Rating: 
Summary: One of the best histories of baseball around!
Review: If you have even the slightest interest in the history of baseball, you must read this book! Ritter spent hours and hours interviewing the greats of the game and then was able to make these interviews come to life in this splendid piece of history. You will feel the excitement of the contests, laugh at the off field stories, and learn what it was like to be a big leaguer during the formative years of the majors.So many books using first hand accounts tend to be dry, but this book is the exception. There is not a dull moment in this book. This book sort of proves Eddie Matthews' review of modern baseball - the guys playing now may be better, but they didn't have as much fun as the guys in the old days. This book will allow you to enjoy the days gone by of the glorius grand game!
Rating:
Summary: invaluable
Review: This is a book that is near and dear to the hearts of most baseball fans, frequently cropping up on lists of the best baseball books of all time. Inspired by the example of Alan Lomax, who recorded old blues singers down South in the 1930's, and motivated by the recent death of Ty Cobb, Lawrence S. Ritter, an economist and New York University professor by trade, spent several years (1961-66) tracking down and interviewing old ballplayers, recording their memories of the game for posterity before they too passed away. The book presents these sessions as extended monologues, alternately amusing, proud, defensive, and wistful recollections of their own careers, of the times they played in, and of the characters they knew. But now, as if the book weren't enough, the tape recordings of the actual interviews are available in audiobook form. Each is introduced by Ritter, who came to know many of the players quite well. And in his introduction, Ritter reveals that it was only years after the project that it occurred to him that one of the things driving him was the death of his own father. Recapturing the memories of the players his father had loved served as a final filial connection. The interviews include those with : "Wahoo" Sam Crawford, "Rube" Marquard, "Chief" Meyers, Hans Lobert, "Smokey" Joe Wood, Davy Jones, Ed Roush, and Fred Snodgrass. The stories they tell range from Hans Lobert racing a horse around the bases while barnstorming through Oxnard, California, to Fred Snodgrass defending his infamous muff; to a first hand account of the beaning death of Ray Chapman at the hands of Carl Mays; and finally a wonderful recital of Casey at the Bat by Chief Meyers. At the end of many of the interviews Ritter asked the old timers if they had any regrets, and not a single man did : of how few professions would this be true ? I can't recommend the book highly enough and even if you've read it several times, be sure to give the audio a listen. This is oral history at its very best and an invaluable resource for baseball fans. It does for all of us what Ritter only belatedly realized it was doing for him, it provides a vital connection to an earlier time, to the world of our fathers and grandfathers. It is truly wonderful. GRADE : A+
Rating: 
Summary: It is, indeed, the best baseball book and so on.
Review: This IS the best baseball book ever written. It's also the best oral history ever written by anybody whose name isn't Studs Terkel, and one of the best books ever written about America. I give it four stars because one has to save some room for Shakespeare and Dr. Seuss, but it's close...
Rating:
Summary: The greatest baseball book ever written
Review: That's what they call it. After reading it, I think they're right. Absolutely phenomenal.
Rating:
Summary: The Great Generation
Review: A fascinating book interviewing two dozen or so interesting men who played with people such as Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. Ritter never lets us forget that these were men first and baseball players second. The chapters on Goose Goslin, Lefty O'doul, Sam Crawford, and Fred Snodgrass were especially interesting. This is almost like reading Tom Brokaw's "Greatest Generation" but I think that the post-Jackie Robinson era was the greatest. Maybe a companion volume of that era should be written by somebody.
Rating:
Summary: Best Baseball Book I've Read
Review: The players interviewed for this book, some 50 years after playing the game, have got wonderful stories all over this book. It is interesting to hear how almost all of them got their break in baseball by playing for a city team, and just happening to get noticed one day when one would just happen to have a good day when the owner of a team was around. You learn more than just about the players interviewed since they tell stories about guys like Christy Mathewson, and even about an deaf mute outfielder that called for the ball by making an odd squeaking sound. Great stuff!
Rating:
Summary: For baseball fans,the dead sea scrolls
Review: The glory of their times is ,simply the greatest baseball compilation ever recorded{Roger angel's books are better,different,in that they are ESSAY'S]Reading and re-reading this book,I wondered what it actually sounded like to record this,to expierence.Well, after purchasing this cD,I know. This is the greatest baseball find I could imagine.the quality of the recordings is uniformly good[some parts are less audible then others].The content is pure joy.How wonderful to HEAR sam Crawford, Lefty O'Doul[were there any finer men to play baseball?]One can only wish that someone had done the same with the great Negro League players ...alas,though that does not detract from this Brilliant recording{s].I would give it 6 10 a pantheon of stars...it is that good
Rating:
Summary: Fun and Informative
Review: I can unequivocally state that this book is one of the greatest books about baseball that I've ever read. Each player offers information, anectdotes, and humorous tales of the wonderful world of life between the foul lines. Take note of such under-appreciated turn-of-the-century ballplayers as Sam Crawford, Rube Waddell, and "Germany" Schaefer. Truly outstanding.
Rating:
Summary: Ah, Refreshing!
Review: In the era of John Rocker, Rickey Henderson, Pete Rose, and other "baseball role models", this book is a refreshing look at the men who made the game better than it is today. The book doesn't focus on the usual heroes of the day, but rather those near the heroes--and their stories are fantastic. Take a break from today's headlines on arbitration, strikes, and players missing eight weeks with hangnails and stubbed toes. Read about real men who played for the love of the game and who could look back at it both fondly and objectively.
Rating:
Summary: Over and Over and Over and Over Again...
Review: I've read this book six times now. Listened to the CD version at least a dozen times. Each time it draws me in, closer and closer to the game that I still love. Although the names and faces of the game have since changed, I cannot help but credit Lawrence Ritter for always rekindling my love for baseball. I smile always and have a warm feeling in my heart when I experience this masterpiece over and over again. To Lawrence Ritter: Thank you so very much for allowing this little boy to continue to dream his dream.
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