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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Okay Read, November 28, 2000
Peter Golenbock is the king of the oral history genre in sports writing. In his latest book, he actually takes on the histories of two teams, the vaunted Cardinals and the hapless Browns. In addition to the story of the teams, you get a history lesson of the city of St. Louis which is fairly interesting. Mr. Golenbock spends alot of time on the Cardinals from their origins through the World Series years of the 1960's. After that he spends virtual no time on the 70's teams and very little on the 80's teams even though they won a World Series in '82 and made two others. Trying to grab the younger reader, he devotes too much space to McGwire's home run chase which even though it only took place two years ago, has already be written about to death. The chapters on the Browns are mildly interesting if only for the Bill Veeck stories. Overall the book is a decent read and contains some interesting antidotes from Stan Musial, Red Schoendist, Curt Flood, Tim McCarver, Dizzy Dean and others.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Some Good Content, Terrible Editorial Work, August 2, 2002
While Golenbock has a stellar reputation for sports writing and the chronicling of oral sports history, and that shines through in parts of this book, he has to be embarrassed by the failure of editors to remove numerous typographical, editing, and factual errors contained in this book.
For example, in speaking of the move of the Cardinals from Sportsman's Park (by then also called Busch Stadium) to the current Busch Stadium, he states, "the new stadium meant saying goodbye to a small intimate ballpark with few amenities but great sightlines and saying hello to a gleaming metal bowl carpeted with artificial turf. . ." While it's an interesting juxtaposition, fact of the matter is, when the Cardinals moved to Busch Stadium in 1966, there was no artificial turf; the new stadium originally had natural grass. As well, when speaking of John Tudor's turnaround during the 1985 season, he tells how Tudor started the season 1-9, then won 20 of his last 21 decisions, and led the league in shutouts with 14. In fact, Tudor did win 20 of his last 21 decisions; however, he started the season 1-7 and recorded 10 shutouts in 1985. Finally, it was Greg Mathews, not Gary Mathews, who started game 1 of the 1987 NLCS for the Cardinals.If one can accept these and other glaring errors, the "read" itself is entertaining and enjoyable for any St. Louis baseball fan. In the end, I'm left with the lingering thought of what else, if anything, is factually wrong about the accounts of the Browns and Cardinals.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
A lot of fun for baseball historians, March 19, 2002
A good book about the St.Louis baseball teams, especially since there's little out there about the Browns. One thing that keeps this one from being as good as Golenbock's best, "Bums", is the paucity of anecdotes from fans.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Cardinal fans will love this book, January 31, 2001
I admit I'm biased, I grew up in St. Louis and was treated to the great Cardinal teams of the 80's. There's no doubt. baseball fans will love this book, Golenbock does an incredible job of taking readers through the birth of both the Cardinals and Browns in St. Louis. My only criticism, the parts of the book on the Browns did tend to drag.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Not comprehensive, but a good read, June 3, 2000
This is the latest in a series of oral history books Peter Golenbock has written about baseball teams. It looks like this time he bit off more than he could chew. Golenbock tries to tackle the histories of both the St. Louis Cardinals and the St. Louis Browns in one book. It would have been better if he would have split these into two books. He misses out on or glosses over several key events in Cardinal history (Musial's retirement, Torre's MVP are examples) as he tries to cram the histories of two teams in one book.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
A baseball town gets its due, September 20, 2001
Peter Golenbock is known for his oral histories of such teams as the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs and Brooklyn Dodgers, and this latest book on St. Louis baseball is a worthy addition to the collection. The Cardinals have a storied history, from Rogers Hornsby to Dizzy Dean, from Stan Musial to Bob Gibson, and from Lou Brock to Willie McGee. From a ragtag organization to one of the storied franchises in baseball, this book also details the people who owned and managed the Cards, such as Branch Rickey, Sam Breadon, Gussie Busch and Bing Devine. What makes The Spirit of St. Louis even more of a must-read for baseball fans are the sections devoted to the St. Louis Browns. The Browns were at one time the more popular St. Louis ballclub, and George Sisler was as good a player as any who played in St. Louis. Unfortunately, the Browns suffered through mediocrity, until 1944 when they won the pennant. (and played the Cardinals in the World Series!). The decline of the Browns culminating in owner Bill Veeck putting tiny Eddie Gaedel up to the plate is also of interest.
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Cardinal fans will love this book, January 31, 2001
I admit I'm biased, I grew up in St. Louis and was treated to the great Cardinal teams of the 80's. There's no doubt. baseball fans will love this book, Golenbock does an incredible job of taking readers through the birth of both the Cardinals and Browns in St. Louis. My only criticism, the parts of the book on the Browns did tend to drag.
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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Good but not great history, June 28, 2003
Strong points: Origins of St. Louis baseball, the Cardinals years up to 1950 (particularly Branch Rickey), the good Cardinals teams in the 1960's (including the Curt Flood story), the 1944 Browns, and the Browns under Bill Veeck.Weak points: The Browns during 1920-1940, the Cardinals during 1970-1997 (there was more to 1982 than Darrell Porter trying real hard), and no mention of the Federal League St. Louis Terriers. I am something of a stat-head, so I also have to point out the book has not benefited from the advances made by Bill James et al. For example, saying the team was hurt by its pitching, then citing the pitchers' records as evidence is not helpful.
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6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
the best of golenbocks books, March 2, 2000
EXCELLENT.IF YOU ARE A CARDINALS FAN,OR A BASEBALL HISTORY BUFF(LIKE ME), YOU WILL LOVE THIS BOOK. I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE AUTHORS NEXT BOOK.I HOPE HE DOES ONE ON THE GIANTS.
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A great read, February 12, 2007
An excellent overview of baseball in St.Louis. The author uses an oral history approach, often letting the major leaguers speak for themselves. Even at 600 pages, it's a quick, attention-grabbing read. A great read not only for fans of St. Louis baseball, but baseball fans in general.
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