The Perfect Season: Why 1998 Was Baseball's Greatest Year

Rating:
Summary: Baseball becoming WWF-ized
Review: 1998 the perfect season? Yeah, right. Sammy Sosa hits 66 homeruns? PUH-lease. The ball was jackrabbitted up to create fan interest. The author, being a former catcher, is biased for hitters, but as far as the league goes homeruns = more money. I'd rather see an honest game than one where the fans are manipulated.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, well written, humorous,and informative
Review: 1998 was a great year for baseball and the book perfectly captures it. I learned so much I didn't know about the players and about how the game is played.. He is so informative about the playoffs. I'd recommend it to all baseball fans and to anyone who wants to learn about baseball.

Rating:
Summary: How perfect it was
Review: How would you feel if you had just become the Yankees manager, when the man who had hired you was George Steinbrenner, a man notorious for "putting the revolving door on managers?" He is famous for hiring and firing managers. That is what happened to Joe Torre in 1996, yet he is considered one of the best managers in baseball. Tim McCarver uncovers why Joe Torre is still the Yankees manager and much more in his great non-fiction book, The perfect season. McCarver's book recognizes some of the great achievements in 1998 that were not given attention because of the home run chase and David Wells' perfect game. In the book, McCarver gets quite up close and personal when he talks about some of baseball's past heros, being a former ballplayer himself. At the end of the book, McCarver analyzes the playoffs and the key plays and mistakes in them. His book uncovers how great the 1998 baseball season really was.

Rating:
Summary: How perfect it was!
Review: How would you feel if you had just become the Yankees' manager, when the man who hired you was George Steinbrenner, a man notorious for "putting the revolving door on managers?" He is famous for hiring and firing managers. That is what happened to Joe Torre in 1996, yet he is considered one of the best managers in baseball. Tim McCarver uncovers why Joe Torre is still the Yankees manager and much more in his great non-fiction book, The perfect season. McCarver's book recognizes some of the great achievements in 1998 that were not given attention, because of the home run chase and David Wells' perfect game. In the book, McCarver gets quite up close and personal when he talks about some of baseball's past heros, being a former ballplayer himself. At the end of the book, McCarver analyzes the playoffs and the key plays and mistakes in them. His book uncovers how great the 1998 baseball season really was.

Rating:
Summary: How perfect it was!
Review: How would you feel if you had just become the Yankees' manager, when the man who hired you was George Steinbrenner, a man notorious for "putting the revolving door on managers?" He is famous for hiring and firing managers. That is what happened to Joe Torre in 1996, yet he is considered one of the best managers in baseball. Tim McCarver uncovers why Joe Torre is still the Yankees manager and much more in his great non-fiction book, The perfect season. McCarver's book recognizes some of the great achievements in 1998 that were not given attention, because of the home run chase and David Wells' perfect game. In the book, McCarver gets quite up close and personal when he talks about some of baseball's past heros, being a former ballplayer himself. At the end of the book, McCarver analyzes the playoffs and the key plays and mistakes in them. His book uncovers how great the 1998 baseball season really was.

Rating:
Summary: Uninspired Retelling of the 1998 Season.
Review: It was inevitable that following the spectacular baseball season of 1998, that there would be books released that would try to immortalize the accomplishments and memories of that year. The two most notable ones were "Summer of 98" by Mike Lupica and "The Perfect Season" by Tim McCarver. McCarver is a long-time baseball analyst on a myriad of networks. Often bombastic and overblown with his commentary, he hits the 1998 season right on the mark. It may very well be 'the perfect season'. In the aftermath of the 1994 baseball strike, Major League Baseball had struggled to regain its foothold in the American psyche. As recently as 1997, underachieving seasons by so many teams led to a World Series that, while a dramatic 7 games, was also a horribly ugly matchup between Cleveland and Florida. The only glimmer of hope in that season was the home run tears that Mark McGwire and Ken Griffey Jr. went on. Their challenges to the Roger Maris' home run record entertained the nation, but ultimately both fell short, with Griffey hitting 56 and McGwire hitting 58. Little else in that season did anything to attract fans back to the park. The 1998 season dawned with a auspicious feel to it. Mark McGwire was going to have a full season in St. Louis to go after Maris' record and there were some exciting prospects coming up in the minor leagues. But, few could have expected the incredible form this year would take. From Mark McGwire's Opening Day grand slam until the final out of the World Series, 1998 had it all. In "The Perfect Season", McCarver creates an indispensible companion to the year. He breaks down each of the season's major accomplishments in separate chapters and writes each like a little kid excitedly spouting everything he could think of about what he saw. This approach works quite well for the nature of the material. Obviously a great deal of time is spent on the spectacular home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa (in which both broke Maris' record and continued their mano-a-mano battle until the final weekend) and the unbelievable season in which the New York Yankees won 114 regular season games (and 125 overall) on their way to another World Championship. There are some other fascinating topics covered, like the emergence of Cubs rookie pitcher Kerry Wood with his 20-strikeout game, David Wells' perfect game, and the resurgence of the Chicago Cubs, who made the playoffs for the first time in 9 seasons. Additionally, there are some lesser known details of the season that McCarver brings to light, such as Houston's Craig Biggio becoming the first player since Tris Speaker to have 50 doubles and 50 steals in the same season, and Giants' Jeff Kent becoming the first second baseman since the legendary Rogers Hornsby to have 120 Rbi's in back-to-back seasons. McCarver covers all the bases with vivid clarity. This book is a quick read and worthy recap of "The Perfect Season".

Rating:
Summary: Compelling breakdown of the amazing 1998 baseball season
Review: It was inevitable that following the spectacular baseball season of 1998, that there would be books released that would try to immortalize the accomplishments and memories of that year. The two most notable ones were "Summer of 98" by Mike Lupica and "The Perfect Season" by Tim McCarver. McCarver is a long-time baseball analyst on a myriad of networks. Often bombastic and overblown with his commentary, he hits the 1998 season right on the mark. It may very well be 'the perfect season'. In the aftermath of the 1994 baseball strike, Major League Baseball had struggled to regain its foothold in the American psyche. As recently as 1997, underachieving seasons by so many teams led to a World Series that, while a dramatic 7 games, was also a horribly ugly matchup between Cleveland and Florida. The only glimmer of hope in that season was the home run tears that Mark McGwire and Ken Griffey Jr. went on. Their challenges to the Roger Maris' home run record entertained the nation, but ultimately both fell short, with Griffey hitting 56 and McGwire hitting 58. Little else in that season did anything to attract fans back to the park. The 1998 season dawned with a auspicious feel to it. Mark McGwire was going to have a full season in St. Louis to go after Maris' record and there were some exciting prospects coming up in the minor leagues. But, few could have expected the incredible form this year would take. From Mark McGwire's Opening Day grand slam until the final out of the World Series, 1998 had it all. In "The Perfect Season", McCarver creates an indispensible companion to the year. He breaks down each of the season's major accomplishments in separate chapters and writes each like a little kid excitedly spouting everything he could think of about what he saw. This approach works quite well for the nature of the material. Obviously a great deal of time is spent on the spectacular home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa (in which both broke Maris' record and continued their mano-a-mano battle until the final weekend) and the unbelievable season in which the New York Yankees won 114 regular season games (and 125 overall) on their way to another World Championship. There are some other fascinating topics covered, like the emergence of Cubs rookie pitcher Kerry Wood with his 20-strikeout game, David Wells' perfect game, and the resurgence of the Chicago Cubs, who made the playoffs for the first time in 9 seasons. Additionally, there are some lesser known details of the season that McCarver brings to light, such as Houston's Craig Biggio becoming the first player since Tris Speaker to have 50 doubles and 50 steals in the same season, and Giants' Jeff Kent becoming the first second baseman since the legendary Rogers Hornsby to have 120 Rbi's in back-to-back seasons. McCarver covers all the bases with vivid clarity. This book is a quick read and worthy recap of "The Perfect Season".

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful re-telling of a wonderful season.
Review: The 1998 baseball season was so good that we have yet to fully appreciate it. That's why this book is so important -- in a vivid, exciting way we re-live that special season and come to fully appreciate it. Last year was an historic baseball season, and as time goes on this book will be even more vital as an eyewitness account by baseball's most perceptive broadcaster. After saying all that, the book was just a lot of fun and a good read.

Rating:
Summary: A QUICK READ ON THE '98 SEASON
Review: The 1998 baseball season was, indeed, a memorable one, and Tim McCarver does a good job of reviewing it. The McGuire/Sosa home run battle made it especially so, and their respect for each other and the game added to it. Tim gives his opinions and analysis of events of the season which add to the book's interest. Brief chapters are devoted to such players as Dan Quisenberry and Eric Davis. The Yankees show what it takes to make a winning team by their ability to win in whatever way the other team makes available to them. The book was easy to read and I found it interesting, but I certainly wouldn't call it a classic by any means.

Rating:
Summary: A QUICK READ ON THE '98 SEASON
Review: The 1998 baseball season was, indeed, a memorable one, and Tim McCarver does a good job of reviewing it. The McGuire/Sosa home run battle made it especially so, and their respect for each other and the game added to it. Tim gives his opinions and analysis of events of the season which add to the book's interest. Brief chapters are devoted to such players as Dan Quisenberry and Eric Davis. The Yankees show what it takes to make a winning team by their ability to win in whatever way the other team makes available to them. The book was easy to read and I found it interesting, but I certainly wouldn't call it a classic by any means.