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Baseball and the Baby Boomer: A History, Commentary, and Memoir
Tapping into the nostalgic era of feel-good baseball in the late 1940s and moving up to the Mitchell report, this collection documents the story of baseball as seen through the eyes and experiences of the postwar generation. From daytime games heard on the radio to players testifying before Congress on steroid usage, baseball has undergone a major transformation over the past sixty years. This chronicling of such vast changes features stories involving famed players such as Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson, Roger Maris, and Nolan Ryan.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 18, 2023
RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: “BASEBALL HELPS SOME ADULTS NEVER GROW UP!”
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The author Talmage Boston is a lawyer as well as a writer and like many of us men who never grew up… he had dreamed of being a Major League baseball player. For him… writing this book about players from his generation is as close as he will come to the big leagues. For me… reading books like this and writing reviews is as close as I’ll come. Talmage (In a normal review I probably would have used the author’s last name here instead of his first… but being that his last name is Boston… the potential reader might get confused and think I’m talking about the Red Sox or the city. And by the way… that’s how Boston… became Boston’s favorite team when he was a young boy growing up in Texas. Seeing his last name (“Boston”) on the front of the Red Sox’s road jerseys… resulted in Boston’s favorite team being Boston.). (Wooo! Glad that part of the review is over.) And of course if the Red Sox were the author’s favorite team during those years… then the odds are quite high… that the “YAZ”- Carl Yastrzemski would be his favorite player. But more on that later.
Let’s first define what “those years” consisted of. The author and I both are part of the “BABY-BOOMER” generation. The first thing I learned from this book is that the time period that defines the “BABY-BOOMER” generation is a longer period than I would have guessed. The author lists those magical years as 1946 thru 1964… off the top of my head I would have thought it was approximately 1946 thru about 1956… but lo and behold… according to the internet the author is correct. The author divides the book into nine chapters that are really nine short stories. The subjects of these short stories are: “MICKEY MANTLE & JIMMY PIERSALL”… which basically describes Father and son relationships going wrong. “YAZ & THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM”… the author’s favorite childhood player and his TRIPLE CROWN season leading the Red Sox to the 1967 World Series. “JACKIE ROBINSON & BRANCH RICKEY”… the integration of baseball… and it’s interesting to note that Jackie was my all-time idol… and the author attempts to cover his entire lifetime in a restricted space. In my opinion this is fine if the reader is a pedestrian fan… rather than the type of fanatical fan that the author himself and I both claim to be. “NOLAN RYAN”… detailing his record breaking career. “BART GIAMATTI”… the former Commissioner Of Baseball who was famous for loving baseball with the eloquence of a great poet… who was forced to suspend Pete Rose for tarnishing the game that we all love… and the fact that Rose’s transgressions were anything but poetic… is probably what killed the Commissioner. “COOPERSTOWN & THE HALL OF FAME”… this shrine to baseball and young boy’s dreams… seen through a boy’s heart… that still resides inside of all “BABY-BOOMER” boys that just happen to be over fifty-years-old. “ROGER MARIS”… the man who despite threats of asterisks… and the ghost of “THE BABE”… and eight extra games… hit the magical *SIXTY-ONE-HOMERUNS*… and I was absolutely thrilled… and shouting in unison with the author… as he derogatorily … and resolutely… attacked the shameful steroid era… that mocks the entire history of baseball and its holiest of holy records… records that should remain on the highest peaks of Mount Olympus on hallowed ground… engulfed with rarefied air… so that future generations of boys and men with dreams… will never doubt that they were earned without illegal and artificial enhancements. “FRIENDS IN THE GAME”… the author’s personal experiences with John Grisham… Dr. Bobby Brown… Lou Brock… and Bobby Bragan. “FIRST PERSON PERSPECTIVE”… tying it all together with the Author’s family and son.
This is an enjoyable book that drips with the loving emotion of a lifetime baseball fan. I feel that the way this book is laid out with nine short stories that its biggest potential impact will be with a reader who is looking for an overview on multiple subjects… rather than the reader who wants intricate detail that would be provided in a biography.
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The author Talmage Boston is a lawyer as well as a writer and like many of us men who never grew up… he had dreamed of being a Major League baseball player. For him… writing this book about players from his generation is as close as he will come to the big leagues. For me… reading books like this and writing reviews is as close as I’ll come. Talmage (In a normal review I probably would have used the author’s last name here instead of his first… but being that his last name is Boston… the potential reader might get confused and think I’m talking about the Red Sox or the city. And by the way… that’s how Boston… became Boston’s favorite team when he was a young boy growing up in Texas. Seeing his last name (“Boston”) on the front of the Red Sox’s road jerseys… resulted in Boston’s favorite team being Boston.). (Wooo! Glad that part of the review is over.) And of course if the Red Sox were the author’s favorite team during those years… then the odds are quite high… that the “YAZ”- Carl Yastrzemski would be his favorite player. But more on that later.
Let’s first define what “those years” consisted of. The author and I both are part of the “BABY-BOOMER” generation. The first thing I learned from this book is that the time period that defines the “BABY-BOOMER” generation is a longer period than I would have guessed. The author lists those magical years as 1946 thru 1964… off the top of my head I would have thought it was approximately 1946 thru about 1956… but lo and behold… according to the internet the author is correct. The author divides the book into nine chapters that are really nine short stories. The subjects of these short stories are: “MICKEY MANTLE & JIMMY PIERSALL”… which basically describes Father and son relationships going wrong. “YAZ & THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM”… the author’s favorite childhood player and his TRIPLE CROWN season leading the Red Sox to the 1967 World Series. “JACKIE ROBINSON & BRANCH RICKEY”… the integration of baseball… and it’s interesting to note that Jackie was my all-time idol… and the author attempts to cover his entire lifetime in a restricted space. In my opinion this is fine if the reader is a pedestrian fan… rather than the type of fanatical fan that the author himself and I both claim to be. “NOLAN RYAN”… detailing his record breaking career. “BART GIAMATTI”… the former Commissioner Of Baseball who was famous for loving baseball with the eloquence of a great poet… who was forced to suspend Pete Rose for tarnishing the game that we all love… and the fact that Rose’s transgressions were anything but poetic… is probably what killed the Commissioner. “COOPERSTOWN & THE HALL OF FAME”… this shrine to baseball and young boy’s dreams… seen through a boy’s heart… that still resides inside of all “BABY-BOOMER” boys that just happen to be over fifty-years-old. “ROGER MARIS”… the man who despite threats of asterisks… and the ghost of “THE BABE”… and eight extra games… hit the magical *SIXTY-ONE-HOMERUNS*… and I was absolutely thrilled… and shouting in unison with the author… as he derogatorily … and resolutely… attacked the shameful steroid era… that mocks the entire history of baseball and its holiest of holy records… records that should remain on the highest peaks of Mount Olympus on hallowed ground… engulfed with rarefied air… so that future generations of boys and men with dreams… will never doubt that they were earned without illegal and artificial enhancements. “FRIENDS IN THE GAME”… the author’s personal experiences with John Grisham… Dr. Bobby Brown… Lou Brock… and Bobby Bragan. “FIRST PERSON PERSPECTIVE”… tying it all together with the Author’s family and son.
This is an enjoyable book that drips with the loving emotion of a lifetime baseball fan. I feel that the way this book is laid out with nine short stories that its biggest potential impact will be with a reader who is looking for an overview on multiple subjects… rather than the reader who wants intricate detail that would be provided in a biography.
August 19, 2016
As there are middle aged white guys like me who love the idea of baseball, there will be middle aged white guys willing to write about their love of it.
This book is fine...some chapters about his favorite players (Mantle, Yaz, etc.), but nothing new.
This book is fine...some chapters about his favorite players (Mantle, Yaz, etc.), but nothing new.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews