Mike Sowell

In 1920, major league baseball player Ray Chapman was killed by a pitch made by Carl Mays. This book tells the backstory of the players involved in this tragic event as well as that of the year’s pennant race. Notable names, such as Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb, make an appearance to give the story context. I had mixed feeling about this book.

On the plus side:
• I learned the details about this tragedy, which ultimately led to mandatory use of batting helmets many years later
• It was interesting comparing modern day baseball to 1920’s baseball, where a player might get a “ground rule” double because his ball hit a policeman’s horse or a game getting called due to darkness or parents handing small children onto the field to shake Babe Ruth’s hand after a home run or fans being charged with petty larceny for keeping balls hit into the stands

On the minus side:
• Too much detail for my taste, including blow by blow accounts of many individual games
• Numerous formatting issues, such as spelling errors, inconsistent use of quotation marks, and misplaced hyphens in the e-book
• It lacked a personal connection to the players; instead, it was a straight-forward narrative telling what happened first, second, third, etc. I guess I just didn’t care for the style of the author, which is an individual taste.

Recommended to those who enjoy detailed stories of the history of baseball.… (meer)