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Rating: 
Summary: full of information, you get the 'inside scoop'
Review: Sure, many people want shoeless joe and pete rose in the hall of fame. But they aren't, and here are some reasons why. The author provides indepth analysis on the scandal of 1919 and other 'sins' of baseball. An inside look on what you never new. Easy to follow, not boring at all.
Rating: 
Summary: You'll read it in one evening
Review: This is one of the best basball books ever written. Although it has some sad stories (Donnie Moore's suicide, Rube Marquard's mental retardation) some of the stories are downright hilarious and fascinating. For example, most people don't realize that the premise behind the book and subsequent movie "The Natural" - a player's career is almost ruined after being shot by a crazed female fan - was based on a true story (Eddie Waitkus, Pirates, late '40s)! Gutman's retelling of that fateful encounter is engrossing - and funny. Stories about Ty Cobb helping to throw games late in one season,his beating up a fan in the stands, Babe Ruth's (probable) bout with gonnorea, players performing World Series heroics while stinking drunk all make for a compelling read. I recall starting this book at lunch while at work and finishing it after I got home by about midnight. Find a copy and a quiet place to read and have fun.
Rating:
Summary: You'll read it in one evening
Review: This is one of the best basball books ever written. Although it has some sad stories (Donnie Moore's suicide, Rube Marquard's mental retardation) some of the stories are downright hilarious and fascinating. For example, most people don't realize that the premise behind the book and subsequent movie "The Natural" - a player's career is almost ruined after being shot by a crazed female fan - was based on a true story (Eddie Waitkus, Pirates, late '40s)! Gutman's retelling of that fateful encounter is engrossing - and funny. Stories about Ty Cobb helping to throw games late in one season,his beating up a fan in the stands, Babe Ruth's (probable) bout with gonnorea, players performing World Series heroics while stinking drunk all make for a compelling read. I recall starting this book at lunch while at work and finishing it after I got home by about midnight. Find a copy and a quiet place to read and have fun.
Rating:
Summary: fairly comprehensive bundle of baseball's sordid details
Review: Well, if anyone was still putting major leaguers on a pedestal, this book would cure them. _Baseball Babylon_ is a well-organized compendium of stories and lists concerning the game's sexual misadventures, suicides, murders, accidental deaths, fisticuffs, substance abuse problems, and criminal activity up through 1992.Based on its take on certain events I think the book is at the right level of credulity; Gutman has the honesty to admit when he doesn't know for sure what happened, and he clearly did copious research. While it's a fairly depressing read (which shouldn't be held against it; that, after all, is its topic), a lot of people will find it morbidly fascinating. Of particular value is Gutman's follow-through with regard to a given story; he made the effort to find out, for example, how Ryne Duren's story of a career lost in a bottle ultimately ended. Like life, some are happy and others are tragic. Probably a good value for those ready to hear the proof that ballplayers are, like the rest of us, only human.
Rating:
Summary: fairly comprehensive bundle of baseball's sordid details
Review: Well, if anyone was still putting major leaguers on a pedestal, this book would cure them. _Baseball Babylon_ is a well-organized compendium of stories and lists concerning the game's sexual misadventures, suicides, murders, accidental deaths, fisticuffs, substance abuse problems, and criminal activity up through 1992. Based on its take on certain events I think the book is at the right level of credulity; Gutman has the honesty to admit when he doesn't know for sure what happened, and he clearly did copious research. While it's a fairly depressing read (which shouldn't be held against it; that, after all, is its topic), a lot of people will find it morbidly fascinating. Of particular value is Gutman's follow-through with regard to a given story; he made the effort to find out, for example, how Ryne Duren's story of a career lost in a bottle ultimately ended. Like life, some are happy and others are tragic. Probably a good value for those ready to hear the proof that ballplayers are, like the rest of us, only human.
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