There are kinds of books whose theme is baseball. There are biographical, reference, autobiographical, statistical, encyclopedic and historical efforts. In short, there is something for all kinds of baseball tastes.
A couple of the more interesting and contrasting ones are "The Goose Is Loose" by Richard "Goose" Gossage with Russ Pate (Ballantine Books, $25.00, 342pp.) and "More Than Merkle" by David W. Anderson (University of Nebraska Press, $29.95, 285pp).
"The Goose Is Loose" is a loosely organized look at Gossage's 22-year-career in the majors with nine major league teams. A nine-time All-Star, the "Goose" saved 310 games and ranks as one of baseball's great relief pitchers.
There are high points (and low points) in this book just as there were in the long career Gossage had in the big leagues. Gossage's book stays 75 to 80 pages too long. Less would have been more; shorter would have given the reader a break.
The book's best moments are anecdotes that linger a while and flush out Gossage's forays and encounters with such as Nolan Ryan, Mickey Mantle, Dick Allen, etc. The book's worst moments are its attempts to give Gossage a voice: "High hopes raised by the Padres' banner season in 1984 subsequently wilted like crops during a summer drought. Dreams of a world championship went unfulfilled ...." Not only is this not a former major league relief pitcher talking, it is superfluous information. And this pattern appears and re-appears throughout.
For those who want some inside baseball information and for those who are fans of Gossage, this book - billed as his autobiography - will help in passing the hours away semi-painlessly.
One would not think that a book focused on one long ago season (1908) would be a page-turner, but "More Than Merkle" is just that. Very well researched and carefully crafted, it is a look at what the author David W. Anderson calls "A History of the Best and Most Exciting Baseball Season in Human History". Anderson (or the person who came up with the book's sub-title) does engage in a bit of hype, but 1908 was a great year for baseball.
Three National League teams finished within a half game of each other and the result was a made-up game to decide the N.L. pennant. Christy Mathewson (37-11) of the Giants came up a bit short against the Cubs' Mordecai "Three Fingers" Brown, who had the comfort of pitching with the support of the famed double-play combination of Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance. It was the culmination of the Giants' Fred Merkle and his "bonehead play".
That 1908 season, incidentally, baseball's anthem "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" made its debut. Ironically, neither the composer nor the lyricist for the song had ever been to a baseball game prior to writing what would become a standard. (2000)
» Harvey Frommer is the author of 30 sports books, including "The New York Yankee Encyclopedia" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball,"and "Growing Up Baseball" with Frederic J. Frommer. His latest A YANKEE CENTURY will be published by Berkley in October 2002.
Also by Harvey Frommer
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» The Birth of Baseball's First Professional Team
» Yankee Stadium's First Opening Day
» Gehrig's Streak
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» Yankees vs. Red Sox: Baseball's Greatest Rivalry
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» Remembering the Yankee Clipper: Joe DiMaggio
» Shoeless Joe Remains a Scapegoat
» The Mets Have Always Been Amazing
» More submissions
Copyright © 2002 by Harvey Frommer. Posted August 9, 2002.
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