Rating: 
Summary: The Best Baseball Book - Period
Review:
This is, and will always be, my most favorite baseball book ever. Read all of the previous reviews and you will understand why so many readers love this book. Read the book and you will realize why you love baseball so much.
If you are debating whether or not to read The Glory of Their Times ask yourself this question, do you know who Charles Victory Faust is? No? Then read the book. That alone is worth the price of admission.
I have reread this book a number of times and there is still a Germany Schaefer story I love to tell any baseball enthusiast who hasn't heard it. But that is just one of many great stories told by a colorful collection of great players who help make baseball the great game that it is.
Rating:
Summary: A Priceless Collection
Review: Being a die hard baseball fan, I am always on the look out for great baseball books. And after reading numerous lists of favorite baseball books by Amazon.com readers, it seemed that there was one unanimous choice, The Glory of Their Times, by Lawrence Ritter. And let me say, that I wasn't dissapointed in the least. The beauty of this book is that you feel like you yourself are sitting down with the different players interviewed and having them regale you with stories about playing baseball in the early 20th Century or earlier. The players interviewed are not all household names which adds so much to it. Most of us know the exploits of Cobb and Ruth. Not as many know the stories of Harry Hooper, Wahoo Sam Crawford, and Paul Waner to name just a few. This book is a pleasure to read through and all I can say is thank God that Mr. Ritter wrote this book when he did as all of the players interview here have since passed on I believe. Don't miss this book!
Rating:
Summary: baseball as it should be
Review: I first read this book as an 11 year old and i have treasured it since. This is how all children should learn about the game. Mr. Ritter deserves a place in the Hall of Fame for preserving the storys of these players. At the time the book was written these men were elderly and most were long forgotten. Some had stayed in the game (Hans Lobert), some were successful in other fields (Fred Snodgrass) and some like Bill Wambgnass and Stan Coveleski barely scrapped by. But from their memories you understand that they are all intellegent men who were, in their youth, the best ball players in the nation. They paint a vivid picture, as only men who lived the llfe can, of what baseball was like at the turn of the century. The storys in this book are gems. You get to hear about the greats of the game not from some sportswriter (most of whom usually get it wrong) but by the players. And they pull no punches. Ty Cobb was a bastard, Bugs Raymond was a drunk. From their memories you get a REAL picture of what Hans Wagner, Babe Ruth, Chrisy Mathewson and Walter Johnson were like not just as players but as men. It should be noted that almost as a direct result of this book Goose Goslin, Rube Marquard and Stan Coveleski were elected to baseball Hall of Fame.
Rating:
Summary: GOES GREAT WITH THE AUDIO BOOK!
Review: I have heard so many stories about Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb, I can't tell fact from fiction. Lawrence Ritter and undertaken an extremely long journey to bring you a true record of the early days of baseball.Packed with stories from legends Goose Goslin, Harry Hooper, Joe Wood, Hank Greenberg, Sam Crawford and others the spirit of baseball past comes to life. Ritter's ability to bring baseball alive is nothing short of spectacular. Probably the best baseball book I have ever read, The Glory of Their Times, is more than a amazing collection of stories. You'll read about how baseball has transformed from a love of the game to love of money. Each story has so much packed into it that I found myself re-reading each chapter just to make sure I got everything. I am so very proud that I have had the opportunity to read and review this extraordinary work on baseball. Thank you so very much Lawrence Ritter!
Rating:
Summary: One of the most important baseball books ever written
Review: I read once that Lawrence Ritter decided to research and write The Glory of Their Times when he realized that the great players of the dead ball era were dying off. He wanted to preserve their memories while it was still possible. He did us all a favor - The Glory of Their Times is one of the finest books ever written about baseball history. Ritter was a good oral historian - he knew how to draw his subjects out. Where else can you read first-hand accounts of what it was like to play with Ty Cobb?
Rating:
Summary: Simply Fantastic
Review: I'll be blunt. This is the single greatest baseball book I've ever read. I wouldn't be surprised if it were the best baseball book ever written. This book conveys the tone of baseball's early days. The players tell their stories in their own voice, oft-times a considerably different manner of speaking than we use currently. I greatly enjoyed the slang words the old ballplayers used. They taunted rookies by calling them 'bushers'. One player warned another (speaking of Nap Lajoie) 'Watch out for the Frenchman.' Priceless! Outside of the words, the stories themselves paint a glorious picture of baseball at the beginning of the century. The lesser ballplayers, the Hans Loberts and Chief Meyers', give their impression of the all-time greats; Wagner, Lajoie, Mathewson, Cobb, Jophnson, Bender, Waddell, and Shoeless Joe. Much of what we now know about these legends came directly from the recollections in this book. This is a baseball treasure and belongs in every serious fan's library.
Rating:
Summary: Revel in "The Glory of Their Times"!
Review: I've been a baseball fan for as long as I can remember (40+ years) and have read a number of great baseball books during that span. "The Glory of Their Times" certainly ranks with any of them. Lawrence Ritter traveled the countryside in the 1960's to interview and record the thoughts of some of baseball's greats from the early 20th Century. His goal was simple: record the anecdotes and thoughts from these great players before it was too late. He definitely achieved his goal.
Ritter allows the players to do the "writing" of the book by just holding the microphone in place and editing the volumes of information that he gathered from these former stars. Most of the names (Waner, Greenberg, Goslin, Wood) will be familar to baseball fans, but even the obscure (Leach, Austin, Lobert, Torpocer) are given their due. The stories don't just revolve around the baseball careers of these players. Snippets of what life was like in our country between the two great wars can be found here as well. In that regard, any reader who appreciates history or good human interest stories will enjoy "The Glory of Their Times" as well.
The photos that accompany the book are just as impressive as the stories themselves. There are a number of pictures of other baseball greats not featured in the book including, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson and Honus Wagner, just to name a few.
Reading "The Glory of Their Times" is a great nostalgic trip into baseball's early history and I give it my highest recommendation!
Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Mark It Down: The Best Baseball Book Ever
Review: In short: There has never been a book that made me feel as justified about my love of the game as "The Glory Of Their Times". Lawrence Ritter gets the job done by getting out of the way and letting the greats of the game from 1900s-1930s tell their stories. Review after review of this book calls it the best baseball book ever and let me add my voice to that chorus. Baseball in the deadball era when the fences were so far out that the league leading home run hitter hit 4 home runs; all of them inside the park runs. Baseball when you got one ball to play with. Fred Snodgrass' story *alone* is worth the price of the book, but you also get to hear what it was like to play with Walter Johnson, Babe Ruth (with the Red Sox), lots of dirt on Ty Cobb and Christey Matthewson....... Each of these stories is like a summer day and makes you feel like grabbing a ball and mitt and heading outside. What else is there to say? Pick it up!
Rating: 
Summary: Great history, so-so sound.
Review: It is awesome to hear the real old-timers talk about baseball's early days. They are old enough to be candid, to be sure. The interviewer does an admirable job of staying in the background, asking prompting questions only when needed and these are show his excellent preparation without making him seem like he's their (baseball) equal.
My only complaint, having heard this on CD (and I did that because I very much wanted to hear their actual voices) was that the audio was not done too well, mostly too faint except on extreme volume settings. Anyway, it was definitely worth the effort.
Rating:
Summary: Baseball as pure as it can get
Review: Ritter spent six years tracking down professional baseball players from the early 1900s, then stepped aside to let them tell their remarkable stories in their own words. Virtually all of these men are gone now, but thanks to Ritter they'll never be forgotten. If you're a fan of baseball, you'll be a fan of this book!
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