Explosive Sixties World of Baseball (World of Baseball)

Rating:
Summary: Baseball in the Sixties, from Maris to the Miracle Mets
Review: This volume in the "World of Baseball" series covers "The Explosive Sixties" as the sport's decade of expansion. After all, the Sixties began with the addition of the Angels, Senators, Astros and Mets and ended with the Pilots, Royals, Expos and Padres (notice only three of those teams have made it to--and won--the World Series). William B. Mead looks at Roger Maris breaking Babe Ruth's single season home run record as "The Greatest Sacrilege," and then how the initial home run explosion was blunted by great pitchers until the "Year of the Pitcher" in 1968 with Bob Gibson and Denny McLain. Sandy Koufax gets an entire chapter as the best pitcher or his era, with another devoted to "The Great Holdout" by Koufax and Don Drysdale as the beginning of end of the dreaded reserve clause. "The Astrodome" is profiled as the Eighth Wonder of the World and there is an entire chapter about the "Return of the Running Game" sparked by Maury Wills and exploited by others. The volume ends looking at 1969, both in terms of a quartet of managers (Billy Martin, Ted Williams, Earl Weaver and Leo Durochuer) and "The Amazin' Mets." These books are full of nice little gems in each chapter, such as "Trading Up" which uses baseball cards to depict some of the significant trades of future Hall of Famers for less than famous players: Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas, Orlando Cepeda for Ray Sadecki, and the most infamous of all, Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio. There are dozens of beautiful color photographs and charts, including one showing the changing strike zone. Mead, who also wrote "The Insider Game" volume in the series, shows a fans appreciation for the players, games, stadiums and events that made baseball what it was in the sixties.

Rating:
Summary: Baseball in the Sixties, from Maris to the Miracle Mets
Review: This volume in the "World of Baseball" series covers "The Explosive Sixties" as the sport's decade of expansion. After all, the Sixties began with the addition of the Angels, Senators, Astros and Mets and ended with the Pilots, Royals, Expos and Padres (notice only three of those teams have made it to--and won--the World Series). William B. Mead looks at Roger Maris breaking Babe Ruth's single season home run record as "The Greatest Sacrilege," and then how the initial home run explosion was blunted by great pitchers until the "Year of the Pitcher" in 1968 with Bob Gibson and Denny McLain. Sandy Koufax gets an entire chapter as the best pitcher or his era, with another devoted to "The Great Holdout" by Koufax and Don Drysdale as the beginning of end of the dreaded reserve clause. "The Astrodome" is profiled as the Eighth Wonder of the World and there is an entire chapter about the "Return of the Running Game" sparked by Maury Wills and exploited by others. The volume ends looking at 1969, both in terms of a quartet of managers (Billy Martin, Ted Williams, Earl Weaver and Leo Durochuer) and "The Amazin' Mets." These books are full of nice little gems in each chapter, such as "Trading Up" which uses baseball cards to depict some of the significant trades of future Hall of Famers for less than famous players: Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas, Orlando Cepeda for Ray Sadecki, and the most infamous of all, Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio. There are dozens of beautiful color photographs and charts, including one showing the changing strike zone. Mead, who also wrote "The Insider Game" volume in the series, shows a fans appreciation for the players, games, stadiums and events that made baseball what it was in the sixties.