The Commissioners : Baseball's Midlife Crisis

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, derivative, and devoid of insight
Review: The strangest thing about this book, given that Holtzman writes every day, is that it badly needed an editor. Pronouns flirt with their subjects, but one is often sent chasing back a page or two to find out who "he" is. A suprising number of paragraphs seem composed of unrelated sentences or start down one path and then bolt off in another. I will view other books by this publisher with a jaundiced eye.

Yet, the book is interesting. Interesting as an almanac is interesting. It collects facts about the men who have served as Commissioners and relates them. Sometimes it seems to collect rumors and innuendo about Commissioners and relates them as facts, but that's interesting, too.

Unfortunately, the book contains little that is new. If one has read Marvin Miller's book and Lords of the Realm, there is no reason at all to read this one. It is astonishing that someone like Holtzman has so little to add.

I kept waiting for Holtzman to analyze some of these facts he had collected -- it never happened. The closest he comes is two pages he devotes to ranking the Commissioners. His ranking is neither illuminating nor interesting.

I really don't understand why this book was written (or published).

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This book takes an interesting premise and does a first-rate job of ruining it. I read it immediately after re-reading John Helyar's "Lords of the Realm" and was struck by how derivative "The Commissioners" was. There was little in the way of insight, and the anecdotes were tired and unilluminating. Holtzman's book "No Cheering in the Press Box" is one of my all-time favorites, so I had high hopes for this volume... but "No Cheering in the Press Box" is in the words of the old-time writers interviewed by Holtzman, whereas "The Commissioners" is Holtzman's own work, and the difference appears to be significant. There remains a series of interesting stories to be told about the evolution and devolution of the office of commissioner over the decades, and the Machiavellian intrigues behind the throne that have resulted in enormous changes to our national pastime -- but Holtzman has not told it. You might find it interesting if you have little background in baseball history, but most serious baseball readers will learn nothing new from this book.