Amatoboxing (amatoboxingsite.multiply.com)

Book Review: The Glory of Their Times
by Jonathan Leshanski
May 20, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of the Baseball as told by the Men Who Played It
by Lawrence Ritter
382 pages


It’s funny how many classic baseball books can stand the test of time: The Natural, The Boys of Summer, Man on Spikes, and The Great American Novel, to name a few. I took a look back at The Glory of Their Times, a book that a number of people including the great Ted Williams thought was the best baseball book of all time.

This is a book that reaches out and grabs you by the throat. It’s still as relevant today and as poignant as the day it was written. It’s not so much a book telling a story but a book of stories in the words of the players who lived them. These are the true old-timers in the game, some of who played before the birth of the American League, through the World War II years. These men played with or against the likes of Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Babe Ruth, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Walter Johnson and Grover Alexander, and many are in the Hall of Fame themselves.

They offer insights about playing in the early days of the game, about the first World Series, the Black Sox Scandal, the Federal League, and much more of the early history of the game. It’s a rare glimpse back into the day when a major league scout might just grab a guy off the sandlot and say how’d you like to play right field for the Phillies? That’s inconceivable today but the stories are true and well worth hearing.

Even the most jaded of fans will find this book a fascinating read and enjoy hearing players like Joe Wood, Hank Greenberg, Paul Warner, Sam Crawford, Harry Hooper, Chief Meyers, Babe Herman and more tell their stories. The book is written in very manageable chapters each devoted to one of the 26 players who had their stories included in the book. It’s also a great book for younger fans, offering them a rare and valuable glimpse inside the game’s early days and how the players looked at things. It’s a great introduction to the history of the game.

Give this one a perfect four out of four balls… and run don’t walk to get yourself a copy of a book that might be one of the most appealing baseball books of all time.