I just came back from Barnes and Noble and found what looks to be a great book about the 1908 baseball season titled "Crazy 08" written by Cait Murphy. I have read the 1st chapter and so far its is pretty interesting and contains alot of baseball content and I know its going to be a great read. The best part is this hardcover book that is normally 24.95 was on the clearance rack for 5.95. You all might want to stop at Barnes and Noble and pick up a copy. I know the store I went to had about 10 copies.

I just thought I would let everyone know about this book and great deal I got

I read Crazy 08 this summer I thought it was great A real quick read filled with fun bits about baseball life back in the day. I think all will enjoy this book. thanks BOB

I got a few gift cards for Borders and this is one of the baseball books that I picked up. It looks to be a good read.

Just not sure which book to start reading first.

The cover on the Crazy 08 book looks to be a T206 of Clark, Columbus. My first thought was that the T206 used on the book cover has to be a Polar Bear back because of the spots. Then I got out my T206 of Clark from my collection and it has the same spots, yet it is a Piedmont 350 back.

Check it out.




Jantz

I'm ready Crazy '08 right now. I asked for it for Christmas.

In the last few month's I've also read:

Frank Deford's The Old Ballgame: How John McGraw, Christy Mathewson, and the New York Giants Created Modern Baseball

Alexander's biography of Ty Cobb

Mickey Mantle's autobiography

The Gashouse Gang: How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-from-Behind Ball Club Won the World Series--and America's Heart--During the Great Depression by Heidenry.

I've also read October 1964 by Halberstam, but it's been a few years.

Crazy '08 is good, but based on things so far I like most of the others better. Mickey Mantle's autobiography is hilarious. Deford's book has really peaked my admiration for John McGraw. The Gashouse Gang told Dean's story very well. The Ty Cobb autobiography was very detailed in my opinion and has only enhanced my appreciation for what he did for the game. And if I remember right, October 1964 left me realizing that Bob Gibson could possibly have been described best as the "modern day" pitching equivalent of Ty Cobb.

Crazy '08 is written...differently. It offers some historical perspectives interspersed with the baseball stories. The author also isn't shy about dashing some common beliefs about some of the players of those days. Evers & Tinker as examples. But she also goes beyond to Cobb and some other notable names. Some of her stuff will sound almost like heresy to some readers depending on if they are fans of certain teams or players or not. All in all, it's a good read. I would recommend it to others, but I would also highly recommend the other books listed above as well. Of course, I'm not a book critic... just someone who enjoys learning some of the history about the good ole days of a game called baseball.

I have to concur with Donny's opinions on this.

Ty Cobb's autobiography & the McGraw-Mathewson book are excellent also.

Sorry, not trying to derail your thread about Crazy 08. Just tossing that out there for your future readings.

Jantz

Crazy 08 is a decent book, definitely worth a look at the bargain book price. I wasn't a great fan of Murphy's writing style, and thought the book could have done with a bit more polish, but there are moments in the book that make it worth keeping on the shelf. It is possible that I have simply read too many baseball books, but I found the "timeouts" a bit tiresome, and I have found that too many writers of baseball books always try to write thinly disguised social commentaries of America at the same time as they write a story about baseball. While there is no doubt that the stories are intertwined, the more skilled writers find ways to weave the stories together without distracting from that narrative at hand.

Bottom line - if I were doing an Amazon.com review I would give the book three stars out of five, and recommend a purchase at the current price. There are certainly less worthy titles that would cost you more.

While we're recommending other baseball books in the topic, I would recommend that anyone who has not had the pleasure of reading the baseball books by Mike Sowell check out the following:

The Pitch That Killed
July 2, 1903: The Mysterious Death of Hall-Of-Famer Big Ed Delahanty
One Pitch Away: The Players' Stories of the 1986 League Championships and World Series

The first book deals with the fatal beaning of Ray Chapman by Carl Mays, but ends up covering the histories of both players as well as the entire 1920 seasons of the Yankees and Indians that ended in the Indians taking the World Series title under manager Tris Speaker. The other two are self explanatory, and One Pitch Away is obviously more modern, but both are great reads.

Mantle's autobiography is a fairly good read, and I have always considered My Turn At Bat by Ted Williams a masterpiece as far as baseball autobiographies go - it obviously had a co-author, but Ted's influence and voice are there in all their glory. Anyone who enjoyed Halberstam's October 1964 might also enjoy Bob Gibson's book, which was titled "Stranger to the Game". Gibson has always been one of my favorite players, and the guts the man showed in his personal and professional life were without peer. If I had one game with my life on the line there is no question that Bob Gibson would be the man who would be starting.

A better Cobb biography is "Cobb," by Al Stump. (Algonquin Books, 1996) "Better," not in the sense of "more balanced," but in the way that fierce, sometimes overbearing and offensive, determination is assesssed. Ernest Hemingway, in the preface to the book's first segment: "Ty Cobb, greatest of all ballplayers. And an absolute s--t." In the same vein, in the recommendations that precede the book itself, one stands out ... From "The [Portland] Oregonian" "An excellently horrible book, as though 'Field of Dreams' had been ghostwritten by Stephen King." The work also includes about 20 b/w photos of Cobb and others throughout his life. Including "spikes flying," and the original Hughie "Ee-yah"Jemmings.

Great read.

Bob

Crazy '08 was OK but I feel that The Unforgetable Season by Fleming was a much better read. It details the same season with Newspaper accounts of the season from the papers that covered that amazing pennant race. I loved the accounts of Sam Crane so much it got me to pick up my First Old Judge in guite some time- even though he doesn't play for Chicago!
Crazy '08 ranks with More than Merkle- a good read but there are better.