A Day in the Bleachers

Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece in the literature of baseball.
Review: A magnificently written, evocative description of one of baseball's greatest games.

Rating:
Summary: Like being in a time machine
Review: Although I was still 10 years away from being born when Mr Hano attended the first game of the 1954 World Series, I thoroughly enjoyed his telling of his experiences attending the game. As a baseball fan, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book, and it doesn't disappoint. I could imagine myself being there.

The book is a classic and one I will read again. My ONLY disappointment with the book is that it ends so abruptly. The last out is made. He looks around for the lady in the red hat. She's gone and he mentions the fact that he never got a look at the face of the Cleveland fan and basically, that's it. Book over. I was hoping he would end the book with his getting home and speaking to his wife about the game, the way the book opened.

My other disappointment was in the afterword. I was pleasantly surprised that Mr. Hano is still living. He ran down the list of where are they now from the '54 Giants, which I enjoyed. I kept waiting for any other recollections he might have had about that game, the way baseball was then compared to now, etc. And I was also hoping he would mention what happened to his wife; if she's still living or not. But he did neither, but that's ok.

All in all, this book is one that will stay on my shelf for a good long time. Well worth the read!

Rating:
Summary: A CLASSIC BOOK
Review: ARNOLD DOES A GREAT JOB DESCRIBING GAME 1 OF THE 1954 WORLD SERIES PLAYED IN THE POLO GROUNDS. READING THIS BOOK I CAN PICTURE VERY CLEARLY, THE EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE THAT DAY. FROM THE TIME HE LEFT HIS HOUSE TO THE GAME ENDING HOMERUN, I WAS TOTALLY CAUGHT UP THIS DETAILED ACCOUNT OF "THE CATCH". HIS DESCRIPTION OF THE PEOPLE AROUND HIM, THE GAME ACTION, AND HIS THOUGHTS ARE PUT TOGETHER IN THIS GREAT READ. A MUST READ FOR ALL GIANT FANS AND BASEBALL HISTORIANS.

Rating:
Summary: Like being at the game
Review: Did you ever wonder what it was like going to a game at the Polo Grounds? This is an inning by inning description of Game 1 of the 1954 series that covers getting to the park, who was sitting nearby, and of course the game itself. It is told from the view of a fan who knows and loves the game, but avoids windy philosophy and theory. It is especially grand to read in the depths of winter when baseball is either a memory or anticipated. I can't recommend it too highly.

Rating:
Summary: Rejoice! "A Day in the Bleachers" is back in print!
Review: This book captures what it is to be a fan better than anything else I've ever read. I often read this book in the Spring, to cleanse my mental palate of a long dreary Winter of football, basketball, the off-season noise of player contracts, and all else that is life without baseball actually on the field and in the stands. This book always does the trick. I once lost my copy (probably loaned it to someone who never returned it) and had to live without it for years until I found another used copy. Those were hard times. Now it's readily available and I can give it as a gift. Glory, glory, glory!

I know, this doesn't actually tell you about the book, but I'm too thrilled to bother with all that now. Just get it. I've never lent my copy to anyone without them coming back singing its praises...except for that mystery s.o.b who apparently liked it too much to return it.

Rating:
Summary: A CLASSIC BOOK
Review: This is the only baseball book that I have read in every decade of my life, from the first. I'm 54, and I first read this book in 1959, with awe and rapture. It captures the flavor and the intensity of the experience of baseball before television as no other pages do and, as it happens, it tells the story of one of the transcendent moments of real baseball history. When Willie Mays was given an honorary degree at Yale this year, they specifically cited "the catch" fifty years ago as his most distinct single moment of on-field performance, for all that he was never less than a captivating performer. Hano's book is one to read and reread, with ever-renewed pleasure.

Rating:
Summary: a classic
Review: This is the only baseball book that I have read in every decade of my life, from the first. I'm 54, and I first read this book in 1959, with awe and rapture. It captures the flavor and the intensity of the experience of baseball before television as no other pages do and, as it happens, it tells the story of one of the transcendent moments of real baseball history. When Willie Mays was given an honorary degree at Yale this year, they specifically cited "the catch" fifty years ago as his most distinct single moment of on-field performance, for all that he was never less than a captivating performer. Hano's book is one to read and reread, with ever-renewed pleasure.

Rating:
Summary: you feel like you're at the game
Review: what more can be said, other than that this book is
captivating!