PA Book Club

Thank you for your interest.

the dominance of the DiMaggios in the book (even their parents). I actually do have more to say about all this but I'm trying to finish it today.

are not in the same league. Stanton is a triple A writer. Yes, it starts with Halberstam having a more coherent vision, but that comes down to basically starting with a better idea/concept. Stanton's idea of having a book on a rivalry between Ruth and Cobb culminate in a charity golf match means a.) there's not a whole lot to the rivalry to begin with or b.) there's not enough meat to the story even if there's a decent "rivalry" conceptually, i.e., the home run era versus the pure hitter's era. If you want to write about a rivalry, the stakes better be there, and basically there's a lot more to this conflict because the stakes are the world championship. Cobb's teams just weren't in the running for the pennant, so you get a weak rivalry.

That's where Stanton's concept is weaker than Halberstam's. But the biggest difference is Halberstam's ability to paint a picture. Great, great moments, especially when he's conjuring up images of guys on the street corners waiting for the evening paper (and sports page), just to re-read what they'd just heard on the radio a few hours earlier. In fact, Halberstam's descriptions of the guy's hanging out on the street corners debating the finer points of just about every facet of the game--including the announcers--reminds me of PA. Only we've moved from the street corner to the virtual stoop.

Got a load of other thoughts on this book. Speaking of Hemmingway, that was another great plus. I like the way Halberstam brought in Toots Shore and the regulars at his restaurant to frame just how revered the Yankees were. Absolutely priceless the moment where Toots introduces Hemmingway as a writer and I think it was Yogi who has no idea who he is.