John Thorn is one of our great baseball writers and his skills make this book the best of its kind. It is loaded with fascinating anecdotes that I've seen nowhere else. In addition, the illustrations are outstanding. "Treasures ..." will give you the most enjoyable history lesson you'll ever find.

This will serve until I get a chance to go there. Being far from any major metropolitan canter, getting there requires a great deal of effort. This is a great book which shares some of the riches of the hall. A must have book for all baseball lovers.

This volume should be considered an excellent addition to any baseball library. Every fan of the game will find something new and interesting. While the text is excellent, the large number of intensely detailed photographs provide a fascinating insight into the history of the game. There is no other such collection available for the fan or scholar to enjoy. This volume is highly recommended.

I am only writing this review because it is the first book I ever read. At the age of 5 or 6 or 7 it was the beginning to what would become a lifetime of walking around with a paperback in the back pocket of my jeans. I remember quite a bit of it vividly, even now, 40 years later, especially Ken Ward trying not to throw that final low inside pitch to the slugger on a 3 and 2 count. I have never re-read it, but it stays with me still.

I had a hard time putting this book down. Zane Grey has the feel for what it is really like to be a college baseball player, along with all of its struggles and victories. This is a great story with a great ending. You too will enjoy this story about Ken Ward and all of his fellow teammates. In the end, you will be thoroughy satisfied. Great book!

This book evokes vivid images of intercollegiate sports in the early 1900s. The characters are warm and well-developed. The setting is nostalgic and timeless. Readers will puzzle over "Frosh on the fifth" and chuckle over the potato toss. The reader can feel the despair when Ken finds out what he has done to the Captain of the college baseball team, and feels his chances of making the varsity squad slip away in an instant. No one can keep from laughing out loud when the perfume is spread or the sweater put on. The combination of setting, characters and good old-fashoned baseball makes for very pleasant reading.

Personally, I recommend this book be read every Spring in anticipation of the upcoming baseball season, such as I have done for the last twenty-three years. It is a wonderful way to get in the mood for great battles on the ball diamond, as well as recapture the joys of youth. Reading this book could become as much a pastime as baseball itself.

Young adult readers will find this book interesting and fun. Parents will appreciate the role model of young Peg Ward, whose standards of conduct are the highest, even when faced with peer pressures, not unlike those of today.

The articles written by some of the best baseball writers in the country and collected by editor John Thorn represent the best of "The National Pastime," the publication of the Society for American Baseball Research. The result is what I want to think of as more of an academic journal than a collection of sports stories, because "The National Pastime" is never going to put out a swimsuit issue.

Within these pages you will find G. H. Flemin's "Kaleidoscopic View" of the infamous Merkle Blunder, Bill James's statistical analysis of the relief pitcher's ERA advantage, and David S. Neft asking that immortal question: "Is Ozzie Smith Worth $2 Million a Season." This is a book that does not talk about Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle but rather Hack Wilson, Dick Allen and Roger Maris. For culture there are the poems "Van Lingle Mungo: An Elegiac Ode" and "Baseball Rhyme Time." and then for fun a Ballparks Quiz and Acrostic Puzzle. These are articles that want to talk about the almost no-hitters, newly discovered RBI records and expansion-era managers. But there are also stories about the St. Louis Cardinals planning a rebellion rather than playing a baseball game against the Brooklyn Dodgers and Jackie Robinson and Bob Carroll's argument for 12 players who should be in the Hall of Fame, most of whom are still not there.

This is not a sit down and read at one sitting book. This is a spring training book, to get you ready for the season by getting you to think of the first game lost by the Cincinnati Reds in 1870, the importance of on-base percentage, and a ballplayers name to rhyme with Snider. It is also an effective subscription advertisement for "The National Pastime." I have been rereading a couple of articles from this book every spring (okay, when spring training starts since we have snow on the ground up here until well after Easter) for several years. This is not a book to leave unprotected on your must have list.

It's always difficult to find a book that isn't cloaked in modern day cinicism, and that's why THE NATIONAL PASTIME is one of the most refreshing books I've read in years. If you lazily daydream about your little league days, big league chew, and your first triple, then this will stoke the fires of nostalgia for you as it did for me. What i liked most is that I got the sense that the author is probably not that different from you or I--just a life-long fan who wants to share his passion for the greatest game ever played. The only difference may be the remarkable skill and wit with which he chronicles our nation's pastime. He'll make you want to get a stick ball game gong in the back yard.

Hey, this is a great book, from start to finish. It contains wonderful excerpts from the literature of mountaineering/alpinism/rock climbing, people who take themselves seriously, people who don't take themselves seriously, moments from the history of mountaineering that form alps of their own (you should pardon the cliche) in the literature.

I would consider this to be an excellent volume for anyone who has just finished =Into Thin Air= or =The Climb= and who would like to find more to read in the genre. Harvesting the citation list alone is going to keep my reading pile fat and happy for months!

Disclaimer: I'm not a mountain-climber, and I don't play one on TV; I'm just an average wage slug who enjoys a good story well told.

CARDINAL HEENAN A VERY WISE AND HOLY MAN. AN EXAMPLE TO TODAYS CARDINALS, BISHOPS, PRIESTS AND RELIGIOUS. CARDINAL HEENAN IS RECORDED IN THE BOOK "THE RHINE FLOWS INTO THE TIBER" AS STATING "BEWARE OF THE EXPERTS" HE ALSO WARNED WHEN PRESENT AT THE PREVIEW OF THE NEW RITE OF MASS THAT IT WOULD NOT GO DOWN WELL IN THE PARISHES. AND THAT IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT THE COMMISSION WHO HAD WORKED ON THE NEW RITE OF MASS HAD NO PARISH EXPERIENCE. HE WANTED TO THANK THEM FOR THEIR WORK AND SEND THEM HOME, TODAY NEARLY FOURTY YEARS LATER WE CAN SEE BY OUR EMPTY CHURCHES HOW PROPHETIC WAS HIS FORECAST. THE CARDINAL SHOWED THE ACTIONS OF A TRUE PASTOR BY VISITING THE THEN PONTIFF PAUL VI TO OBTAIN PERMISSION FOR THE OLD MASS TO BE CELEBRATED IN ENGLAND AND WALES FOR THOSE WHO PREFERRED THE OLD MASS. THE TITLE "A CROWN OF THORNS" TRULY REFLECTS THE EXPERIENCES OF THE CARDINAL. MAY ALMIGHTY GOD GRANT HIM ETERNAL REST

I read "The Glory of their Times" when I was 10 and have never forgotten it. What a read and what a joy it was to find this new work! Ritter tells you not only where Ebbetts field or the Polo Grounds were but he tells you which outfield wall paralleled which street! Learn about Babe Ruth's New York, Lou Gehrig's New York and a whole host of other places which served to make New York the unique city that it is!

This book is an excellent read for anyone who has a genuine interest in football statistics. The authors are actually statisticians themselves, and they go through each phase of the game and attempt to come up with scientific ways to rate each position, including the offensive line!

The part I found most interesting was the chapter on quarterbacks and the conventional NFL QB rating system and why it is flawed. From there the authors go into a lengthy process of building a better rating system, which more accurately reflects who the most efficient passers in the NFL are.

You would think being written by a bunch of statisticians, this book would be dull, but it is far from it! It is lively and humorous throughout, and is very easy to read. Also, most of the heavy statistics are relegated to notes, so if you are not interested in that sort of thing you can skip it easily.

All told this is an outstanding book to read if you are interested in learning the "Nitty-gritty" behind football statistics.

J. HORACE McFARLAND A Thorn for Beauty

by Ernest J. Morrison

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 1995 ISBN 0-89271-063-2

This fine work by Ernest J. Morrison might be a little dry for some readers, but not for those who are; "one of us"; passionate lovers of nature, and the whole of life.

Morrison is a great writer, who has done us all a lasting service by bringing people like J. Horace McFarland to his readers. He has a concise and clear, and yet deeply sensitive way of revealing the true and subtle nature of a personality's inner character. I hope, like John F. Kennedy's "Profiles in Courage," that he will continue to find and hold up to recognition, the lives and dreams of great men and quiet heroes of history who have been lost or forgotten by posterity.

Morrison has shown us in this perceptive biographical sketch of the life of J. Horace McFarland, that not only was McFarland a practical idealist in his work to enrich us all with the enrichment of beauty, but he was also a visionary and an early wholistic thinker who saw, long before many men, some of the truth concerning God's will, and man's needs as reflected in the needs of nature, in what we are only now beginning to see as the bio-one-world.

Mr. McFarland didn't just think of beauty, preservation and reconstitution of nature as being a nice cutesy adjunct or afterthought to the activities and relationship man has with nature. He considered it an absolute necessity to counter-balance the disastrous negative effects that man has had on the environment, and spiritually; a saving grace for the disastrous effect man has had on himself.

Few could argue with this prophetic view from the past, as we begin to realize the universal wisdom and truth in living in healthful harmony with ourselves and with nature; with respect and love instead of the self abuse of exploitation. Horace would say it's time to start giving something back to mother earth, instead of just taking. There are ways to do this, by proper city planning that helps make people proud of their neighborhoods, and by constant beautification, and by protection and replacement of natural resources.

He felt that if mankind is to evolve successfully, he must displace the love of money with the more adaptive love of nature and beauty.

After being involved with the cross pollination and hybridization of plants, he began to see evolution as a process that God uses to change things in His on-going creation of life.

He believed in "equality" and helped get out the vote for women, and was involved with them in the many projects related to nature and beauty, and city planning during his lifetime. He had a view towards equality of value of other life forms- What we might today call an appreciation of, and sensitivity to, bio-diversity. He thought we should all be stewards of nature, and like the emerging global unity paradigm, that we have an obligation and responsibility to nurture and protect it. And that these were democratically based concepts, activities, and relationships. Ie: Of, by, and for the people.

J. Horace was, like a truly religious and spiritual man should be, a person who practiced his religion, his ideals, and his world view, like a daily prayer, each and every day of his life- like a church without walls. He wanted to be remembered as "a man who loved a garden." Indeed, he, materially, nurtured and loved, and helped renew the Garden of Life on this Earth; and will continue to do so spiritually through his life as example, and with his words, and with his works. We could all use a little of the spirit of McFarland in our hearts and in our souls.

McFarland was not only a great defender and protecter of nature and his beloved roses; he himself was like a "Rose of the World," a "lover of all good things, surmounted (and surrounded) by his love of beauty." His life was made up of tentacles of successes that reached far into many diverse areas of endeavor, each supporting and giving sustenance to the main body of his beautiful and high ideals. J. Horace McFarland, indeed a thorn for beauty... and a giant Oak of a man.

Curtis Bard, Editor - Bard Books on CD-ROM and The Computer Classifieds:

In the novel The Shortstop by Zane Grey, the literary device dialect is strong and prominent throughout the story. Dialect can be defined as a way of speaking that is characteristic of a certain social group or of the inhabitants of a certain geographical area. The first type of dialect in the novel pertains to the way the characters pronounce the words they say. Some characters slur their words together or have corrupt ways of pronouncing their words. The second type of dialect present in the novel is the words that the characters use. These words have developed a certain connotation that brings out new meanings of the words. In short, the world does not always talk in their perfect idiom. Grey realizes this and makes sure he keeps the reality in his novel by having numerous dialects.

One class of dialect occurs when a reader comes across certain words that have corrupt spellings. However, pronouncing the word as it is spelled enables the speech of the character to be understood. One of the characters, simply called Benny, says, "Everybody but me hash frens" (Grey, 183). This sentence displays two errors that do not make sense by themselves. However, pronouncing theses words aloud in the sentence makes perfect sense. All in all, the warped spellings of words allow the reader to comprehend the corrupt ways the characters talk.

Another type of dialect pertains to words that have different meanings than what a dictionary reads. Instead of the denotation of the word, these words carry a special connotation that is understood by certain types of people because it has gradually blended in with their vocabulary. When a player named Enoch gets into a quarrel with an umpire, the umpire charged him with a five-dollar fine. In response to this, Enoch proclaims frantically, "Make it ten, you mullet" (Grey, 202)! Mullet might not be a familiar word in the context that Enoch uses it. However, to the characters in the novel, this is a universal word that carries an unfavorable meaning. In summary, special words with unique connotations increase the interest of the reader in the novel.

Dialect brings a plethora of qualities to a novel such as The Shortstop. Dialect enables a novel to have an unarguable reality. In the real world, people do not speak in their perfect vernacular. Almost everyone speaks with some type of slang or slurred pronunciation. Furthermore, having many types of dialects persuades a reader to be more interested in a novel. If a novel had every single character talk in their proper language, the story would become tedious to read. The best way to sum up what dialect brings to a story can be found in the world-renowned novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain states, "In this book a number of dialects are used... for the reason that without it many readers would suppose that all these characters were trying to talk alike and not succeeding" (Twain, 2).

this story is about a young man who gives up his factory job to go and try pro baseball. after months of practice and many tryouts he finally makes a small iowa team. Before he knows it he is caught in a small town rivalry that tears him between his girlfriend and his dreams.

This reference has more or less picked up the torch from the late lamented "Baseball Encyclopedia," and is indispensible for serious fans (and probably casual ones as well).

Included in the hefty (nearly 2,000 pages) volume is everything you'd expect (player stats, franchise histories, postseason results) and a number of things you might not (Curt Smith's wonderful roster of radio/TV announcers, for instance). It's perfect for whiling away the hours on rainy Sunday afternoons, and invaluable for settling arguments or answering trivia questions.

It would be nice if the next edition included a few more historical essays such as those found in its NFL counterpart, "Total Football II." That's a minor quibble, however, and perhaps impractical considering the voluminous size of the current book. All in all, this is a must-buy for baseball lovers.

Without a doubt, Total Baseball is the premier reference book on baseball. It is so far superior to The Baseball Encyclopedia that I cannot imagine any serious baseball fan, writer, or researcher not using it (Total Baseball). As a person noted for his "penchant for completeness", I can truly appreciate the comprehensive nature of this tome: not just the numbers (including the so-called "modern" statistics) in the game, but the stories behind the game, as well. And as far as the alterations to certain records and facts are concerned, it is MUCH better to have data based on accuracy than tradition! Kudos to you, John Thorn and gang, and congratulations on receiving the endorsement from Major League Baseball that you truly deserve!

This is without a doubt the best baseball reference book you can buy until the next edition is published. It's got the statistics of every player from every season from 1871 to 2000, as well as a number of excellent essays about the history of the game and those who played it. Those essays are enjoyable and informative, as are the world series and playoff accounts and the awards register, but the real triumph of the tome is the player register, pitcher register, annual record, and all-time leaders sections. This is where the hot stove beauty of baseball meets its ultimate argument settler. And even given its ultimate status, there remain some arguments that evolve from its numbers. Did Cap Anson win the NL's batting title in 1887 with his .421 average (counting walks as hits), or did Sam Thompson have the NL's best batting average at .472 (not counting walks as hits). As of this edition, John Thorn and Pete Palmer say that Anson won the batting title and had the best batting average. In all previous editions they stated that Thompson deserved these honours. Their argument in this edition is that Anson won the batting title fairly by the rules of the day and that it is not for us to take away this crown retroactively. In this they are correct, but they have gone too far. While Anson cannot justifiably be stripped of his batting title, it is obvious that the NL's best batting average in 1887 belonged to Sam Thompson. Similarly, while Abner Dalrymple may have won the NL's batting title by the rules of the day in 1878 with his .354 average, it is obvious that Paul Hines had the higher batting average at .358. Dalrymple cannot have his title stripped from him, but we should acknowledge that Hines had the higher batting average. Ultimately, while good-intentioned, Thorn and Palmer's decision obscures - instead of clarifying - the historical record. In fact, they are not even consistent with their application of the decision. They state in the glossary (and I think elsewhere) that in some of professional baseball's early years pitchers were awarded an assist for strikeouts (unlike the current practice). However, they have decided that they will not follow this practice despite the fact that their decision regarding batting averages in 1876 and 1887 necessitates that they do so. Quite frankly, I'm glad that they do not, because doing so would only similarly muddify the historical record. I fear that the reason for the decision stems from the status of "Total Baseball" as the Official Encyclopaedia of Major League Baseball. As a result, they are hamstrung by the decisions rendered by the chowderheads who have run Major League Baseball since its formation. This means that they follow Major League Baseball's hysterically ludicrous decision not to consider the National Association (1871-1875) a major league, despite the fact that they admit that it should in fact be considered as such. Also, I would like to see the players and teams and seasons of the International Association (1877-1878) included in the registers. It was not a minor league, as even this book sporadically attests, although Bob Hoie does acknowledge that fact in the first paragraph of his fine essay about the minor leagues. This league saw itself as being in direct competition with the National League, despite having the flawed structure that doomed the National Association. As such, it should be viewed as a major league, regardless of what Major League Baseball would erroneously have us believe. This would place baseball's first major league African-American ballplayer forward by six years to Bud Fowler's appearances for the Lynn (Massachusetts) Live Oaks in 1878, and would put the first pennant outside of the United States ahead by 115 years to the London (Ontario) Tecumsehs of 1877.

Also, I must take umbrage at the decision to arbitrarily devalue the performances of players in the Union Association and Federal League. Their arguments are impeccable but irrelevant. Even if these leagues were inferior, they were still major leagues and their games counted for just as much as did those of the National League, American Association, and American League. If they take this stand, why not also devalue the National League and American Association of 1890, or the NL and AL of 1942-1944. These leagues also had inferior talent; why not arbitrarily devalue them as well?

I am very disappointed by the lack of an all-inclusive fielding register, and the lack of pitcher batting, but I do understand that the economics of space must be acceded to. Nevertheless, it would be nice if Thorn and Palmer would provide us with a website from which we could access this data (sort of an unpublished appendix). I don't ask that they place the entire record online, but for the sake of 'total'-ness I do ask that they make the information accessible for those of us who need to know that Joaquin Andujar had 32 strikeouts in his 57 at bats of 1979, while turning two double plays in that same year.

Complaints aside, this is an excellent book that is truly magnificent. I don't envy Thorn and Palmer in their task of trying to please millions of baseball fans who demand nothing short of perfection. As with umpires, we demand that Thorn and Palmer be perfect, and then we expect them to continue to improve. Amazingly, they somehow manage to do so.