John McGraw - Softcover

Alexander, Charles C.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0803259255 ISBN 13: 9780803259256

Publisher: University of Nebraska Press, 1995

Synopsis

“He ate gunpowder every morning,” complained one umpire, “and washed it down with warm blood.” That described John McGraw, who in the 1890s was the rowdiest member of the ferocious Baltimore Orioles, the club that pioneered the hit-and-run, the cutoff, the squeeze play, and the “Baltimore chop.” In 1902 he began his thirty-season reign as manager of the Giants, winning ten pennants—a record matched only by Casey Stengel. His career in baseball spanned forty years and two eras—from the game’s raucous early days to its emergence as big business.Charles C. Alexander, a professor of history at Ohio University, Athens, and the author of Ty Cobb, calls John McGraw “perhaps the single most significant figure in baseball’s history before Babe Ruth transformed the game with his mammoth home runs and unparalleled showmanship.”

About this title

Review:

Alexander's marvelous biography of McGraw does what McGraw's own My Thirty Years in Baseball couldn't: it lets the volcano that was the man erupt in all its raw glory. A true baseball original, McGraw, as Alexander describes, "ate gunpowder every morning and washed it down with raw blood." He loved to win, but he hated losing more, and as manager of both the old Baltimore Orioles and New York Giants, he's the only skipper in the game's history to win almost 1,000 games more than he lost. McGraw was so outsized, flamboyant, fiery, and, at times, sentimental, that it would be easy to caricature him; Alexander's remarkable achievement here is that he doesn't (nor does he succumb to hero worship or bubble bursting). His triumph is letting McGraw stand on his own two spikes; the man--and the legend--have no problem standing up for themselves. --Jeff Silverman

Review:

“There has been only one manager—and his name is McGraw.”—Connie Mack (Connie Mack)

“Diligently researched and artfully written, John McGraw illuminates not only the man but the transformation of America and its national pastime between 1890 and 1930.”—San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco Chronicle)

“Absorbing. . . . Alexander is a lively writer and a crisp storyteller.”—New York Times (New York Times)

“From a historian of Alexander’s stature one can expect more than just another sports book, and the result is not disappointing. With great erudition and meticulous research, he brings to life not only a game and its competitors but a whole period of U.S. history.”—America (America)

“Sports biography at its best: an entertaining, scholarly treatment of the life and times of a legendary figure. . . . Alexander portrays famed Giant manager John McGraw without sentimental bias.”—Library Journal (Library Journal)

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0803259255
• ISBN 13: 9780803259256
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 371