The World Series

I went to game five of the World Series Monday night. Attending the World Series fulfilled a lifelong dream. Seeing my team play in the Fall Classic made it even better. Growing up in Dallas, we called the Rangers the Strangers; their perennial mediocrity ensured they did not make the playoffs. Throughout most of the Rangers' history a day at the ballpark was just that: a day at the ballpark, many fans attending to see the parade of big stars on other teams. The past two seasons have been different with two trips to the World Series.

The best sports writing is about baseball. I’m not sure why. Perhaps the cadence of the game lends itself to a thoughtfulness absent from other sports. Or, perhaps one man’s thoughtfulness is another man’s boredom. There certainly is plenty of down time in baseball, providing the sportswriter time to begin constructing stories. I don’t write at baseball games, but I tend to carry a book along. Not much beats an afternoon game with some reading snuck into the slow, steady cadence of the game.

As for the World Series, I did not take a book. I relished every pitch, swing, hit, pop fly, double play, cheer, high-five, laugh, and smile.

Below are some excellent books about the World Series.


Glory in the Fall: the Greatest Moments in World Series History

The First Fall Classic: the Red Sox, the Giants, and the Cast of Players, Pugs, and Politicos Who Reinvented the World Series in 1912

Game Six: Cincinnati, Boston, and the 1975 World Series: the Triumph of America's Pastime

The Gashouse Gang

When Chicago Ruled Baseball: the Cubs-White Sox World Series of 1906

Praying for Gil Hodges: a Memoir of the 1955 World Series and One Family's Love of the Brooklyn Dodgers

100 Years of the World Series 1903-2003