From the perspective of 2007, the unintentional irony of Chance's
boast is manifest-- these days, the question is when will the Cubs
ever win a game they have to have. In October 1908, though, no one
would have laughed: The Cubs were, without doubt, baseball's
greatest team-- the first dynasty of the 20th century. Crazy '08
recounts the 1908 season-- the year when Peerless Leader Frank
Chance's men went toe to toe to toe with John McGraw and Christy
Mathewson's New York Giants and Honus Wagner's Pittsburgh Pirates
in the greatest pennant race the National League has ever seen. The
American League has its own three-cornered pennant fight, and
players like Cy Young, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, and the egregiously
crooked Hal Chase ensured that the junior circuit had its moments.
But it was the National League's-- and the Cubs'-- year. Crazy '08,
however, is not just the exciting story of a great season. It is
also about the forces that created modern baseball, and the America
that produced it. In 1908, crooked pols run Chicago's First Ward,
and gambling magnates control the Yankees. Fans regularly invade
the field to do handstands or argue with the umps; others shoot
guns from rickety grandstands prone to burning. There are
anarchists on the loose and racial killings in the town that made
Lincoln. On the flimsiest of pretexts, General Abner Doubleday
becomes a symbol of Americanism, and baseball's own anthem, Take Me
Out to the Ballgame, is a hit. Picaresque and dramatic, 1908 is a
season in which so many weird and wonderful things happen that it
is somehow unsurprising that a hairpiece, a swarm of gnats, a
sudden bout of lumbago, and a disasterdown in the mines all play a
role in its outcome. And sometimes the events are not so wonderful
at all. There are several deaths by baseball, and the shadow of
corruption creeps closer to the heart of baseball-- the honesty of
the game itself. Simply put, 1908 is the year that baseball grew
up. Oh, and it was the last time the Cubs won the World Series.
Destined to be as memorable as the season it documents, Crazy '08
sets a new standard for what a book about baseball can be.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
