in an upper deck section of AT&T behind home plate, and gets to take in the glory of the views of the Bay, McCovey's Cove and the entire ballpark. From an engineering standpoint they figured out how to situate the park so that he is comfortable in his seat while winds are swirling around the concourse.

Set between the homes in New York and the beautiful retro style ballpark they are in today, the Giants played their games in Candlestick Park. It did not take long for the conditions of Candlestick to have an impact on players who complained about the weather, and historically it made it hard for the team to entice key free agents to play for the Giants. By attempting to develop a new park via ballot measure, ownership had to attempt to attract fans to the games each season while simultaneously having to complain about the stadium to get financing support.

The Croix de Candlestick became a badge of honor dreamed up by Patrick Gallagher for those who have made it completely through an extra inning night game at the park.

It should not be overlooked that the Giants teams of the Sixties had some great ballplayers who called Candlestick home, so at least there was some good baseball to be seen. Willie McCovey stated to Dan during the preparation for this book, that after lining out to Bobby Richardson to end the 1962 World Series he was not that upset, because the entire team felt that they were so loaded with talent that they would continue to return to the World Series throughout the decade.

We also have to look at the 1989 World Series as another defining moment in the history of Candlestick Park, and we get Dan's eyewitness account of being in the city during that time. The conversation of baseball's ability to heal a community during challenging times such as the World Wars and more recently after the 9/11 attacks, must also include San Francisco and Oakland after the Loma Prieta earthquake prior to Game 3.

Giants Past and Present is available wherever great books are sold.

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A Book Review of Dixie Walker of the Dodgers - The People's Choice Written by Maury Allen

▷▷▷A Book Review of Dixie Walker of the Dodgers - The People's Choice Written by Maury Allen

Maury Allen wrote the biography of a major league ballplayer with deep roots back to his southern heritage. Dixie Walker became a fan favorite through his play on the field, but carries the legacy of having been an opponent to the breaking of the color barrier in baseball. In his book titled Dixie Walker of the Dodgers: The People's Choice, Maury Allen reviews this dual legacy.

When the Brooklyn Dodgers, and specifically Branch Rickey, decided to have Jackie Robinson on the roster for the 1947 season, it was said to have been Walker who generated a petition to team management in opposition of the move.

Seasons prior to the fateful events of spring training in 1947, Walker had been dubbed as the successor to Babe Ruth in the Yankees lineup but injuries and the arrival of a kid named Joe DiMaggio made him expendable. After accumulating decent career numbers with the White Sox and Tigers, he was picked up by the Brooklyn Dodgers for the 1940 season. With the Dodgers he not only continued to hit the baseball, but most importantly to fans, he always came through when it counted against the rival New York Giants!

As things can happen in baseball and in life, things are not always what the might seem at first. According to this article written by Jack Cuddy and carried here by the Modesto Bee, things were looking up for Dixie Walker with a change at the top of the Dodgers from Larry McPhail to Branch Rickey. According to Maury, McPhail was the "George Steinbrenner of his day" and had a lot of conflicts with Dixie because of the adulation the fans and the media heaped upon him. After the put downs and struggles with McPhail, things had to look better with new management. It was of course the efforts that Rickey made towards integration that would ultimately connect Walker and Robinson in the conflict that defined Walker's legacy.

It takes some effort to put these historical situations in context from our current cultural point of view, but during Walker's playing career it was The Negro Leagues where African Americans played the game, with a "separate but equal" type of mindset. Rickey was motivated for a number of reasons to integrate the game, including experiences with a former teammate, stocking the farm system with high caliber players, and financial reward at the gate.

Walker's perspective was of course very different, with pressures from business associates in his Alabama hometown of Birmingham, as well as a general sense throughout baseball that jobs were at stake. Players on the margins had to be looking over their shoulders at this potential influx of quality ballplayers and wanted to make every effort to save their own positions.

Maury recalls a failed strategy that Rickey used in his integration attempts, using Robinson as an opposing player during spring training in 1947, expecting the big league club to see his skill level and demand that he join the roster. This did not work of course, a petition was generated, and Walker sent a letter to Branch Rickey indicating that he wanted to be traded. Maury points out that the letter never specifically stated that the request was because he did not want to play with Robinson, but that he felt he had become a focal point in the controversy and a "scapegoat" for all of the southern players in opposition.

Walker went on to play during the 1947 season and apparently the on the field results were enough to help overcome any of the tension that had existed during spring training. Winning (and money) helped soothe many of the challenges that stood in the way of Jackie Robinson's teammates.

Maury had a chance to get to know Dixie Walker years later while Walker was coaching. The common response to any inquiries into the situation was that in those times it was a natural response to an attempt at integration, but after getting to know Jackie he learned to respect him, though they never became close friends. Walker also indicated that Robinson was not an easy person to get to like no matter his race, competitiveness and personality had an impact on a real friendship.

Dixie Walker had a good season in 1947, but the Dodgers still decided to trade him to Pittsburgh prior to 1948. Speculation was always that he was traded because of the opposition to Robinson, however as Maury discovered by speaking with Ralph Branca years later, it was purely a baseball business decision. Walker was getting up there in years and was traded as a 37 year old ballplayer in the twilight of a career. In fact, he was finished in the majors just two years later. As Rickey always said "it's better to trade a player a year too soon than a year too late".

Maury worked with Susan Walker, Dixie's daughter, when writing this book. She had no knowledge of her father's career directly, but could only infer from the comments from the numerous inquirers who knew of Walker's reputation as the guy who tried to block Jackie Robinson. Readers will get a great background on the family aspects of Walker's story, including his wife Estelle who worked for Sonny Werblin seeking out talent for the MCA radio show Your Hit Parade.

Maury Allen is able to identify the changing culture that was taking place in the country during this time period, and how it was impacting the game of baseball. It is a significant story that we do not usually get to hear.

You can find Maury at The Columnists.com to keep up with his current writings, and we look forward to any other books that he delivers in the future.

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Book Review of Satchel - The Life and Times of an American Legend Written by Larry Tye

▷▷▷Book Review of Satchel - The Life and Times of an American Legend Written by Larry Tye

Larry Tye is the author of the book Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend. The book is published by Random House and is currently available in hardcover or Kindle versions.

One of the immediate challenges Larry faced when writing this book was quantifying the accomplishments of Satchel Paige, especially since record keeping and historical information was not as diligently kept in that era.

He did some painstaking analysis attempting to determine the total number of games that Satchel pitched, so he chose the major league record holder Jesse Orosco as a comparison. Orosco appeared in 1252 games, and as Larry explains, that accomplishment generally occurred between April and October. Satchel pitched "from April to April" and based upon his legendary status was expected to appear in any game that his team was scheduled to play. Based upon his research, Larry has determined Satchel appeared in approximately 2500 games.

Larry also came to the conclusion that the claims that Satchel made regarding wins, shutouts, no-hitters.. all of the big pitching categories.. would have set or broken major league records, had he not been excluded from playing there until the end of his career.

Satchel understood that the great white players such as Joe DiMaggio for example, received treatment from others that would help propel their star status and legendary accomplishments. He knew if he was going to ensure his own legacy, he would need to do that self promotion himself. In a way, it's as if Satchel Paige understood in this early era the importance of having a personal brand. He even contributed to discrepancies about his age in order to make his accomplishments more extraordinary. We hear that one of the greatest mysteries of the 30's and 40's was the true age of Satchel Paige!

One of the most interesting parts of the book revolves around a comparison of Babe Ruth and Satchel Paige, regarding interactions with baseball fans. Larry comes to the brilliant conclusion that although Babe Ruth was a great ambassador for the game and was adored by every fan of the day, Satchel had the daunting task of achieving that same status, while overcoming the incredible prejudices that white America had for black players, and black human beings in general. So without diminishing the following of Ruth, Satchel did something even more extraordinary.

During the time leading up to Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier for Branch Rickey, it was Satchel Paige who attracted the attention of the media and fans to the Negro Leagues. He was the one who made the effort to demonstrate the skill of the ballplayers in the league, and he would take credit for getting a backup second baseman for the Kansas City Monarchs in front of Branch Rickey in the first place. Rickey made the choice of Robinson for a number of reasons including personality, age, willingness to play in the minor leagues, and an understanding that he would have to turn the other cheek to the challenges that would be heaped upon him.

We finish the podcast with Larry telling us the great tale about Satchel's last appearance pitching for the Kansas City A's, owned by the great Charlie O. Finley. Satchel was 59 years, 2 months and 8 days old at the time. Finley set up a rocking chair near the bullpen and hired a nurse to rub up Satchel's arm. He came into the game to pitch three innings, and included in this moment is the fact that Carl Yastrzemski was the last to get a hit off of him. It completed the great family accomplishment in which Yaz and his Dad both got a hit off of Paige, as Carl Sr. had played against him in a semi-pro league on Long Island.

Although there might have been some sense of exploitation with this event, Satchel did what he wanted to do, which was get a paycheck from Charlie Finley and play the game that he loved!

The books is called Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend. The author is Larry Tye.

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