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Bezig met laden... The Original Curse: Did the Cubs Throw the 1918 World Series to Babe Ruth's Red Sox and Incite the Black Sox Scandal? (2010)door Sean Deveney
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 Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek.   casebook | Jan 17, 2012 |  The thesis itself--that gambling was to baseball prior to 1920 what steroids have been to baseball since the mid-1980s and that the fates of the Red Sox and Cubs reflect their notorious involvement in that culture--is well-supported given the limited evidence and forced speculation necessary to provide academic proof. One aspect that is lacking is a focus on Babe Ruth's potential involvement with gamblers; instead, Ruth's overall character is assessed, and one scene where he is leaving a party of reporters and gamblers to take care of male-female business gives no indication as to whether Ruth was involved or not. However, Ruth's limited involvement in the Series itself renders the point one of irrelevant unsatisfied curiosity more than substantive failure. Either way, it is interesting to consider the individual and franchise curses--or, should I say, developments--subsequent to the alleged fixes (Games 4 and 5 were supposedly fixed, the Cubs losing Game 4 and the Red Sox Game 5 to prolong the series and enhance gate receipts). On the whole, Deveney does a good job capturing the nature of baseball prior to its "too big to fail" status in the face of a ravaging war overseas and inflationary economic epoch. Moreover, unlike many authors of texts regarding potential fixes and conspiracies, he realistically captures a plausible conspiracy by linking it with appropriate incentive-constraint and risk-reward scenarios. I therefore recommend it, but with the caution that it looks like it will flow faster than it does, even if not a lengthy book. Even so, it took me a grand total of two days. (  ) jrgoetziii | Jun 6, 2010 | Deveney starts out looking at the possibility that the 1918 Chicago Cubs may have thrown the World Series to the Boston Red Sox. His main hook is that this is the beginning of a curse against both franchises and not the selling of Babe Ruth by the Red Sox or the Cubs' billy-goat curse. This is one of the main flaws of the book in that Deveney begins the book by stating that there is no such thing as curses and that the bad luck of the two franchises was caused largely by poor management. Then, he argues that the two franchises are cursed for the rest of the book. Deveney does not appear to be real consistent in his thoughts. The other main problem that I had with the book was that it spent too much time looking at the 1918 Cubs and Red Sox. A book about pre-1919 gambling and fixed games in general would have been much more interesting. Deveney lists several rumored scandals in the first chapter of the book, which only serves to create interest from the reader that is never fulfilled by the author. Perhaps this would be a better idea for a future book by Deveney rather than an entire book about this one isolated incident. (  ) fuzzy_patters | Jan 3, 2010 | geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
IN THE GRAND TRADITION OFEIGHT MEN OUT . . . the untold story of baseball's ORIGINAL SCANDAL Did the Chicago Cubs throw the WorldSeries in 1918--and get away with it? Who were the players involved--and why did they do it? Were gambling and corruption more widespread across the leagues thanpreviously believed? Were the players and teams "cursed" by their actions? Finally, is it time to rewrite baseball history? With exclusive access to surprising new evidence, Sporting News reporterSean Deveney details a scandal at the core of baseball's greatestfolklore--in a golden era as exciting and controversial as our sports worldtoday. This inside look at the pivotal year of 1918 proves that baseballhas always been a game overrun with colorful characters, intense humandrama, and explosive controversy. "The Original Curse is not just about baseball. It is a sweeping portrait of America at war in 1918. . . . In the end, the proper question is not, 'How could a player from that era fix the World Series?' It's, 'How could he not?'" --Ken Rosenthal, FOX Sports, from theIntroduction "Sean Deveney plays connect-the-dots in this intriguing account of a possible conspiracy to throw the 1918 World Series. Thoroughly researched and well written, The Original Curse is a must-read for baseball fans and anyone who loves a good mystery. Is Max Flack the Shoeless Joe of the 1918 Cubs? Deveney lays out the case and let's readers decide if the fix was in." --Paul Sullivan, Cubs beat writer, Chicago Tribune "This book gives the reader a fun and honest look at baseball as it used to be-- the good guys, the gamblers, the cheaters, the drunks, the inept leaders. But, more than that, it puts those characters into the context of Chicago, Boston and America at the time of World War I, and you wind up with a unique way to explain the motivations of those characters." --David Kaplan, host, Chicago Tribune Live and WGN's Sports Central "Deveney's painstaking study of the 1918 World Series between the Cubs and Red Sox argues that the Black Sox scandal was not an aberration and might have had an antecedent. Deveney's scholarship does not detract from his ability to spin a good tale: his tendency to imagine players' conversations will remind readers of Leigh Montville's The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth.... A welcome companion to Susan Dellinger's Red Legs and Black Sox: Edd Roush and the Untold Story of the 1919 World Series, Deveney's book contributes greatly to our understanding of this decisive period in baseball and American morals." --Library Journal Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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 Google Books — Bezig met laden...GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)796.357The arts Recreational and performing arts Athletic and outdoor sports and games Ball sports Ball and stick sports BaseballLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde: (3.72)
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