March 27, 2006
Historic Interviews
Former commissioner Fay Vincent started a project to conduct videotape interviews of former players to preserve the history of the game. The Only Game in Town is the first fruit of that project. The book contains interviews with ten players from the 1930's and 1940's, with an eye on how the game changed from before World War II to the breaking of the color barrier in 1947.
I've read the first chapter, an interview with Elden Auker, the last surviving member of the Detroit championship teams of the early 1930s. A submariner, Auker pitched against and played with some of the greats of the day. He tells stories about Babe Ruth, Mickey Cochrane, Joe Cronin, and how Auker almost ended Lou Gehrig's streak when one of Elden pitches broke the toe of the Iron Horse.
This is the first volume of the history, and it looks like it will be a must have for a baseball historian's library.
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Posted by David Pinto at
03:22 PM
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