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Werken van Mike Shropshire
Seasons in Hell: With Billy Martin, Whitey Herzog and "The Worst Baseball Team in History"--the 1973-1975 Texas Rangers (1996) 106 exemplaren
The Last Real Season: A Hilarious Look Back at 1975 - When Major Leaguers Made Peanuts, the Umpires Wore Red, and Billy… (2008) 40 exemplaren
When the Tuna Went Down to Texas: How Bill Parcells Led the Cowboys Back to the Promised Land (1849) 19 exemplaren
Runnin' with the Big Dogs: The True, Unvarnished Story of the Texas-Oklahoma Football Wars (2006) 18 exemplaren
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This was one of the funniest books I have ever read.
There's really no need for this book to have been written. Shropshire was basically commissioned to write it before the season started, and he followed through in a rather half-hearted manner, without an ounce of insight (but with a few good doses of racism). Written on the spot, there's no reflection about what came after--which was basically nothing. Parcells' last three years with Dallas were up and down, ending in another playoff loss. I think I'm done with Shropshire after this mess!
Shropshire is genuinely funny, and he knows it. Nevertheless, his writing isn't annoying. On the other hand, the very title of the book is inaccurate. The 1973 Rangers were certainly awful, losing over a hundred games, but the 1974 version managed by Billy Martin finished second in their division. 1975 was, of course, a huge disappointment, as the team, expected to win their division, finished 79-83. This book spends as much time (or more) on the first season as the other two combined. Comic ineptitude is definitely more funny. Whitey Herzog, the manager replaced near the end of 1973 by Billy Martin, is especially memorable, with his deadpan pessimism about his team's talent and its chances. Martin also gets in a few good lines, but certainly (no surprise) isn't as likable as Herzog. Of the players, Jim Merritt, the veteran pitcher trying to save his career, is perhaps the most memorable. In general, this book goes for the laugh rather than trying to find something profound in baseball, and it suffers in comparison to something like Jeff Pearlman's The Bad Guys Won (about the 1986 NY Mets). Shropshire is too nice to name names in some of the more embarassing or extreme incidents or quotes, so this book is sort of a throwaway in the end--but an unquestionably enjoyable one.… (meer)
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- Werken
- 9
- Leden
- 226
- Populariteit
- #99,470
- Waardering
- 3.4
- Besprekingen
- 13
- ISBNs
- 20
It was ok. It had moments. I enjoyed reading about some old players I hadn't thought of in years and especially about the infamous Ten Cent Beer Night in Cleveland. But overall, the humor was sophomoric and the story was as much a loving ode to alcoholism as it was about a tragically, comically, terrible baseball team and its players.… (meer)