Review: Miracle Ball by Brian Biegel

Title: Miracle Ball
Author: Brian Biegel
Copyright: 2009
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307452689



Amazon|Borders|B&N

CSI: MLB - 4 stars - a book review

The premise of MIRACLE BALL is irresistible: with only two grainy pictures from 1951, can a man track down the arguably most famous home run baseball of all time?

I really enjoyed Brian Biegel's account of his search for the missing Bobby Thompson home run ball from 1951. While I wouldn't call MIRACLE BALL compelling, it was certainly beyond fascinating, with numerous personal accounts of how that moment in history changed lives and how that crack of the bat was so pivotal to not only baseball, but also to the lives of so many fans.

While this book may disappoint some baseball fans for lack of hard core baseball fanaticism and statistics, it has enough emotion from people affected by "The Shot Heard 'Round The World" during the golden era of baseball to make it memorable.

Besides the evidence presented, the most compelling aspect of this book is the lore from a time when baseball truly was "America's Pastime."

Definitely a recommended read for baseball enthusiasts, New Yorkers, and anyone who might have been watching their black and white TV's on October 3, 1951.

Good reading,

Plants and Books

Review: Bottom of the Ninth by Michael Shapiro (4 stars)

Historic Baseball Moments

BOTTOM OF THE NINTH is a baseball fan's dream. The book is filled to the top with historical moments, lore, and characters that shaped America's national pastime. The books spans several years in one of baseball's defining moments in history.

This book is not for everyone, as it is loaded with players, managers, political figures, prominent city people, cities, states, and their little (or big) stories and motivations. With the sheer volume of stuff going on in this book it is hard to keep track, but the mastery of the writing is almost magical. The author, Michael Shapiro keeps dumping data, quotes, stories, and reports, and accounts but it never gets lost or overpowering because the way it is all integrated into the story and the chapters. Reading this book is truly like reminiscing about the good old days of baseball, which is further supported because most of the people involved in the main two story arcs aren't even big name baseball players! It's like sitting around a bar listening to people talk about the phenomenal game of baseball in the Micky Mantle era.

BOTTOM OF THE NINTH is a tale of a sport (and the men and women associated with it) defining themselves for the next several decades. I learned so much from this book that I am amazed. I never knew that there was serious consideration for the development of a third baseball league, the Continental League. There is so much history about politics and baseball cities. The stories of Casey Stengel are classic. His personality and the way the players and public viewed him is captured perfectly. Reading the pages you can feel the disgust, contempt, and appreciation that various people felt at any given moment.

This is a wonderful tale about the people of baseball in the 50s. There are enough play-by-play of classic great games that any baseball fan, no matter how die-hard, will enjoy this book. If you get chills from hearing "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" you will enjoy this book more than others. If you just like baseball, then you may be discouraged by the massive amount of information conveyed in each chapter.

Good reading,

Plants and Books