I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! It was especially interesting reading about baseball during the pandemic. Excellently researched and a great read for all baseball fans.

A discussion of most books starts with thoughts about the execution of the publication rather than the creation of the idea behind it.

"America's Game in the Wild-Card Era" is the exception.

It's a book that covers the last 25 years of history in major league baseball. That starts with the resumption of play with the famous labor action that cost the sport the 1994 World Series. It ends with what certainly will be remembered as another historic stoppage - the year the season was cut short because of the pandemic.

This book takes a look back mostly at the on-field matters that came up during the course of the quarter-century. There are certain matters that naturally need to be brought up in such a discussion such as steroid use. Even so, this emphasizes plays and games rather than luxury taxes and doping.

Bryan Soderholm-Difatte tackles this big subject but zooming in on a particular team at the start of each chapter. Therefore, we hear about the dynasties of the Braves and Yankees, the ups and downs of the Red Sox and Cubs, the tainted rise of the Astros, etc. It's important to note that all of the teams in MLB are covered here, at least briefly. The best games and players also are mentioned.

By the way, Soderholm-Difatte has a companion book out called "The Reshaping of America's Game" about the same era but written about the off-field matters. Give the man credit for ambition and work ethic.

The author has done some writing for the Society of American Baseball Research, and he has fulfilled his mission professionally. The facts are all there, and it's difficult to disagree with his conclusions. This version of events is a little dry in spots, but that sort of comes with the territory of writing such history.

While reading this, though, one question popped up. Who will be the audience for the book?

This is really familiar territory to big baseball fans, who are familiar with the game's big moments. Since the book is something of a research project and doesn't really seek out any fresh information, it's not as if there is much to learn by reading this particular recap. On the flip side, those have only a passing interest in the game probably won't care enough to read about 240 pages on baseball's recent history.

There's something called middle ground between those two extremes, I guess. But it's tough to say how big it is - especially with a $45 list price for the book.

Those who need some perspective on this era of baseball, with some teams rising and falling like penny stocks while others generally remain powerful, should find that "America's Game in the Wild-Card Era" will work pretty well toward that goal. Maybe a glance at the contents during a visit to the bookstore will provide you with some clues as to whether you fit the niche.

In the last 25 years, Major League Baseball has undergone many changes, both on the field and in the front office. This book by Bryan Soderholm-Difatte is a good summary of many of the changes and how they affected the game and all 30 franchises.

The book will not have memorable storylines, does not follow a true chronological order of the state of the game, nor will it offer a lot of insight into why some of the changes took place. What it does do is offer a look at the major issues and events in baseball during that time frame in a thorough manner. It also does something that many other baseball books about a specific year or timeframe don't do – this book has good information on all 30 teams in the game, not just the best ones.

So yes, the reader who wants to read about of three major championship droughts that ended in this era (Red Sox in 2004, White Sox in 2005, Cubs in 2016) will be able to do so, but that reader will also read about the Colorado Rockies rise to the postseason in only their third year, the Florida Marlins winning the World Series in their fifth year and the Arizona Diamonbacks doing the same in their fourth season of existence. The New York Mets get plenty of text for their collapses in 2007 and 2008 plus their pennant in 2015, but so do the Minnesota Twins for their run of division titles in the 2000's and their resurrection in 2019 when they set the major league record for home runs in a season. This balance of coverage for all teams was the most refreshing aspect of this book.

As mentioned earlier, no one topic is covered in great detail – readers who want to get a lot of information on major events like the 1994-95 strike, the use of performance enhancing drugs or the cheating scandal by the Houston Astros will get some information on them but will have to go elsewhere for a deep dive. However, the book accomplishes its goal to provide the reader information on every team and every important topic in the game since that strike, including information on how the players and owners eventually came together to be able to play a 60-game schedule in 2020 through a pandemic. It's a good quick read for a baseball fan to gain a little bit of additional insight into the recent history of the game.

I wish to thank Rowman and Littlefield Publishers for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.