The Glory of Their Times : The Story of Baseball Told By the Men Who Played It

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This is one of the greatest books I've ever read and may well be the best non-fiction book I ever read. The book is actually a collection of reminiscences of old-time baseball players compiled by their interviewer, Lawrence Ritter. The original book was written in 1966 with additional chapters added for the revised 1984 version that I read. What comes across first and foremost in all the recollections is the joy and dedication of the long-retired players. At a time when labor strikes, hold-outs and escalating salaries are standard sports stories, this book takes Baseball nostalgia to a new level. It isn't just about the joy of the game, however. This book brings to light a lot of forgotten Baseball history. I fancied myself a bit of a Baseball historian but there were a number of major events in Baseball's early history that I had never heard of before. I think the most memorable was Fred Merkle's "bonehead" play that cost the Giants the pennant in 1907. That was a situation where he forgot to touch second base and thereby cost the Giants the winning run. It is told (and referred to often) with better embelishment than I just gave it but, then, that's the point of my praise; the whole book is a poetic look backwards at the game we sometimes take for granted these days. It's no accident that the best parts of the book are the earliest recollections. You can almost see the corrupting effects of popularity creep up on the game in the 1920's. The stories that these veterans tell and the details that they give make you feel like you've been there yourself. If you're a Baseball fan, you'll love this book. If you're not a Baseball fan, reading this book might just make you one.

This is a book that is near and dear to the hearts of most baseball fans, frequently cropping up on lists of the best baseball books of all time. Inspired by the example of Alan Lomax, who recorded old blues singers down South in the 1930's, and motivated by the recent death of Ty Cobb, Lawrence S. Ritter, an economist and New York University professor by trade, spent several years (1961-66) tracking down and interviewing old ballplayers, recording their memories of the game for posterity before they too passed away. The book presents these sessions as extended monologues, alternately amusing, proud, defensive, and wistful recollections of their own careers, of the times they played in, and of the characters they knew.

But now, as if the book weren't enough, the tape recordings of the actual interviews are available in audiobook form. Each is introduced by Ritter, who came to know many of the players quite well. And in his introduction, Ritter reveals that it was only years after the project that it occurred to him that one of the things driving him was the death of his own father. Recapturing the memories of the players his father had loved served as a final filial connection.

The interviews include those with : "Wahoo" Sam Crawford, "Rube" Marquard, "Chief" Meyers, Hans Lobert, "Smokey" Joe Wood, Davy Jones, Ed Roush, and Fred Snodgrass. The stories they tell range from Hans Lobert racing a horse around the bases while barnstorming through Oxnard, California, to Fred Snodgrass defending his infamous muff; to a first hand account of the beaning death of Ray Chapman at the hands of Carl Mays; and finally a wonderful recital of Casey at the Bat by Chief Meyers. At the end of many of the interviews Ritter asked the old timers if they had any regrets, and not a single man did : of how few professions would this be true ?

I can't recommend the book highly enough and even if you've read it several times, be sure to give the audio a listen. This is oral history at its very best and an invaluable resource for baseball fans. It does for all of us what Ritter only belatedly realized it was doing for him, it provides a vital connection to an earlier time, to the world of our fathers and grandfathers. It is truly wonderful.

GRADE : A+

Being a die hard baseball fan, I am always on the look out for great baseball books. And after reading numerous lists of favorite baseball books by Amazon.com readers, it seemed that there was one unanimous choice, The Glory of Their Times, by Lawrence Ritter. And let me say, that I wasn't dissapointed in the least. The beauty of this book is that you feel like you yourself are sitting down with the different players interviewed and having them regale you with stories about playing baseball in the early 20th Century or earlier. The players interviewed are not all household names which adds so much to it. Most of us know the exploits of Cobb and Ruth. Not as many know the stories of Harry Hooper, Wahoo Sam Crawford, and Paul Waner to name just a few. This book is a pleasure to read through and all I can say is thank God that Mr. Ritter wrote this book when he did as all of the players interview here have since passed on I believe. Don't miss this book!

Statistically, baseball back then couldn't be more at variance with the game now. Cy Young threw 511 career victories, and 750 complete games. In 1909, Ty Cobb led the majors both in batting average (.377) and home runs (9). Cobb's teammate Sam Crawford hit over 300 triples in his career.

What to make of such numbers? Lawrence S. Ritter's "The Glory Of Their Times" strips away the statistical confusion by getting to the heart of Major League Baseball's early days, the players themselves. An economics professor, Ritter invested his downtime from 1962-66 in interviewing elderly men, baseball players all who knew what it was like to face a Walter Johnson fastball, or have Ty Cobb slide into the base they were covering.

"People were more unique then, more unusual, more different from each other," says Davy Jones, who played on the Tigers with Cobb and Crawford. "Now people are all more or less alike, company men, security minded, conformity - that sort of stuff. In everything, not just baseball."

Transcriptions of Ritter's interviews with Jones and 21 other former players, including Crawford and two others then in the Hall of Fame, makes up the whole of "The Glory Of Their Times," published in 1966 and later extended with four more interviews in 1984. Nearly all the interviews offer both testimony and color for the game as it was then.

Bill Wambsganss tells us about his unassisted triple play in the 1920 World Series, and how Ring Lardner once used his last name to rhyme with "clam's chance" and "Ray Chapman's pants". Fred Snodgrass tells us about his famous muffed fly in the 1911 World Series, and how his New York Giants tried to psyche out the Philadelphia Athletics by sitting on the dugout bench, ostentatiously sharpening their spikes.

You hear so much about another famous World Series moment, the Merkle "boner" of 1908, that you feel like you were there on the field, too. There's a Rashomon-like quality to hearing various interviewees give their different takes on such things as the character of John McGraw and whether "Giant Killer" Harry Coveleski was run out of the league when he was caught chewing on bologna. (Snodgrass says so, while Harry's brother Stanley, a major-league pitcher himself, calls it "a lot of bull".

Not all the interviews are riveting. One wishes Ritter could have pushed some of the old players more, like the rumors that swirled around Smoky Joe Wood involving fixes. But allowing the subjects the reins probably drew more color out of them than a Grand Jury could have. I love how Crawford keeps telling Ritter he hasn't much time to talk, while giving Ritter one of the longest and most entertaining interviews in the book, describing how players would allow themselves to be rubbed down with "Go Fast," a noxious combination of Vaseline and Tabasco sauce that made them sweat like a sauna.

"I hope I haven't said anything I shouldn't," Crawford says at the end. "There are a lot of the old-timers still left,you know, and they're liable to say, 'That fathead, who the hell does he think he is, anyway, popping off like that!'"

If you like baseball even a little, you will enjoy "The Glory Of Their Times" quite a lot.

The names Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner don't resonate as much as they used to. As the decades go by even the old-timers among us haven't been around long enough to remember them. They've pretty much become historical, iconic figures, like the stoic-looking George Washington on a dollar bill. It's a bit of a sad reminder of the inexorable march of time, but what a great relief to know that this treasure chest of a book is around to keep their memories alive.

The author got the idea for it in 1961 when he read that Ty Cobb had died. Realizing that many of Cobb's contemporaries would soon suffer the same fate, he set out to meet as many of them as he could and record--literally with a tape recorder--their stories for posterity. Twenty six of them are recounted here. Some of these guys are hall-of-famers, some of them not even close, but all of them--every single one--had a load of interesting tidbits to share. Baseball was a different game back then. America was a different place.

The first great thing about the book is that you get at least several takes on the great ballplayers. One of the fellows, for example, playing Detroit, talked about being a little nervous about Cobb, whom they had all heard would sharpen his spikes. A Detroit player, however, mentioned that Cobb never sharpened his spikes. Not that they didn't discourage the other team from thinking so.

Walter Johnson had an arm like a bullwhip, but he was a nice enough guy and a friend of Sam Crawford. Late in the game, if his team was ahead by enough runs, he'd toss a meatball in to Crawford and let him belt it. He never did that for Cobb, though, who he hated. Cobb could never figure out why Crawford was able to hit him.

Honus Wagner is recalled by many as the best of all of them, with great quickness, great hitting and great fielding. A couple of the fellows recall that you could usually count on bits of gravel to be flung at you along with the ball he had just scooped up. Tommy Leach described him as the best fielding third-baseman, shortstop, first-baseman and outfielder in the league--he played all of them--and since he won the batting title eight times between 1900 and 1911 you couldn't really argue that he wasn't the best hitter in the league, either.

For some odd reason, there aren't that many memorable gems about the great Babe Ruth, although there are at least a few. Harry Hooper (a guy I'd never heard of and a hall-of-famer) remembers Ruth in the first year he came up with Boston as a, "big, overgrown, green pea." "Nineteen years old, poorly educated, only lightly brushed by the social veneer we call civilization, he was gradually transformed into the idol of American youth and the symbol of baseball the world over . . . If somebody had predicted that back on the Boston Red Sox in 1914, he would have been thrown into the lunatic asylum."

Along with these detailed sketches, including a ton of characters I haven't even mentioned--Germany Schaeffer, Rube Waddell (who didn't like to wear underwear), Lefty O'Doul, Dazzy Vance--the book is also, naturally, loaded with baseball anecdotes. Some of the more famous plays of the time, for example, are recounted in different ways and with different perceptions.

Take the "Bonehead" Merkle play. For those of you who don't know, what happened was this. The Giants were tied with the Cubs for first place with one week to go in the season. In a game against each other, in the bottom of the ninth of a 1-1 game, the Giants had men on first and third with two outs. Merkle was on first. Birdwell hit a single to center, McCormack scored from third, and Merkle . . . ran to the clubhouse. Without touching second. The Cubs retrieved the ball from center field, Evers tagged second, and the run didn't count. Because of the crowd on the field the game had to be replayed on a later date. The Giants lost it, and lost the pennant. From then on and forever more, Fred Merkle became "Bonehead" Merkle.

But it's actually a little more complicated than that. For one thing, Merkle was only nineteen. It was the first game he'd ever started for the Giants. And running into the clubhouse when the game was over was something all the guys did--whether touching second was necessary or not--because of the crowd pouring onto the field after the ushers opened the gates at the end of the game. The players ran off to get away from them. And Evers never did tag second base with the ball that was hit out to center because someone had heaved it into the left field stands. Fred Snodgrass doesn't think he ever tagged second with any ball at all. The umpires weren't around to know this, though; they had already left the field! Funny how the mists of history tend to simplify things. The detail in this book brings these stories back to life. And there are a ton of them recounted.

Along with all of this baseball lore, you get a pretty good glimpse of America a hundred years ago, too. People were more humble, but in general confident, and much more direct. It's fascinating just to consider their nicknames: "Wee Willie" was the nickname for a short guy, "Specs" was the guy who wore glasses, "Chief," (at least two of them) were American Indians, and, "Dummy" was the guy who was deaf and dumb. Nobody meant anything by it; nobody apparently took offense. Stuff like these speaks volumes.

Here's Jimmy Austin: " . . . they didn't have clubhouses in most parks, especially not for the visiting team. We'd get into uniform at the hotel and ride out to the ball park in a bus drawn by four horses. They used to call it a tally-ho in those days. We'd sit on seats along the sides and ride, in uniform, to the ballpark and back.

"That ride was always a lot of fun. Kids running alongside as we went past, and rotten tomatoes once in a while. Always lots of excitement when the ball club rode by, you know."

Yep. Thanks in part to this book, we know all right.

I first read this book as an 11 year old and i have treasured it since. This is how all children should learn about the game. Mr. Ritter deserves a place in the Hall of Fame for preserving the storys of these players. At the time the book was written these men were elderly and most were long forgotten. Some had stayed in the game (Hans Lobert), some were successful in other fields (Fred Snodgrass) and some like Bill Wambgnass and Stan Coveleski barely scrapped by. But from their memories you understand that they are all intellegent men who were, in their youth, the best ball players in the nation. They paint a vivid picture, as only men who lived the llfe can, of what baseball was like at the turn of the century. The storys in this book are gems. You get to hear about the greats of the game not from some sportswriter (most of whom usually get it wrong) but by the players. And they pull no punches. Ty Cobb was a bastard, Bugs Raymond was a drunk. From their memories you get a REAL picture of what Hans Wagner, Babe Ruth, Chrisy Mathewson and Walter Johnson were like not just as players but as men. It should be noted that almost as a direct result of this book Goose Goslin, Rube Marquard and Stan Coveleski were elected to baseball Hall of Fame.

I had the pleasure of first listening to the Cds during a car ride summer of 2001. We were heading for the AAABA National Baseball Tournament in Johnstown, PA. and was amazed that these existed and I did not know of them. I got myself a set and then came across the 1984 New and expanded book. I had met several of the gentlemen at different times at Old Griffith Stadium in Washington, DC. I remember going home in the late 50's and telling my Dad I had met an old ballplayer at the stadium who said he was "Big Poison". My Dad laughed and said, "Old Paul Waner, he wasn't very big but he could sure play Baseball." I now know the full story of Paul Waner and wish I did then. You are able to hear and read stories of the greatest players of their generation and players that are still known today. If you have a budding ballplayer or a budding baseball fan, do them a favor and get them this book as soon as possible. In a review on the back cover of my edition, Ted Williams summed it up for me as well when he said, "Warm, happy, exciting - what a great feeling I got as I read it. The day I finished it I started reading it all over again."

I'll be blunt. This is the single greatest baseball book I've ever read. I wouldn't be surprised if it were the best baseball book ever written. This book conveys the tone of baseball's early days. The players tell their stories in their own voice, oft-times a considerably different manner of speaking than we use currently.

I greatly enjoyed the slang words the old ballplayers used. They taunted rookies by calling them 'bushers'. One player warned another (speaking of Nap Lajoie) 'Watch out for the Frenchman.' Priceless!

Outside of the words, the stories themselves paint a glorious picture of baseball at the beginning of the century. The lesser ballplayers, the Hans Loberts and Chief Meyers', give their impression of the all-time greats; Wagner, Lajoie, Mathewson, Cobb, Jophnson, Bender, Waddell, and Shoeless Joe. Much of what we now know about these legends came directly from the recollections in this book. This is a baseball treasure and belongs in every serious fan's library.

I have heard so many stories about Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb, I can't tell fact from fiction. Lawrence Ritter and undertaken an extremely long journey to bring you a true record of the early days of baseball.

Packed with stories from legends Goose Goslin, Harry Hooper, Joe Wood, Hank Greenberg, Sam Crawford and others the spirit of baseball past comes to life. Ritter's ability to bring baseball alive is nothing short of spectacular.

Probably the best baseball book I have ever read, The Glory of Their Times, is more than a amazing collection of stories. You'll read about how baseball has transformed from a love of the game to love of money.

Each story has so much packed into it that I found myself re-reading each chapter just to make sure I got everything. I am so very proud that I have had the opportunity to read and review this extraordinary work on baseball. Thank you so very much Lawrence Ritter!

Words alone cannot describe what I have read. Smoky Joe Wood, Rube Marquard, Wahoo Sam Crawford, and many others. We are talking legends of a game gone by. True hero's when a baseball world needed hero's. Many thanks to Lawrence Ritter for capturing moments in time with these baseball legends. I'm sure that they all had a million stories to tell, but I'll settle for just the few that are represented in this book. In today's baseball world of outright sheer greed and selfishness, it was so refreshing to hear stories about baseball's yesterday when times were simpler and the game was just a game. How I miss those days. How I miss those players. Thank you for a memorable look at a simpler time, Lawrence.

It doesn't get much better than this. And I've read most of the top books in this field. If you have an interest in Baseball -- and want to read about the sport when it was really a "game" try this book. The book is truly told by the men who played the game in the early 1900's -- as transcribed in oral history fashion -- one chapter devoted to each player. Ritter brings to life players that most of us have always read about (Ruth, Cobb and Walter Johnson) and many more greats from that era -- Harry Hooper, Paul Waner, Rube Marquard, and Goose Goslin. (And yes, the author is my Uncle, but the book is STILL a great one!)

This superb oral history of baseball circa 1900-1920's contains many priceless tales. After Ty Cobb died in 1961 author Lawrence Ritter (1922-2004) took his tape recorder and traveled the USA to interview 22 surviving players from that remarkable era. We hear from top stars and established players, including Ed Roush, Sam Crawford, Smokey Joe Wood, Chief Meyers, Sam Jones, Bill Wambsganss, etc. Each player reminisces in his own way, recounting games, teammates, owners, managers, crowds, ballparks, etc. Some talk at length while others are briefer, but each is articulate and illuminating. I particularly liked Rube Marquard's memory of visiting the Chicago firehouse where he'd once slept as a transient, Stan Coveleski's view that baseball kept him from the coal mines, and the remembrances of Davy Jones and Jimmy Austin. It was also interesting to see how these players viewed superstars Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, Ty Cobb, and Babe Ruth. This book provides readers with a superb sense of baseball before night games, air travel, TV, radio (except after 1922), farm systems, and in some cities, Sunday baseball.

Ritter set a standard with this superb oral history. The players interviewed here have all departed (the last in 1988), but their memories live on in this superb book. Fans might also enjoy BASEBALL WHEN THE GRASS WAS REAL, a similar effort about a later era by Donald Honig.

. . .for those interested in baseball history or for those who are curious how the game was played a hundred years ago. Life was different: society was different, the players were different, the game was different, and the perception of the players were different. In the decades in between, a lot has changed, mostly for the better, but there are precious few books that can give us an insight to how the game of baseball was played by the major leaguers back then. There is no opportunity to learn from them any more - they're all gone. All we have left are treasures such as this book, which gives us an insight to the game and personalities who played back then: no one can describe a Walter Johnson fastball, an Ed Walsh spitball, a booming shot off the bat of Sam Crawford, or the way a certain player stood, batted, fielded or threw. Lawrence Ritter created the standard for the oral history of baseball and it's been imitated many times, but never as well (Don Honig came close, though). It's a wonderful book, well worth the time and money to read it.

I've been a baseball fan for as long as I can remember (40+ years) and have read a number of great baseball books during that span. "The Glory of Their Times" certainly ranks with any of them. Lawrence Ritter traveled the countryside in the 1960's to interview and record the thoughts of some of baseball's greats from the early 20th Century. His goal was simple: record the anecdotes and thoughts from these great players before it was too late. He definitely achieved his goal.

Ritter allows the players to do the "writing" of the book by just holding the microphone in place and editing the volumes of information that he gathered from these former stars. Most of the names (Waner, Greenberg, Goslin, Wood) will be familar to baseball fans, but even the obscure (Leach, Austin, Lobert, Torpocer) are given their due. The stories don't just revolve around the baseball careers of these players. Snippets of what life was like in our country between the two great wars can be found here as well. In that regard, any reader who appreciates history or good human interest stories will enjoy "The Glory of Their Times" as well.

The photos that accompany the book are just as impressive as the stories themselves. There are a number of pictures of other baseball greats not featured in the book including, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson and Honus Wagner, just to name a few.

Reading "The Glory of Their Times" is a great nostalgic trip into baseball's early history and I give it my highest recommendation!
Enjoy!

Right around when pitchers and catchers report, I dust off my well-worn, oft-borrowed copy of Glory of Their Times. I've probably read it a dozen times all the way through and each time I'm charmed all over again. The beauty and genius of Glory is in the fact that Ritter had the sense not to interfere with the players' stories. You get a feel for their voices and personalities, and how their experiences helped shape them as individuals. In its own way, the book is a vivid and important portrait of American life at the beginning of the twentieth century. And it's a dang good baseball book.

Unlike other sports, professional baseball tries hard to maintain continuity with the past, so that today's accomplishments can still be ranked on a scale with those of a hundred years ago (after adjusting for steroids).

But there's more to continuity that just being able to compare statistics across generations. What if we could compare baseball personalities and anecdotes? Does Buckner's error at first base have any parallels from Babe Ruth's time? How does Barry Bonds compare with Ty Cobb as a teammate?

In the mid-1960's, the deaths of Ty Cobb and of his own father led Lawrence Ritter to realize that direct knowledge of the early years of major league baseball had a finite life span. In order to preserve some of it, he set out with a tape recorder to interview twenty-six baseball players who played in the major leagues between the 1900's and 1920's. At least seven of them are now in the Hall of Fame. The result is like no other sports book -- a real picture of the game in its early years, told from multiple perspectives by the players themselves. We learn about the personalities, the contracts, the managers, the travel, the food, the stadiums, the reporters and the fans. For several famous plays, we get to hear the versions of players from both teams who were on the field or in the dugout at the time. Amazingly, almost all of these men tell their stories as if they happened yesterday --- the details were still fresh and vivid in their minds, decades later.

If you have an interest in the history of baseball, or of grass roots America one hundred years ago, this book is a delight.

I am very interested in baseball history. I created a game that allows me to manage the best players who ever lived, to get to know them by putting them in lineups and playing out games and seasons. It was fun to read the autobiographical stories of some of these old players. It is also great to see their photos, and every contributor to this collection of stories has a photo in the book. Many of them appear in my game.

There were two famous bad plays discussed in the book, the time that Merkle failed to touch second base, costing his team an important game, and the time Snodgras missed a fly ball, costing his team an important game.

In the pages of this book we learn that Merkle's failure to touch second base was a result of fans storming onto the field, believing the game to be over with Merkle's team winning, causing Merkle to rush for the locker room instead of blasting his way through a crowd to get to second base.

We further learn that the defense never threw the ball to second base to get Merkle out, so in a sense, that play still has not been resolved. There's still time for Merkle to touch second base. And we also learn that a similar play had occurred shortly before that game, and the umpire ruled in favor of the runner, not insisting that he fight his way through a crowd of fans on the field.

With regard to the fielding error by Snodgras, we learn that immediately after that error, Snodgras made an exceptional play in the field, robbing another batter of a hit, so Snodgras wasn't such a goat after all. The media is blamed for making goats of these two players.

The baseball players have conflicting opinions about the famous New York Giant manager John McGraw. Almost all of them revered him, but one spoke up against him, saying that he was excessively critical of his players, abusive, and that the player refused to play for McGraw until McGraw actually gave assurances that he wouldn't treat him like garbage.

I enjoyed the Hank Greenberg chapter. Contradicting claims made about him, he said that he was not prevented from breaking Babe Ruth's 60 homerun record by the antisemitism of opposing players. While he admits that he was walked a lot during the last days of the season, he also points out that Bob Feller struck him out a few times, and that the pitchers in the American League were throwing him hittable balls. His reason for failing to hit more than 58 homeruns in a season was that he ran out of gas.

It's nice to know that baseball was not corrupted by antisemitism. Greenberg admits that some opposing players shouted antisemitic remarks at him, but he says that this was no different from the way they would always pry for sensitivities, trying to get every opponent rattled, standard procedure by the bench jockeys of the time, nothing personal in their abuse.

Though Babe Ruth was not alive to be a contributor to this book, a number of the contributors mention him, and it is always with fondness, with adoration. He was beloved by his contemporaries.

I found it interesting to read descriptions of Walter Johnson and some of the other all time greats. Johnson was blazing fast, with an easy, smooth delivery, like Koufax. He was also beloved by his contemporaries, a modest and wonderful man.

For those of you who aren't up on your baseball history, Babe Ruth was by far the greatest player who ever played the game, and Walter Johnson was by far the greatest pitcher of all time.

For modern fans, think in terms of Pedro Martinez in his prime as a fastballer. Project that out to 20 years of it, and you have Walter Johnson.

Some of the oldtimers in this book compare players of their day to more modern players. One conclusion is that the old timers were smarter. Another conclusion is that the modern players are bigger, stronger, faster.

The main difference is that in the old days the ballparks were bigger, the baseball was deader, and the three run homer didn't win nearly as many games as the single slapped beyond the infielders. It made sense in those days to play a smart version of little ball. It made sense for batters to choke up on the bat and hit like Pete Rose. These days it makes more sense to swing free and shoot for the fences, because they are much more attainable than they used to be.

If you found these comments interesting, you will really enjoy this book. If not, it's not for you.

I read once that Lawrence Ritter decided to research and write The Glory of Their Times when he realized that the great players of the dead ball era were dying off. He wanted to preserve their memories while it was still possible. He did us all a favor - The Glory of Their Times is one of the finest books ever written about baseball history. Ritter was a good oral historian - he knew how to draw his subjects out. Where else can you read first-hand accounts of what it was like to play with Ty Cobb?

This is, and will always be, my most favorite baseball book ever. Read all of the previous reviews and you will understand why so many readers love this book. Read the book and you will realize why you love baseball so much.

If you are debating whether or not to read The Glory of Their Times ask yourself this question, do you know who Charles Victory Faust is? No? Then read the book. That alone is worth the price of admission.

I have reread this book a number of times and there is still a Germany Schaefer story I love to tell any baseball enthusiast who hasn't heard it. But that is just one of many great stories told by a colorful collection of great players who help make baseball the great game that it is.

I've read this book six times now. Listened to the CD version at least a dozen times. Each time it draws me in, closer and closer to the game that I still love. Although the names and faces of the game have since changed, I cannot help but credit Lawrence Ritter for always rekindling my love for baseball. I smile always and have a warm feeling in my heart when I experience this masterpiece over and over again.

To Lawrence Ritter: Thank you so very much for allowing this little boy to continue to dream his dream.

After plowing through more than two dozen reviews that say this is the best baseball book ever written, you might be inclined to dismiss those sentiments as the worst example of hype. Don't. You will be the loser for it.

This book is superb for its baseball stories, but it is more than that. The men in its pages talk about what it was like to be young and alive in America at the turn of the century. You don't even have to LIKE baseball to enjoy this book, but it certainly helps.

Jacques Barzun has said that someone who wants to understand America must learn baseball. In the movie "Field of Dreams," James Earl Jones says, the one constant in America has been baseball. To understand what they're talking about, you must buy and read this book. And you'll enjoy yourself while doing so.

This classic book provides any baseball fan, from the casual to the truly obsessive a real treat. Baseball at its most beautiful, told in the voices of ball players who truly loved playing the game. Their stories will make you laugh, learn, and more than anything wish you were with Lawrence Ritter when he sat down to talk with these baseball greats. I have read a lot of baseball books and this one is an absolute must for any baseball fan.

Sometimes the best histories are the ones where the participants in that history are allowed to talk and the history's author just listens. Such is the case with this book. And oh the stories these old ballplayers tell. Stories of an era in baseball from long ago: what it was like to play with Honus Wagner or Ty Cobb or Lou Gehrig; what it was like to play for John Mcgraw; or get a new persepctive on an infamous play like the Fred Snodgrass muff or a dropped ball that led to a World Series win. And funny how you get a sense too from reading this book of what life and the people in it were like back in the early part of the 20th century, as well as what the baseball was like. I was highly entertained and intrigued from the moment I opened the book to reading the last page in it. And I'm thankful the author thought to preserve this era for all of us before it was too late.

Dick Dobbins used this "oral history" approach to great advantange in his now out of print book about the old Pacific Coast League called The Grand Minor League. It's an approach I used to a lesser extent some years ago when I wrote a history of a local volunteer group in the late 1990s.

I've wanted to read this for years, and I'm glad I did. If this isn't the greatest baseball book of all time, it's pretty darn close.

The interviews form a tapestry evoking the baseball era before WWII and the feel of the national pastime is captured. Brilliant journalism. Warm yet realistic, and laugh out loud funny.

In short: There has never been a book that made me feel as justified about my love of the game as "The Glory Of Their Times". Lawrence Ritter gets the job done by getting out of the way and letting the greats of the game from 1900s-1930s tell their stories. Review after review of this book calls it the best baseball book ever and let me add my voice to that chorus.

Baseball in the deadball era when the fences were so far out that the league leading home run hitter hit 4 home runs; all of them inside the park runs. Baseball when you got one ball to play with. Fred Snodgrass' story *alone* is worth the price of the book, but you also get to hear what it was like to play with Walter Johnson, Babe Ruth (with the Red Sox), lots of dirt on Ty Cobb and Christey Matthewson.......

Each of these stories is like a summer day and makes you feel like grabbing a ball and mitt and heading outside.

What else is there to say? Pick it up!

While Ritter has deservedly received a great deal of credit for this groundbreaking book, being the first person to committ ballplayers from the early part of this century to tape and then present transcripts of those conversations, the great tragedy of this book in its various incarnations are the questions and topics that didn't get asked and were left unexplored. Had Ritter only known more about the history of the game and the careers of individual players at the time, he had an umatched opportunity to get right to the heart of the matter on any number of issues. But he spoke to them as a fan, and it shows. In the end the book teeters more toward nostalgia than hard core history. While it gives a wonderful sense of the times and of the personality of the players interviewed, one is left wishing for more and mourning the lost opportunity as most of these men have since passed on.

The players interviewed for this book, some 50 years after playing the game, have got wonderful stories all over this book. It is interesting to hear how almost all of them got their break in baseball by playing for a city team, and just happening to get noticed one day when one would just happen to have a good day when the owner of a team was around. You learn more than just about the players interviewed since they tell stories about guys like Christy Mathewson, and even about an deaf mute outfielder that called for the ball by making an odd squeaking sound. Great stuff!

The glory of their times is ,simply the greatest baseball compilation ever recorded{Roger angel's books are better,different,in that they are ESSAY'S]Reading and re-reading this book,I wondered what it actually sounded like to record this,to expierence.Well, after purchasing this cD,I know. This is the greatest baseball find I could imagine.the quality of the recordings is uniformly good[some parts are less audible then others].The content is pure joy.How wonderful to HEAR sam Crawford, Lefty O'Doul[were there any finer men to play baseball?]One can only wish that someone had done the same with the great Negro League players ...alas,though that does not detract from this Brilliant recording{s].I would give it 6 10 a pantheon of stars...it is that good

I had read where this was considered by many as "the best baseball book of all time." Well, you know how hype like that works; rarely is anything as good as it's built up. Not in this case. This really IS fantastic baseball material. It's so good that several people have copied its format since but nobody has come close to duplicating it. It's the content, though, not the form that makes this so entertaining.

The "it," by the way, refers to letting former players talk into a tape recorder and write down exactly what they say. In this book, we get ballplayers who played in the wildest era in baseball history: the Deadball Era. Thus, you get some incredible stories, many of which are just jewels, things you will treasure if you're a fan and you love baseball history.

If for nothing else, the story about Germany Shaefer's pinch hit home run is worth the price of the book. It is the funniest baseball anectdote I have ever heard or read.

Baseball great Ted Williams said when he finished reading this book, he started over and read it again. I believe it.

Lawrence Ritter recorded and wrote what has amounted to an instant classic, from the year it was published in 1966. All the hype, folks, isn't hype: it's the truth - a fabulous collection of baseball stories.

I have been an avid reader of baseball history for most of my life and I first purchased this book in the 80's and wore it out and purchased another copy. There isn't a season that goes by that I don't read it again. When you read the interviews of the ballplayers, recorded by Lawrence Ritter, it's as if you are a fly on the wall hearing the conversations first hand and the ghosts of seasons long past are brought back to life.

You get a first person account of some of the most famous moments in early baseball history through the fond recollections of some of the participants. Merkle's boner, Snodgrass' muff, Wambsgan's unassisted World Series Triple play are all recounted. The most entertaining parts of the book recount tales of Germany Schaefer stealing first base, the chronicles of Charles Victory Faust, and Wilbert Robinson attempting to catch a grapefruit dropped from an airplane. You get a glimpse of Ty Cobb from his teammates Davy Jones and Sam Crawford. You get several different takes on the great manager John McGraw from several different players who once played for him.

This is hands down the greatest sports book I have read. It's not only a great history of the early days of 20th century baseball but a wonderful piece of Americana. The book breaths humanity and paints a portrait of the ballplayers of the past who played for the love of the game unsullied by steroids and multimillion dollar contracts.

Funny and poignant stories about baseball when it was less commercialized. My favorite is the one about Germany Schaefer who stole second base, then stole first (to the bewilderment of all) and then stole second base again, all within one at bat. This is about the exuberance and wonder of boyhood.

When I was young, I wasn't interested in hearing about the `old times'. Now that I'm older, the old folks are gone and I've missed out hearing their stories forever. In a way, this book is a second chance. Lawrence Ritter has made a Herculean effort tracking down all these players and getting their stories. Baseball fans owe him many thanks for the job he's done. There are many interesting stories told between these pages, but one of the most surprising to me was that these players called the games themselves most of the time. No coaches and the managers sat back and let the players play, for the most part. I especially enjoyed the story by Rube Bressler about three players ending up on third base at the same time. This is a must have collection for baseball fans. I thought "The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told" by Jeff Silverman was a little more entertaining, but this collection held my interest too and is a book worth keeping.

It is awesome to hear the real old-timers talk about baseball's early days. They are old enough to be candid, to be sure. The interviewer does an admirable job of staying in the background, asking prompting questions only when needed and these are show his excellent preparation without making him seem like he's their (baseball) equal.
My only complaint, having heard this on CD (and I did that because I very much wanted to hear their actual voices) was that the audio was not done too well, mostly too faint except on extreme volume settings. Anyway, it was definitely worth the effort.

This IS the best baseball book ever written. It's also the best oral history ever written by anybody whose name isn't Studs Terkel, and one of the best books ever written about America. I give it four stars because one has to save some room for Shakespeare and Dr. Seuss, but it's close...

This book is simply the greatest ever written. Because of the fact that it was taken from conversations, the words ring with realism. The reader will learn what other player's perceptions of the stars were. What other book would have shown the intellect of "Wahoo" Sam Crawford? none. This book is realism to the core. Also it is interesting to see several perpectives on certain key events like the Merkle incident. I read this book all the time! It is simply the best book on baseball ever published.

Mr Ritter's time was well spent for all to enjoy! His efforts have made an unbelievable event for many to think upon. The times past thru the voices of the men who kicked up the dirt of the old ball fields live on thru his work! Here's to Mr. Ritter, "You won't be denied any of the past, only the fulfilment of it's Diamond Warriors"...Denny Walsh San Antonio, Tx.

A wonderful book about baseball in the early part of the century. You can imagine yourself sitting next to the old guys listening to their stories of baseball in the days of dead ball. It's not necessarily what you would think...it wasn't all hard drinking and hard living.
Even a casual fan will enjoy this book. I'm hoping my kids will soon be picking it up and reading it because I know it will deepen their love of baseball, still the greatest American game in my mind.

As a frequent reader of sports books of all kinds, I am going out on a limb and say this is the BEST sports book I have ever read - If in doubt, BUY the "Glory of Their Times"

This HAS to be the BEST book about Baseball & the BEST book about America ever written!!! I've read & re-read this book hundreds of times! Only The Holy Bible comes first!

Get it NOW!!!!

the old geezer

anyone who truly loves baseball will enjoy this book. it is very easy to read and is great for long trips or a rainy day in winter when you are yearning for the grand ole' game.

Ritter spent six years tracking down professional baseball players from the early 1900s, then stepped aside to let them tell their remarkable stories in their own words. Virtually all of these men are gone now, but thanks to Ritter they'll never be forgotten. If you're a fan of baseball, you'll be a fan of this book!

If you have even the slightest interest in the history of baseball, you must read this book! Ritter spent hours and hours interviewing the greats of the game and then was able to make these interviews come to life in this splendid piece of history. You will feel the excitement of the contests, laugh at the off field stories, and learn what it was like to be a big leaguer during the formative years of the majors.

So many books using first hand accounts tend to be dry, but this book is the exception. There is not a dull moment in this book. This book sort of proves Eddie Matthews' review of modern baseball - the guys playing now may be better, but they didn't have as much fun as the guys in the old days. This book will allow you to enjoy the days gone by of the glorius grand game!

A great look into a time in baseball that not too many people are alive to tell about,and told by the men who played it then.With many famous baseball players such as Wahoo Sam Crawford, Smokey Joe Wood,Edd Rousch,Big Poison Paul Waner,and Hank Greenburg and many more tell their stories about thier career.

A book like this can never be written again. This is your chance to hear from several of Baseball's stars from the "Dead Ball" era firsthand in their own words. Included in this book are Rube Marquard, "Wahoo" Sam Crawford, Smokey Joe Wood, Edd Roush, Paul "Big Poison" Waner and many others. This is the only book I have ever read two times, back-to-back. The tapes of the actual interviews will be my next purchase.

I'll be brief and to the point: This is the best book ever written on baseball. Nothing even comes close. The first time I read it, I went right back to the front and started reading it again. I've never done that in my life. Try it. It will change your perception of what baseball really was in its infancy.

This book is one that every baseball fan should own. It is beautiful and original in its content and format. Players often forgotten today share their memories with us of days long gone. I also recommend the audio edition of this book. If you loved reading "The Glory of Their Times", the experience of listening to these men...men you will never see and never hear again...is awe inspiring.

If you have any interest in Baseball history, or want to learn more about it, this book is at the top of the list. It captures what baseball was really like in the very words of those old-time ball players. I have read a lot of baseball books and nothing comes close to recreating the history and characters of baseball's impressive past.

I've owned three copies of this book, read it cover to cover a half dozen times, lent it to a couple dozen friends over the years, and it STILL is my favorite book to pick up and read. The stories, told by players from the 1900-1920 era, are priceless, as are the many fabulous photographs. You'll love this book like no other.

Nobody can truly claim to know baseball history until they read this book. The stories are first-hand accounts of players like Rube Waddell, Cy Young, and Walter Johnson as told by the men who played with or against them. I thought I knew baseball, then I read 'The Glory of Their Times' and I found out that I knew nothing at all. Seriuosly recommended for anyone even slightly interested in baseball. Better than Ken Burns' and Geoffrey Ward's 'Baseball.'
Niklas Grundstrom

It has been a long time since I read this book, but no other book on baseball or even on America during the first half of the century revealed so much about our character. Told by those who played at the time, it is an astonishingly literary work, with a rythym much like the game itself. A slow ride that somehow takes you in. the best baseball book I have ever read, by far

The Glory of Their Times is a great Baseball book. The revised edition adds four player interviews to the originals. It covers those who played from the early 1900's such as Sam Crawford (who played with Ty Cobb) to the 1940's with Hank Greenberg (who played against Jackie Robinson). Player memories allow us to "see" again famous plays such as the 1912 'muff' of a fly ball by Giants' outfielder Fred Snodgrass which cost his team the World Series. Such 'word pictures' along with vintage photographs make this poignant and memorable book one you will treasure and want to read again and again

Lawrence Ritter in his original Preface describes his book as about the early days of baseball. I'm going to make a correction. Mind you it is the only one I will make. His book is about the early days of modern professional Baseball.
With that being put aside , I must praise Mr. Ritter for his most original idea for a book. He took upon himself to travel the U.S.A. in search of the very players who established our National Pastime in the early part of the 20th Century. People talk of Shakespeare and Churchill as prolific writers of the English language. What Mr. Ritter has done is an epiphany for writing a book. His concept was indeed very simple. Why not seek out the very best living Baseball Players of the early 20th Century, and ask them to please describe their experiences.
In the early to middle 1960's when Mr. Ritter did this, he was able to talk to these pioneers of modern baseball in the twilight of their wise years. These 26 men had time to reflect on their careers and describe an age unknown to us. Mr. Ritter traveled to these men and I'm sure asked the correct questions and let these gentlemen record their responses on tape. What he captured will stir the heart of each true Baseball Fan.
For the record my two favorites are Stanley Coveleski and Bill Wambsganss. You can guess from these selections what my favorite team is.

I really enjoyed listening to the stories from some of our classic baseball heros. They brough history to life. This audio book was one of the best purchases I've made. I truly enjoyed just listening to these remarkable men tell there own stories of baseball's past.

If you love the game of baseball as it once was and still should be this is a "must read"...some of the players interviewed by Ritter were unknown to me and I was fascinated to learn of their exploits...I ordered an additional three books and sent them to long time fans of the game...If I was a GM today in MLB I would have every member of the team read this book so that they might appreciate the game as it was in its infancy...the modern player (in most cases)doesn't realize how fortunate he is to wear a major league uniform and earn the money today for playing a "game"

This book was a lot of fun to read, it showed a different side of the sport of baseball other than statistic. Told by the people themselves who played the game and in their own words. The author just let them go on for as long as they pleased with any stories they might have to tell. If you enjoy baseball history this is a must read.

If you have only two baseball books in your library, the first one should be the "Macmillan Baseball Encyclopedia". This should be the second.

If you have only one audio baseball book, let it be this one.

To be able listen to the actual players as they were interviewed by the author is flat out fantastic! I listened to the CD's and was spellbound. I can't recall any baseball item that I've enjoyed more and would highly recommend these CD's to anyone that enjoys the "inside" views of baseball history.

I read this as a teenager in the '70's, and wrote to author Larry Ritter as part of a school assignment. He sent me back an autographed version of the LP, which I believe is now available on CD. Both a history and a baseball lesson. Memorable.

this book may be the single best book i have ever opened. from page 1 till the last page it was almost impossible to put down. never have i felt so much love for a game and its players than i did while reading this book. pay what ever you have to it will be worth every penny!

That's what they call it. After reading it, I think they're right. Absolutely phenomenal.

I can unequivocally state that this book is one of the greatest books about baseball that I've ever read. Each player offers information, anectdotes, and humorous tales of the wonderful world of life between the foul lines. Take note of such under-appreciated turn-of-the-century ballplayers as Sam Crawford, Rube Waddell, and "Germany" Schaefer. Truly outstanding.

In the era of John Rocker, Rickey Henderson, Pete Rose, and other "baseball role models", this book is a refreshing look at the men who made the game better than it is today. The book doesn't focus on the usual heroes of the day, but rather those near the heroes--and their stories are fantastic. Take a break from today's headlines on arbitration, strikes, and players missing eight weeks with hangnails and stubbed toes. Read about real men who played for the love of the game and who could look back at it both fondly and objectively.

Pure pleasure. Remarkable book

I first got this book when I was 11 or 12 and really didn't understand it too much. They were a bunch of old ball players that had a story to tell. When I repurchased the book 1999, all the memories from reading it the first time came back. I not only enjoyed the book more, I understood their love of the game and who they really were. Mr. Ritter's style not only told me a story but I felt as if I was in the room listening to them tell me their own baseball glory.

Tired of players being grossly overpaid who are mediocre compared to the greats of the recent past? Take this trip back to the distant past, baseball in the early 1900s. Ritter has presented a superb combination of great reminiscences and fabulous photos. I first read this in the late 1960s, and recently bought it to reread. Anyone who enjoys baseball for what it once was will have a great time with this one.

I'm 31 years old and many of these players existed only on paper with stats to incredible to believe. I really wondered if they were real people. Thanks to this book, now I know the men behind the stats. The only thing better than the book is the audio CD's of the interviews. I have listened to those over and over.

Any true baseball fan must read this book. Ritter's recordings truly represent the heart and soul of the game, and show the reader the people behind the heroes. Truly wonderful.

A splendid account of baseball from the good old day

It is such a pleasure to listen to men who really loved what they did for a living. Wayne Gretzky said he would miss his teammates the most. These interviews prove his point. They spend so much time talking about their teammates and opponents they don't spend much time talking about themselves. One question did they all get together to agree on what to say about Ty Cobb and Christy Mathewson?

Wonderful, nostalgic book. An absolute must to every person really interested in baseball history.

Words alone cannot describe what I have read. Smoky Joe Wood, Rube Marquard, Wahoo Sam Crawford, and many others. We are talking legends of a game gone by. True hero's when a baseball world needed hero's. Many thanks to Lawrence Ritter for capturing moments in time with these baseball legends. I'm sure that they all had a million stories to tell, but I'll settle for just the few that are represented in this book. In today's baseball world of outright sheer greed and selfishness, it was so refreshing to hear stories about baseball's yesterday when times were simpler and the game was just a game. How I miss those days. How I miss those players. Thank you to them for allowing a little boy to dream the dream. Thank you for a memorable look at a simpler time, Lawrence.

The early days of baseball recalled by the men who played the game. A wonderful, nostalgic look at baseball's past.