Baseball Books and Replays

As I was reading Henry Aaron’s autobiography, “I Had a Hammer” recently, I found myself  interested in getting out my 1957 APBA baseball cards and reliving that season, or the 1974 season – the year Aaron became the Home Run King when he surpassed Babe Ruth’s 714 home runs.

Now, I just began reading “The Selling of the Babe,” Glenn Stout’s book on how Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1920 and I’m now itching to do a replay of the 1927 season.

It’s something I’m sure APBA replayers all go through. We read books of a certain era in baseball and the natural response is to delve into it further by holding the cards and rolling the dice. I first found that out after reading “Cobb,” the questionable biography on Ty Cobb by Al Stump. Upon finishing the book, I immediately called the APBA company and ordered the 1919 season. Soon, the cards arrived and I pored over them, recognizing names that Stump mentioned in his book.

I think part of it all is the demographics of the APBA fan. This is not bragging and I am sure there are some who will refute what I say based on my own actions. But, APBA replayers, I surmise, are intelligent folks who have both the dedication to playing out a lengthy replay and the desire to read more about baseball. They are two passions I think we share.

And what better way to further understand seasons and author’s inputs than doing a replay while reading of a particular season. One of my favorite seasons I ever did was 1957. I enjoyed it even more after reading John Klima’s “Bushville Wins,” the tale of how the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Yankees in the 1957 World Series. The Wisconsin town gained that nickname when Yankees manager Casey Stengel was upset that the hotels near County Stadium in Milwaukee were all booked and he had to take his team to a town some 30 miles from Milwaukee. He retorted that the town was so much smaller than New York based on its accommodations and called it “Bushville’ in a reference to Bush League towns.

I plan on re-reading Jane Leavy’s “The Last Boy,” about Mickey Mantle soon. I’m sure that’ll rekindle desires to do a season in which Mantle played.

Of course, probably the most motivational replay-driving book has to be Jim Bouton’s “Ball Four,” his chronicle of the 1969 season and his role as a relief pitcher for the expansion Seattle Pilots. Doing a replay of that season gives us a closer perspective of some of the players Bouton names in his book. Sure, we know Ray Oyler’s name from the book, but we know him more when rolling the dice for his at bats in a replay.

There are scores of baseball books out there and each adds a dimension to replays we are all doing. It makes the season more interesting; if we know of some anecdotes from reading a book, it enhances the replay,  just as we may remember a player in our replay who is mentioned in a book.  It goes hand in hand.

I’m currently doing the 1947 season. One of the books I checked out from the library for the sole purpose of adding to the experience is Ed Henry’s “42 Faith,” the book on how Jackie Robinson ended up breaking the color barrier in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers.  It’s up next on my to-read list right after I finish Stout’s Babe Ruth book.

If you’re doing a replay, and you haven’t already done it, try reading a book on that particular season or era.  I think you’ll enjoy your replay even more.