1954 -- a Baseball Season
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
The subject of this book is the day-to-day-to-day-to-day results of day results of the 1954 Major League baseball season-- comprising 24 weeks from April through October, a total of 1,230 games completed in this time frame. These 1,230 game summaries provide the basic game totals for hits,runs, etc, while identifying the key players and circumstances for each contest. In short,a write-up having some similarity to the to the brief capsules one finds in today's sport pages without having to wade through a cumbersome boxscore. For those readers more long term or serious fans, many of the names and events will not only be familiar but hopefully, re-acquaint the reader with some long forgotten memory -- as it did for the author numerous times. The casual fan may not recognize many of the names appearing in these pages but may relate with an event{s} they've heard about and/or have a need to understand the issues of a prior time, helping evolve the game to its present form. This is very probably the first time a publication has attempted to summarize this specific type of detail for such an extended period of for such an extensive time frame. There have been numerous books written about specific teams and/or a specific year for sure; however, those efforts have tended to be short on game specifics--concentrating mostly on personal interviews, anecdotes, written accounts by newspapers or other publications--none having this level of detail or delineating the numerous contributions by as many, different players. The player statistical information is taken from each daily boxscore in 1954, contains statistical data presented in a verbal, free-flowing format -- special knowledge not required--also containing a weekly summary of " other"activities .
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
This book will appeal to life-long baserball fans, particularly those who have followed the game for many years--specifically males over the age of 60, perhaps even age 50, too. Younger followers of athletic contests may also likely have an interest, given the revitalized impact to the sport currently--yearly Major League attendance numbers reflect over 73 Million paying customers in 2009. Cable network coverage proliferates--ESPN and MLB to name just two--continuously streaming the latest information and highlights 24 hours daily to a vast majority of USand international households. Americans are now living longer on average than they did during the time of this book, there currently existing an ever increasing focus on nostalgia-- perhaps due to a wistful longing for certain things and events from the past--when society seemed to be far less complex and simpler pleasures abounded. E-Bay and the numerous flea markets scattered throughout our nation readily attest to this phenomenon. Like any good history book, this work attempts to create a perspective of the circumstances and participants who influenced the relative events of 50 odd years ago. These events helped shape the evolution of the modern game today, a game now more widely driven by economics and media hype.
About the Author
The author was born during World War II, raised in central Pennsylvania--primarily the Hershey area. After marriage and living in New York and New Jersey, he returned to Pennsylvania and now resides in a suburb of Philadelphia for the last 25+ years. He has always been a a devout sports fan, having attended his first ML game in 1949, religiouslyfollowing all manner of sport during the 50's, 60's and 70's. This has also included reading many, related books and publications during this period as well as up to the current time. In particular, the author subscribed to the "Bible of Baseball"--the Sporting News--during the early 1950's that was the definitive work of the national pastime then. He literally read each of these weekly publications from cover-to-cover, the primary infomationall source that forms the basis of what appears in these pages. Many of his friends and associates would quickly acknowlege he has a special talent and outlook for the issues, participants and history of professional baseball at that time. He also has the advantage and perspective of having lived during the events chronicled in this book and having much familiarity with the names and events who helped create this unique time in sports history. In truth, there are perhaps few individuals with the same devotion and knowledge capable of developing this work.