Joe Black: More Than a Dodger Discussion

[Brina]

It’s that time of year where we read a book commemorating this year’s World Series winner. Lance and I both knew going in that between the Dodgers and Yankees it would be tricky to find a book that most of us hadn’t read before. Enter one Joe Black, a biography written by his daughter. Black was a vital cog on the Brooklyn Dodgers early 1950s teams that battled the Yankees in the World Series most years. Some of us are getting started over this weekend as we battle baseball withdrawal and we would love to have more group members join us.

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

Our library has this title as an e-book through Hoopla! Have only used Hoopla for Audio so will be reading this on tablet instead of Kindle. Am finishing up 2 books for Historical Fiction Challenge and will then start Joe Black: More than a Dodger.

Am a slow reader and probably will take me longer to read on tablet then on Kindle Paperwhite.

Brina & Lance; do we comment while reading or wait until finished? I'm assumimg since this is non-fiction that we don't worry about spoilers?

Looking forward to reading this!

[Brina]

I usually comment as I go along. I’m also offline on Saturdays so I have more time to read. Yes it’s nonfiction. I don’t care about spoilers anyway- I never use them. Peggy, I’m glad you are joining us and comment as you see fit.

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

Brina wrote: "I usually comment as I go along. I’m also offline on Saturdays so I have more time to read. Yes it’s nonfiction. I don’t care about spoilers anyway- I never use them. Peggy, I’m glad you are joinin..."

Thanks, Brina!

[Lance]

Very glad to have join in the discussion Peggy! I too comment as I go along. No worries if you’re slower, just feel free to add comments whenever you want.

[Brina]

Not this book but I found a Yankees book that I haven’t read. The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant which is the basis for Damn Yankees. I hope it’s good for some laughs as dated as it is.

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

Lance wrote: "Very glad to have join in the discussion Peggy! I too comment as I go along. No worries if you’re slower, just feel free to add comments whenever you want."

Thanks, Lance!

[Brina]

I am starting. I’m working tomorrow and usually bring a book with me. Meaning I’ll probably finish on Saturday. I am the opposite. When I have time I am a fast reader. I’m concerned that one day I will also be in the audio category so I’m taking full advantage now.

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

Brina wrote: "Not this book but I found a Yankees book that I haven’t read. The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant which is the basis for Damn Yankees. I hope it’s good for some laughs as dated as i..."

Look forward to your thoughts on this as it's at Hoopla Audio. As a baseball fan am ashamed I've never watched the movie!

[Lance]

Never heard of that book. Also never saw the movie, but have seen “Damn Yankees” twice on stage - once at a college theatre and once at a small local one. Both times I enjoyed it.

[Brina]

I saw the movie with my grandma. She was a Dodgers fan and loved musicals so she thought I would like it. I only like the part about Lola so it will be interesting to see how it translates to book form. Maybe Brooklyn was what was cursed. It took the team moving west to be able to keep beating the Yankees. The 1955 team was old and took seven games and then they left two years later. Anyway I’m glad we started this. The only sports I could find tonight is NHL tonight. I’m not in the mood for pointy ball.

[Lance]

Only read the intro so far. No games for me tonight…Timberwolves tomorrow but will be reading at lunch time.

[Brina]

I also read intro. I had intention to read a few chapters and then I fell asleep. The last two nights were too late. Now I’m wide awake and watching the 2018 AFC championship game on YouTube. Yes I have all of his games saved. It beat out hockey for my sports of the night.

[Brina]

Finished 1st third of book. It goes back and forth between the 1952 season and Black’s life until he joined the Dodgers. Eventually the threads will merge once that season ends. Quite an interesting man and I look forward to finding more about him.

[Brina]

Finished today as expected. What a great man.

[Lance]

I’m about a quarter of the way through. I like the format of back and forth between the baseball and his personal life. The passages by his daughter are a nice touch. (Didn’t read much last night - Timberwolves [also tonight] and this afternoon - golfing while I still can.). Figure I’ll get to at least 50% tomorrow

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

Read the Forward comments by Peter O'Malley and Mary Jo Black. Had heard of Joe Black but had no idea that he had such an interesting life.

Started Chapter 1 and loved this quote: "The Dodgers made all of Brooklyn feel on top of the world," author Michael D'Antonio wrote, "except at World Series time."

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

Finished Chapter 1. Great "play by play" of the first game of 1952 WS vs Yankees. Amazing that Black got the start as a rookie.

Another fun quote from Mickey Mantle: "You didn't know whether to feel sorry for the Dodgers or view them as you would a dangerous, wounded animal."

Reading on tablet is hard on my eyes so going offline to read a historical fiction novel on Kindle Paperwhite. Really looking forward to continuing this tomorrow!

[Lance]

At about the one-third mark. It doesn’t matter how many time I read stories about the Negro Leagues, I always have a mixture of sadness (at their treatment and living conditions) and happiness. The latter is because of the player’s joy to just be playing the game they love. In this book, I really enjoyed the description of the type of baseball they played, with the emphasis on speed.

[Harold]

Let me know if this is really worth the time to read- Joe Black. I know some of you are reading it. i can get it from the library. Is it special, or just ok?

[Brina]

It’s not special special. It touches on his time in the negro leagues and life after baseball. He was a good person but in terms of out of this world book, no. I read in a day.

[Harold]

thanks Brina

[Lance]

Agree with Brina - I’m halfway through and enjoying it, but it isn’t one that has much of a “wow” factor.

[Lance]

Not sure if should bring this up, since I don’t know if Peggy has reached this point yet but there was an item during Joe’s NegroLeague days that I wanted to bring up.

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

Lance wrote: "Not sure if should bring this up, since I don’t know if Peggy has reached this point yet but there was an item during Joe’s NegroLeague days that I wanted to bring up."

Lance: Don't worry about posting spoilers on my account. Since am reading on tablet will be awhile until I finish. With eye problems can only read e-books for short time then switch to either reading different book on Kindle Paperwhite (much easier on eyes) or listen to an Audio.

Am at chapter 5 and do agree with you & Brina that it's interesting but will probably end up rating 3 stars. Stiil am glad this was chosen as find his life story inspiring and I also prefer to read about this era in baseball.

[Brina]

I’ve read so much about those Dodgers teams. They were portrayed as larger than life, so I always thought that Joe Black was more of a star than he actually was. I am glad that I read this but the book itself wasn’t memorable compared to others. We’ll have to find some more books to get us through the off-season.

[Lance]

Okay, I’ll ask this question. In one of the chapters on Black’s time in the Negro Leagues, the topic was Robinson breaking the color barrier and it was mentioned that some, including Black, thought that Satchel Paige would have been a better choice to do so because he was more popular and well-known to white fans. Paige is quoted as saying he would have been the better choice. I’m not so sure about that…would he have endured the racist taunting as well as Robinson did?

[Brina]

We will never know because he wasn’t first. He had a charismatic personality but do we know if he would have had the guts not to fight back, we can debate for eternity.

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

Am up to chapter 8. When it's mentioned about Paige it's mentioned that Branch Rickey had numerous conversations not just with Robinson but also his wife, Rachel. He wanted them to be prepared for the controversary they would be facing. From what I've read elsewhere it was always felt that Jackie could weather this best of any of his contemporary black baseball players.

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

PS. I cried when the moment when PeeWee Reese put his arm around Jackie was brought up.The descriptions of the racial hate has been so difficult to read about.

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

It's interesting that his daughter, Mary Jo, is listed as the author first and Chuck Schoffner (sport journalist?) is listed second. The writing suggests to me that this was mainly written by Schoffner as so far there have only been a few comments by Mary Jo.

[Lance]

That’s how it is through the book (about 3/4 finished) and I like her stories. Enough to be interesting and at times a nice distraction but not too much to be annoying

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

Have gotten to the Cuban baseball section, 1950, where he briefly meets Fidel Castro. Had forgotten that Castro played baseball as a young man.

[Lance]

Finished the book tonight. Honestly I enjoyed reading about his life after pitching more than I did about that special 1952 season. My full review has been posted.

Something I learned was that even though I do read a lot about the Washington Senators (makes sense since they are now the Twins), I did not know Black pitched for them in 1958.

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

Have started Chapter 16 which opens with the Freedom Riders of the early 1960's. This was a very important era of the Civil Rights movement as both whites and blacks rode those buses from Washington DC into the South.

Maybe because I'm older but have had some trouble with the back and forth timeline.

Even though Dodger's lost to Yankees in 1952 WS it was interesting to get Joe Black's perspective on that series. Sounds like his pitching so hard led to his shortened baseball career.

[Lance]

Overall this book was good. I have posted my review here and on my blog. Link below. I was impressed more with the details on his life after baseball, such as his time with Greyhound, than I was with the baseball portions.

http://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/202...

[Lance]

Speaking of Dodgers - there’s a new book on Don Drysdale coming in February - Don Drysdale: Up and In: The Life of a Dodgers Legend - just got approved to read an ARC.

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

Lance wrote: "Overall this book was good. I have posted my review here and on my blog. Link below. I was impressed more with the details on his life after baseball, such as his time with Greyhound, than I was wi..."

Lance; Nice review! Like you I think I'm going to enjoy the post baseball chapters best.

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

Finished Chapter 20. This was by far my favorite chapter. It focuses on Joe Black's involvement with BAT. Baseball Assistance Team. Very inspiring and heartwarming. So many young players had no plan for their post baseball years.

Also brought up his many marriages: Seven!

[Lance]

When I read that, I went, Whoa! A modern day Henry VIII

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

Lance wrote: "When I read that, I went, Whoa! A modern day Henry VIII"

lol: His daughter said the he told her he had a true love but didn't marry her and she never found out if that was true or not.

Finished today. Rated 4 stars. Even though he was not a perfect human (who is!!) his life was inspiring. He mentored so many baseball players and was a friend to people from all walks of life.

Thank you Lance & Brina for chosing this title for the group post WS read. I doubt if I would have read this otherwise :)

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

Here's the link to my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I don't usually write such long reviews because of eye issues but I guess Joe Black's inspiring life inspired me!

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

Edited my review as I listed his daughter's name incorrectly as Mary Jo. Her name is Martha Jo.

[Lance]

Great review, Peggy as is your story of becoming a Padres fan. Of course we knew it but it was great you shared it in the review.

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

Lance wrote: "Great review, Peggy as is your story of becoming a Padres fan. Of course we knew it but it was great you shared it in the review."

Thanks, Lance. Will always have a special place in my heart for pre-1970 Dodgers.