JOHN McGRAW (Penguin Sports Library) - Softcover

Alexander, Charles

3.94

118 ratings by Goodreads

9780140096002: JOHN McGRAW (Penguin Sports Library)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140096000 ISBN 13: 9780140096002

Publisher: Penguin Books, 1989

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Traces the life and career of the McGraw, who, for thirty years, managed the New York Giants and discusses his influence on professional baseball

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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)

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