This is a wonderful anthology of Honig's works with players from the 30's, 40's and 50's. Some of the interviews were with Hall of Fame players such as Billy Herman and Lefty Grove. Others were with players that were just really good, like Vic Raschi and George Case. Each of the interviews offer a little insight in what it was like to come up to the majors, often during the Depression and war years and fight to keep a job.

This is a big book, over 600 pages, with many, many great interviews, but my favorites would include Billy Herman, who was very insightful and included really interesting details about his long career, Pete Reiser who doubtless would have been a first round hall of famer if his career hadn't been cut short by injury, and Vic Raschi the great Yankees pitcher of the late 40's. Gene Conley is also interviewed, and his is particularly worth noting because he not only pitched in the major leagues, but played an important role on the great Boston Celtics teams of the late 1950's-a rare two sport pro.

The work that Honig and Ritter did by seeking out these participants in baseball history are so important, so valuable and simply change the way I see the game. Dunno, maybe it's just my age. ( )