Echoes from Lane Field

Rating:
Summary: A great piece of living history
Review: Bill's knack for conversation comes through in this book, which not only includes photos of the Lane Field-era Padres, but comments from the players who played at San Diego's original downtown ballpark. Many of these guys have now passed away, so the "in their own words" recollections of those times are priceless.

Rating:
Summary: Real history of America in the 40's-50's through baseball..
Review: Swank chose the right time and place to write a book of baseball told to him by the men who played that game in the minor leagues in San Diego. He gets the former Padres to pour forth with the stuff that is still important in the memory of a now 70-something-year-old almost major leaguer. What is still a lingering joy, and what wounds are yet to be healed? These questions are answered in each of vignettes. The pleasure in reading the interviews is the honesty of the script--hearty and forthright, non-politically correct. Swank's choice of San Diego was perfect since he found many of the players still living there, and in the neighboring southwest sunbelt. The historians of San Diego should not overlook the value of this book. Swank has arranged the stories chronologically as the players appeared on the scene, and you can feel the mood of the country as it goes to war an underdog and returns victorious. There are lots of pictures of players and places, particulary the ball field itself. Swank constructed a scale model of the field, a tribute to his enthusiasm and dedication to this fine work.