This book is an excellent dissection of Al Davis and the stunts he pulls throughout his life and with the NFL. His battles with Pete Rozelle and the league are not much smaller than battles in a World War. From coaching at the Citadel to moving his Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles. It goes through Al's boyhood life and his struggles to the top of the game with the Raiders. This is an excellent book, not only for Raiders fans but any fan of sports.

If your looking to learn more on this football legend, then get a copy of this. Great research on a man obessed with being the best in pro football. Gives you the ups and down in his life.

Well-researched, well-written, and fun to read, this book reveals the "Genius" in all his wretched squalor and details the steps he took to get where he is. Great sport!

Satchel Paige is an enigmatic figure in american histroy. Mention his name, people inevitably think of the negro leagues,or thta terrible bingo long movie.In fact, Paige was ,in many repects, the first modern ballplayer. He played for a percentage of the gate, would only pitch a couple of innings in these contests,had no compuction about jumping from team to team{or country to country}The minstel show,stephifetchit aura that he calculated with the all too eager white press was, of course, a huge ruse. He was a sometimes bitter man{quite understandably so}He knew, instinctively, that he was the best pitcher in the world{although,curiosly, his peers voted Smokey Joe williams better in a 1950 vote in the Pittsburgh Courrier} He despsed the Jim Crow laws, and what he had to do to get around them. HIs civil rights stands were taken in the 20's 30's and 40's, when such things often meant death. He pitched for what might have been the greatest team of all time{the Pittsburgh crawfords of the early 30's] Dimaggio called him ethe toughest pitcher he ever hit against.All of these nuggets are in this book. Mr. Ribowsky did a fine job here. Paige is a figure who should be celebrated for what he was:an american original,a species often sighted but rarely seen. A wonderful book!

After reading this book, I am utterly convinced that Satchel Paige is as much of a baseball legend as a Ty Cobb or Babe Ruth. This book not only entertains but it fascinates, so much that I would'nt be suprised if someone mistook this biography for a peice of baseball folklore or a non fictitious work designed to capture the imaginations of baseball fans. This book portrays the life of Robert Leroy Satchel Paige in a most interesting way. In some cases he stands biggerthan life portrayed as a demi-god in the face of the gods of Major League Baseball and in some cases his mortality is revealed in the very midst of his immortality, and this is what makes this portrayal so unique.

I read in anticipation to learn why a strong and powerful man such as Josh Gibson would die at the young age of 36. Yes, there were references to his drinking and drug use. There was mention about him possibly having a brain tumor. That's where the book missed the point. If it was a brain tumor, the author simply skated the issue by saying that the record keeping in the 40's left something to be desired. Certainly there were people to interview who were affiliated with the hospital where he stayed and was diagnosed. I think a stronger case for or against a brain tumor should have been made by the author instead of glossing over the matter. Way too much detail of the balls and strikes of games was given. Who cares about that stuff? I wanted to know about Josh the man and got some of that, but not nearly enough. Page after page was filled with box score details that were meaningless for the most part. If he truly had "many women", who were these people and did any other than Hattie and Grace play a major role in his life? Lots of questions and few answers from the author. Sorry!

It's easy to see why this writer also wrote a book about Satchel Paige. Their careers are so intertwined, he already had the research. And, in fact, you could almost call this a history of the Negro Baseball League.

The negatives to the book are that it early reads somewhat like a rehash of newspaper articles. The author was forced into this because the two primary sources were the weekly black newspapers and "embellished" word of mouth. The set-up is a little long on the history of the two Pittsburgh teams that Josh played for but since this rivalry was so intertwined with Josh's history, it was almost necessary.

The positives are that this is a classic "tragic hero". Humble beginnings and tragedy, develops into a tremendous player, personal flaws erode his skills, and then he has a young, controversial death. When you overlay that with the rumors and embellishment of his accomplishments, it's easy to see how the legend has grown. The author did a good job of balancing legend with documentable evidence helping the reader draw a conclusion on the stories that may be overstated exaggerations.

This is a great story and a very good read I enjoyed. Obviously, Josh Gibson and Satch Paige paved the way for Jackie Robinson and have their place in baseball history. I STRONGLY encourage you to watch "The Soul of the Game" on HBO which takes the history of Paige, Gibson and Robinson and overlays the facts into a reconstruction. It was one of the best movies I have ever watched and never fails to draw you emotionally into the story. This book and it's careful research, allowed me to realize virtually every scene in the movie was drawn from some fact and not an overstatement.

Mark Ribowsky has researched his material and subject very well. A very powerful but sad message comes from this book. Josh Gibson had tremendous and unlimited power and potential. As a victim of a racist America of that time, we will never truly know just how great he could have been. A sad epitaph exists for all Negro League Stars...Statistics are terribly lacking and wrought with inconsistencies. More often than not we are left to the colorful imaginations of those that were witness to this era. No question, they were all highly talented. No question, they were robbed and we were robbed. Josh Gibson is about as poignent a subject as anyone. Such a shame! Thank you, Mark. Thank you for at least allowing us to have a glimpse at what it was like for Josh and many others of a bygone era. It was not an easy time for them. Josh was the one that was hardest hit by the climate. The truth is known, it is ugly, but it is known.

OK, maybe I'm being a perfectionist nit-picker, not unlike Spector himself, but several glaring discographical references rankle me. In the edition I have, there is a photo reproduction of the 45rpm "HE'S A REBEL" on the dust jacket. The key to the images clearly states that it is "The ORIGINAL Philles issue of HE'S A REBEL". However, the Collectables catalog number of COL 3200-A identifies the record as an '80s reissue.
In the discography itself, key suffixes (such as the X on #119 for the Christmas release) are missing. This is an important fact, since the catalog number was used more than once. And, where is "DO THE SCREW", Spector's angry legal retort to a mandated Crystals release ?
Alternate B-sides (such as on WAIT TIL MY BOBBY COMES HOME) are not indicated, and the discography continues the ongoing falsehood that Philles 123,134,135, and 136 were not released. I have stock copies of all but 136.
In the text, the writer refers to Gene Pitney's EVERY BREATH I TAKE as a "flop". Sure, # 42 on Billboard isn't a HUGE hit, but it is FAR from a flop.

With all that said, the book is still fun to read, and there are genuine glints and gleans into Spector that add to the history of the legendary producer.

I very rarely not finish a book. I could not get through half of this one. There is nothing in it about the players of Negro baseball. Mark Ribowsky just wastes your time with his huge vocabulary (keep a dictionary handy, you will need it at least once a paragraph) & his exhaustive knowledge of the soap operas behind the scene of the leagues. He spends no time talking about actually players, teams or the games they played. I am a fan of baseball history, but found this book far removed from baseball and more oriented to the war of words between the early, explotive owners of the Negro league clubs. A history of the game this is not.

Avoid this book at all costs. It has little original research and is literally filled with dozens of factual errors. There are better books on this subject; this isn't one of them!

I got what I wanted from this book. It is an honest depiction of who and what the Negro Leagues were. Much of what I knew about the Negro Leagues prior to reading this book was based on "myths". I felt that Ribowsky did a good job of distinguishing myth from fact and compiled an excellent story.

At times the book is a little confusing when it comes to trying to understand who is who. But, the Negro Leaques survived during a very confusing time.