BUNTS: "Curt Flood, Camden Yards, Pete Rose, and Other Reflections on Baseball" by George F. Will
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Book Reviews of BUNTS: "Curt Flood, Camden Yards, Pete Rose, and Other Reflections on Baseball"
Book Review: As good as any baseball book I have read, and I have read a lot of them
Summary: 5 Stars
While George Will's political opinions are often subject to my snorts of derision, his feelings about baseball are beyond reproach. An unrepentant Cubs fan who once responded to the statement made on a national news show in 1984, "The Cubs winning the division title is not exactly a momentous event in the history of Western Civilization" by saying, "Sez who?", his writing about baseball is absolutely the best. He truly loves the game and he demonstrates it in every sentence. His honesty about what has been right about the game and the great wrongs that were committed is a history of American society as well as the sport of baseball.
The American society is changing, as it has always done. Baseball has changed dramatically since, as Will so aptly puts it, "The serfs were set free." This refers to the overthrow of the reserve clause, which essentially made baseball players the property of a team. An anachronism at best and an atrocity at worst, it was likely the last legal form of slavery that still existed in the Western World. Since that time, baseball has expanded to incredible heights, the salaries of the players have skyrocketed and so has attendance. Despite many actions that have damaged the game (DH, multi-use parks and the wild card), baseball continues to thrive. Will describes all of what he sees that is good and bad in the game. I have read many baseball books in my life, but there are none better than this one and his previous book, "Men At Work: The Craft of Baseball." Every fan should read them both.
Book Review: Intelligent look at Baseball
Summary: 5 Stars
George Will brings his flowing if slightly verbose style to the issue of baseball. The book is a collection of newspaper columns and some essays concerning the state of baseball during the 1980's-1990's. As a Chicago Cub fan, Will focuses largely and perhaps a bit too heavily on that team plus the Baltimore Orioles, who are near his job in Washington D.C. There's also coverage of baseball labor issues, sociology, politics, trends in attendance and style of play, even some mention of oft-ignored teams like the White Sox. Of particular note is the author's controversial but correct view that since millions of fans pay to see the players (and not the owners), the players are both labor and product, and thus entitled to large salaries in this multi-billion dollar industry. One need not always agree with the author's opinions to see that he writes about this sport with heart and compassion. Will doesn't quite get a home run with this book, but score it a line-drive double.
Book Review: Not a Homerun, But a Solid Hit
Summary: 4 Stars
This book contains more than 70 articles written about baseball by George Will between 1974 and 1997. Many of the essays are from the week of opening days or a post script of a season that just ended and these essays all have a similar tone and information, but all of them are well written and contain numerous facts, opinions and insights. The book also covers significant events in the history of baseball--the banning of Pete Rose, the strike of 1994, the fight for free agency and of course the yearly collapse of the Chicago Cubs, which is the team for which Will is a lifelong fanatic. This is not the best book of baseball stories I've read, but it is entertaining and thought provoking, so it deserves to be read by baseball fans and should be picked up by sports fans who want to learn why baseball is the most elegant sport and why it has so many diehard fans. Book Review: Bow-Tie Reflections on Baseball
Summary: 4 Stars
Those who have read Will's "Men at Work" already are aware of the author's knowledge of the game as well as his talent to put it into words. This is a compilation of the author's articles on Baseball that have appeared primarily in his newspaper columns over the years. Mr. Will, a spokesman for the political right, discards his politics for these excursions into his passion. Indeed, one is surprized by how often Mr. Will sides with the players in the labor/management diputes that litter modern Baseball. The author shares his nostalgia for the past and his appreciation of the heros of the present. If he seems a bit caught up in his Cubs and Orioles, he can be forgiven because the reader has his/her own favorites. We know the frustration and joy of the same loyalties he shares with us.I read the first two thirds of the book one "column" at a time between other books. I did so because I had read "The Best of Jim Murray" some years ago and did so over the course of several days. By the mid-point of that book, I came to the realization that Mr. Murray had written the same column for decades. It was just a matter of changing the name of the subject. You don't catch on to that reading two or three columns a week. Well, I read the last third of the book in the course of several hours. I did not get the same reaction that I got to Murray's book. However, I lost track of the number of times the total season attendance of the 1935 St. Louis Browns (80,922) was compared to the Opening Day attendance of the 1993 Colorado Rockies (80,227). There were other such repetitions of facts and figures that were noticeable when the book is read cover to cover. I suggest you savor the articles and let the book entertain you throughout the course of a summer or a year. However you choose to read it, don't miss this intellectual appreciation of what was once known as "America's Pasttime".
Book Review: Bunts Hit A Homerun With Me!
Summary: 4 Stars
Bunts by George F. Will is a collection of works written by Will between the years 1974 and 1997. Throughout this book, Will discusses the major changes in baseball, such as the designated hitter rule, unionization, recent franchise additions, free agency, and more. A long-suffering Chicago Cubs fan, Will, in several funny articles, describes what it is like to be a fan of a tema that hasn't won a pennant since World War II. A skilled political columnist, we are drawn into the argument over free agency and designated hitting. I love baseball, but sometimes find books about the sport to be tedious and overly stuffed with statistics. While this book does contain statistics (Will knows a great deal about the sport he loves), you're not smothered by them. It was a pleasurable read. The only part of the book I disliked was the rehashing (several times) of the strike disputes and how many times Will felt it necessary to prove that the owners were wrong about free agency. But believe me, you can get through that. Besides, this is a compilation of works - it's not like he intentionally meant to repeat himself. Will's reflections on baseball are remarkable considering that the man never played the sport professionally and is just an avid fan - so much of a fan in fact that he once owned stock in the Cubs franchise! The pictures are great, and the things I learned from this book. I thought I knew alot about baseball, but George F. Will proved me wrong in a way that I found to be interesting and alot of fun!