Baseball's Game Changers

When one thinks of a “game changer”, it usually means an event, person or moment that had a profound effect on the game or sport. This is not always something that takes place during a game or on the field of play. It can be an athlete, coach, owner or maybe a shift in conventional thinking. All of these types of “game changers” are covered in this book by George Castle, a longtime Chicago baseball reporter.

The book was really a collection of stories about each of these “game changers” and it was impressive in the scope of the game that is covered. No matter what one wants to read about when it concerns the game of baseball, there are important people or events that are considered important in the history of the game.

If a reader wants to know more about rule changes, the implementation of the designated hitter and the lowering of the pitching mound after the 1968 season are two examples of profound changes that affected the game. If one is looking for certain players, three examples are Jackie Robinson, Henry Aaron and Barry Bonds. Does the reader want to read about how the business of the sport has changed? There are plenty of examples here, such as the advent of free agency, television, night games and arbitration.

Most of the stories are short, therefore there is not a lot of detail, but most are filled with information that will help the reader learn why that person, rule or event is important in the game’s history. The information comes from various sources and the timeline is complete, from baseball in the 19th century up to the 2014 World Series. It is a book that is recommended for any baseball fan as it is easy to read, broken up into short stories that can be put down and picked right back up anytime and filled with good information on the history of the game from all aspects.

I wish to thank Lyons Press for providing an advance review copy of the book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book looks at 50 changes in the game of baseball and the author does his own ranking. From the Black Sox scandal, to Marvin Miller who fought for player rights, to Richie Allen who gave up his career to fight in court for free agent. You have lowering the pitcher’s mound, the Boss working free agency to the Yankees advantage to win, and of course the players strike and then a season when baseball was not here ant more because of an lock out. You also have players the author feels made changes to game and how equipment was introduced. This is a very interesting book. The chapters are short and give you just enough information on a topic if you did not know about it before, or some more information if you did. A very good book and worth the read.