100 Years of the World Series

Rating:
Summary: A Literary Classic of the Fall Classic
Review: At first glance, "100 Years" appears to be a coffee table book, and a great one at that. It is rich with images, not only photographs, but reproductions of ticket stubs, World Series programs, film frames, logos, linescores, newspaper headlines, comic strips--all displayed in a professionally designed layout on glossy pages. The hundreds of photographs are brilliantly reproduced and the selection is terrific. I, too, have to disagree with the first reviewer who said these are commonly found images. In some places where Enders could have gone with a typical image, he often found an alternative photo (ex: for the '75 Series, he didn't go with an image of Fisk in mid-air waving the ball fair, but instead found a photo that better captured the energy of the moment, just after the ball cleared the wall, Fisk coiled on the basepath and the on-deck hitter in full leap along with the crowd behind them). And many of these images I have never seen before--I particularly liked the photo of Schoolboy Rowe sipping from a water fountain in the dugout. The book has humor, too; for example, there's a photo of Mike Schmidt giving George Brett a pat on the ol' hemorrhoids during the 1980 Series.

Alongside the book's aesthetic design is a concise, entertaining, well-written text that doesn't miss too many of the great moments of the Series. Enders has an engaging style and the work clearly draws from thorough research. He goes the extra yard to include the Negro Leagues and the Women's League, and there are features on broadcasters, sports writers, and a list of "Last Outs"--the final batter-and-pitcher matchups of each Series and their results. This work can sit on anyone's reference shelf as the definitive text of the history of the World Series.

Rating:
Summary: A Literary Classic of the Fall Classic
Review: At first glance, "100 Years" appears to be a coffee table book, and a great one at that. It is rich with images, not only photographs, but reproductions of ticket stubs, World Series programs, film frames, logos, linescores, newspaper headlines, comic strips--all displayed in a professionally designed layout on glossy pages. The hundreds of photographs are brilliantly reproduced and the selection is terrific. I, too, have to disagree with the first reviewer who said these are commonly found images. In some places where Enders could have gone with a typical image, he often found an alternative photo (ex: for the '75 Series, he didn't go with an image of Fisk in mid-air waving the ball fair, but instead found a photo that better captured the energy of the moment, just after the ball cleared the wall, Fisk coiled on the basepath and the on-deck hitter in full leap along with the crowd behind them). And many of these images I have never seen before--I particularly liked the photo of Schoolboy Rowe sipping from a water fountain in the dugout. The book has humor, too; for example, there's a photo of Mike Schmidt giving George Brett a pat on the ol' hemorrhoids during the 1980 Series.

Alongside the book's aesthetic design is a concise, entertaining, well-written text that doesn't miss too many of the great moments of the Series. Enders has an engaging style and the work clearly draws from thorough research. He goes the extra yard to include the Negro Leagues and the Women's League, and there are features on broadcasters, sports writers, and a list of "Last Outs"--the final batter-and-pitcher matchups of each Series and their results. This work can sit on anyone's reference shelf as the definitive text of the history of the World Series.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Book Of Its Kind
Review: I bought this book mainly to add it to my world series library along neft&cohens world series play by plays which was last issued in 1989. The book is a disaster; I have seen most of the photos used in the publication, and there are no other way to describe great feats such as Matthewsons 3 CGs, Reggies 3 dingers or Gibsons pinch-hit homer than it has already been done before. The statistic section is a reaserchers nightmare. Toronto has been listed as an NL team, the Cubs' home park for the 1918 world series has been listed as Wrigley Field, instead of Comiskey, in which they used that year. The list of homerun leaders also includes the percentage of (homeruns) per at-bats, which rookie to the game can figure that out?

The box-scores in appendix 2 is not the "traditional" (putouts and assists has been let out (except for outfield assists)), one thing which is good about them is that they shows batter faced and the groundballs/flyballs. There is no play by play which is a huge disadvantage (I thought this should be an update on neft&cohen's books)

If you do not own any world series material, this is a good start, but do not try to refer from it, I have only have this book some hours, and I have already found 15 major errors.
One thing which is great is that he (Eric Enders) is listing every ejection in the series. But he could have taken the time to do some lists on pinch-hit homers, grand slams, unassisted double plays and such.

I consider myself very kind when I give this book 2 stars

Rating:
Summary: What a ripoff!
Review: I bought this book mainly to add it to my world series library along neft&cohens world series play by plays which was last issued in 1989. The book is a disaster; I have seen most of the photos used in the publication, and there are no other way to describe great feats such as Matthewsons 3 CGs, Reggies 3 dingers or Gibsons pinch-hit homer than it has already been done before. The statistic section is a reaserchers nightmare. Toronto has been listed as an NL team, the Cubs' home park for the 1918 world series has been listed as Wrigley Field, instead of Comiskey, in which they used that year. The list of homerun leaders also includes the percentage of (homeruns) per at-bats, which rookie to the game can figure that out?

The box-scores in appendix 2 is not the "traditional" (putouts and assists has been let out (except for outfield assists)), one thing which is good about them is that they shows batter faced and the groundballs/flyballs. There is no play by play which is a huge disadvantage (I thought this should be an update on neft&cohen's books)

If you do not own any world series material, this is a good start, but do not try to refer from it, I have only have this book some hours, and I have already found 15 major errors.
One thing which is great is that he (Eric Enders) is listing every ejection in the series. But he could have taken the time to do some lists on pinch-hit homers, grand slams, unassisted double plays and such.

I consider myself very kind when I give this book 2 stars

Rating:
Summary: The Best Book Of Its Kind
Review: Of all the books covering the first 100 Years of the World Series, this is by far the best of the lot. For starters, this is a beautiful book. The photos are very striking--the reviewer who said he had seen all these photographs before doesn't know what he's talking about. Yes, there are some famous photographs here (as there should be) but there are also many photographs that I have never seen before, and I have been reading and writing about baseball history for many years. In addition, Enders's narrative is very lucid and engaging, relating the important events and figures of each series in a style that is at once both informative and engaging. The book also includes sidebars on the Negro Leagues World Series, the 19th Century World Series, as well as interesting articles on the history of Fall Classic broadcasts and World Series ejections. The appendices, which include statistical rankings and box scores for every baseball game, are also very handy and add nicely to the overall package.

All in all, if you are looking for a book on the first 100 years of the World Series to buy, this is without question or qualification the best currently available. Yes, there are a few minor errors, but what book of this size doesn't contain the occasional error? At any rate, those that do appear are not important. (For instance, the previous reviewer who complained that the appendix incorrectly listed the 1918 World Series as being played in Wrigley Field did NOT note that in the main body of the text, in the narrative of that Series, the stadium is clearly identified as Comiskey.)

But such minor issues aside, if you are looking for an illustrative, well-written and well-researched account of the history of the World Series, this is the book. At $19.95, it is a very good bargain.