This is a history of the dual pennant races of the 1908 season, a year that saw both the decades-old National League and the essentially brand new American League enjoy seasons in which three teams in each league were still in contention right up through the final week. Author Cait Murphy, though, focuses mostly on the National League race between the Pittsburgh Pirate, the Chicago Cubs and the New York Giants.

Not only were the pennant races exciting, but this particular season offers an excellent view of the game as it was evolving away from its earlier, extremely rowdy days, when professional baseball was often essentially a barroom brawl on grass, into something somewhat approximating the game we know today. Although, to be sure, subtle and not-so-subtle cheating, like elbowing a baserunner to slow his progress, or even tugging on his belt loop, vicious umpire baiting, fistfights and other forms of mayhem had certainly not disappeared. Some of the most famous players of early baseball history took part in the action that season, including Honus Wagner, Nap Lajoie, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, Joe McCarthy, Mordecai "Three Fingers" Brown, and the Cubs' famous double-play combination, Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers and Frank Chance. And then of course there was poor New York Giant Fred Merkle, whose base running gaff late in the season proved extremely costly to the Giants, so much so that the incident has lived in baseball lore for these 116 years as "Merkle's Boner."

The books seems extremely well researched, and Murphy's writing style is clear and appealingly breezy, even if she does occasionally slip into the over-indulgent metaphor. If you are at all interested in baseball history, this is a very fun book.

I should add that the author makes relatively quick reference to the fact that what we generally think of as Major League Baseball was entirely and emphatically segregated at this time. She does provide, about halfway through a brief history of (several pages long) of the history of this segregation and the major figures who worked to ensure that status would remain quo for so many decades. Murphy also briefly places that within the larger context of Jim Crow America as a whole. ( )

An interesting history of baseball at the time of the epic pennant races of 1908, which some diversions into some other relevant bits of history. Murphy writes with a perfect light touch. Picks up pieces of the lingo used by the ballplayers or sportswriters of the time, but doesn't go overboard. She writes with a sense of irony but doesn't let it override the interest of her story. Many of the greatest players of the era just pre-Ruth are playing at this time and Murphy does them justice.

This is a solidly written and extensively researched account of the 1908 baseball season, particularly the National League pennant chase between the Chicago Cubs, the New York Giants, and the Pittsburgh Pirates, which went down to the last day of the season. Along the way, we meet a cast of larger than life personalities and get to enjoy some hilarious stories, some of which may even be true. Murphy also digresses into other events of the times, which provides a feel for how baseball fit into the America of its times. Very well done. I'd take 1908 baseball over the current travesty any day. ( )

If 1908 truly was the greatest baseball season, as author Cait Murphy claims, then she has written a book in every way its equal. Well-honed prose that combines modern turns of phrase with archaic slang from the time it depicts, it sometimes trips on this richness, but overall, it's a pleasurable read. This is no small feat, given the breadth of her coverage. If occasionally some details become confused (Connie Mack's A's are twice referred to as the Phillies, and the Naps were behind 3-1 in the seventh inning of their crucial game on October 3, not ahead), this is a minor flaw considering the magisterial scope of the book, with its portraits of a myriad of characters on and off the field and its descriptions of many of the crucial games that defined the season. Especially impressive is how fresh and well-rounded the author's sketches of well-known figures such as Honus Wagner and Christy Mathewson are, yet she has endowed the same care on the not-so-famous, as well. Excurses on mass murderers, anarchists, and other non-roster players illustrate how apt the self-congratulatory designation "America's national pastime" is, even if this may not be what the phrase intends to convey. Particularly poignant in light of this young 2007 season is the chronicle of alcohol-related accidental deaths of players, while the willful blind eye with regard to the presence of gamblers not only in the stands, but in the clubhouse, a decade before the Black Sox scandal, reminds us that the "see no evil, hear no evil" approach to steroids as fans returned after the disastrous 1994 season was not without precedent. Highly recommended. [originally posted at Amazon.com] ( )

Non-fiction; Sports history. Well researched and very interesting--which, coming from a baseball non-fan, actually says quite a bit. ( )