Crazy 08

Anytime you feel you need to connect with the game, the origins, the characters, and where the growth came from, ask me.'

I read a book years back called Crazy 08, and others I have mentioned it to have also enjoyed the stories about the game, the pennat race in the national League and what life was like at the turn of the century.



Was it the wackiest year, well I don't know enough about other years to say that, but it was pretty special, a one game play off, a tie game ?, fan interference, suspending managers, selling hot dogs, scorecards, and there was plenty other aspects introduced in 08.  That makes it different than 09 or 07, but in context, thenext great revolution was not a rule change, or park design or 3 strikes and 5 balls to 3 & 4, it was the dead ball era and the Babe, new balls were introduced and well Ruth changed how hitters approached things. 

In 08, the Cubs, Giants, and Pirates fought the entire season, with ebb and flow to get to a 1 game play down.

The year and the era are explored expertly and without knowing, the author uniquely avoids the blow by blow game experience in too much detail , but enough so that we understand the turning points, the individual struggles people faced and how players coped with that change. 

The industrial era was upon the US, steel factories, coal mills, automobile production, large labour unions, strikes, political unrest, serial killers, and crooked cops.  The time was volatile and the game seemed to embody what the country was feeling, almost like they were connected with the same umbilical chord. Child and parent, parent and child.

Enjoy !