The Long Ball: The Summer of '75 -- Spaceman, Catfish, Charlie Hustle, and the Greatest World Series Ever Played

Many books have been written identifying the mid-1970's as a turning point in baseball history. Marvin Miller and free agency turned the blue blood aristocracy on its' ear. The generation of authentic sluggers began to retire, and the pitching rules that took away some of the advantages to the defense were legislated out of the game.Tom Adelman addresses this theme from a whole different perspective. Although the title "The Long Ball" seems, at first glance to be a misnomer, the author focusses on the the two teams that will be fated to share the World Series in 1975.The Big Red Machine will move on to become a dynasty, with Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez and Dave Concepcion. But the Red Sox are a more interesting team. With "El Tiante", Luis Tiant, the Cuban born ace of the the staff, who would and could take a post game shower with a lit cigar in his mouth, Pudge Fisk, and Bill Lee, maybe the most quotably hilarious ballplayer to ever lace up the spikes, this group lends itself to reams of readable material.But Tom Adelman does not stop here. He plumbs the history of the Yankees, and pulls Casy Stengel into this fine story, Billy Martin, as his disciple, and Yogi Berra, as another of his minions. No story about baseball in the 1970's can be complete without Charlie Finley. Love him or hate him, and there are those who move in either direction, he was a force to be reckoned with.But it is the World Series, arguably the greatest ever, that comes to dominate this story. The drama, the personalities, and the strategy are a story that begged to be told.Adelman often inserts subtle whimsical narrative into the baseball retelling. "Dave Chalk, the Angels second baseman was erased in the double play." I am sure newspapers have reported it this way numerous times, but it still made me chuckle.An enjoyable, breezy, and somewhat profound take on baseball of a couple generations ago.

I'm not much a baseball fan anymore, but I was in 1975 and this book reminded me why: Catfish Hunter, Bill Lee, The Big Red Machine, Reggie Jackson, Billy Martin and on and on. If those names mean anything to you, you'll love this book. And if they don't mean anything to you, you should read the book to find out who they are. Adelman does a wonderful job telling their stories (and many more, as well as the story of the season and how the events of 1975 changed baseball forever). One other note: I listened to the unabridged audio version of the book, and it included an extra tape with a very interesting author interview. Probably not worth paying the premium price for the audio edition, but worth checking your local library to see if they have it on their shelves.

Great story

"The Long Ball" is definitely an entertaining read. There were laugh-out-loud moments as the author described some of the plays in the '75 World Series. The first half of the book covers the regular '75 season, many of its players and teams, while the second half concentrates on the post-season. The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is because the author's slant in favor of the Boston Red Sox eventually emerges as an unmistakable bias. I would have liked to see the book's approach be more even-handed between the Reds and Red Sox, especially since it was the Reds that won the World Series, not Boston. Still, a very enjoyable read. Recommended.

Great item and service! A+++++++++