Pennant Race by Jim Brosnan is the second of his baseball diary memiors this
time gently drawing back the curtain of privacy on the 1961 Cincinnati Reds National League Championship team.
In what was the last of the 154 game schedule, eight team National League season, this was a historic and gruelling pennant race for the participants who had no idea what lay in store for Major League Baseball in the seasons ahead. Although if the NLers had paid attention to what was going on in the American League in 1961 they would have had a pretty good clue.
That year in the AL, like most years then, the Yankees steamrolled their way to yet another AL Championship but this time with a historic home run race between Mantle and Maris as well as prodigious hitting by many of the other junior circuit clubs. But in 1961 the Al expanded to ten teams which meant
at least two pitching staffs that were just a little below big league skill
levels. Which certainly must have helped all those sluggers hit those dingers.
Meanwhile, back in the old fashioned NL, the Reds defeated last years World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates for the NL pennant and a shot at the powerful Yankees in the World Series. You can read all about it in Brosnan's 1961
diary except for the World Series which was not included in in Pennant Race possibly because Mr.Brosnan wanted to end the book on a triumphant note. BTW, the Yankees won four out of five games against the Reds in the 1961 World Series.
Pennant Race is perhaps the most entertaining sports book that I have ever read, there are several laugh out loud sections and it is extrememly interesting to hear Brosanan's on field contemporaries' reactions to his first book, The Long Season. Pennant Race, despite the fact that the 1961 World Series is not covered, is without a doubt one of the finest, pioneering sports books of our time.
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A MASTERPIECE!!
Now I have fitting companion to my hardback book by the greatest of all time. Best baseball memoir EVER. Every page is pristine. The cover is outrageous. I had NO IDEA I was getting this MINT A BOOK. Im using white gloves to read it.
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Now I have fitting companion to my hardback book by the greatest of all time. Best baseball memoir EVER. Every page is pristine. The cover is outrageous. I had NO IDEA I was getting this MINT A BOOK. Im using white gloves to read it.
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