Fans of the sport will relish this savory slice of golf’s past, gracefully served. (51 b&w illustrations)
A polished, adroit history of America’s first golf course, studded with yarns and deep with context, from golf-writer DiPerna and the course’s manager, Keller.
In the Greenbriar country of West Virginia, in the open spaces of woodland and tumbling hills outside White Sulphur Springs, sits Oakhurst, the first golf course laid out in the US—which happened, it has been agreed, in 1884. The course was built by four young men of substance who had migrated to lovely Greenbriar for various reasons. A cousin of theirs was set to arrive, and to entertain him properly—he was a fervid golfer, a Scot temporarily plying his game in Ceylon—they designed a nine-hole course, though “design” is a grand term, for golf courses were still rather makeshift affairs at the time: even playing at St. Andrews was a matter of picking an object down the links to aim at. The four builders and their guest became the Oakhurst Club, and remained the only five members. DiPerna and Keller do an exemplary vest-pocket job outlining the history of golf, its migration from Scotland (where it evolved, though ancient traces of it can be found in France, Belgium, Holland, and elsewhere in Great Britain and Ireland), and its passage to the Greenbriar. Additionally, the authors have a sharp eye for salient and entertaining moments in the game’s history, from the part it played in the beheading of Mary, Queen of Scots, to the pleasurable stories associated with Oakhurst, such as the club’s motto, “Sure and Far,” though Russell Montague, one of the original fivesome noted that “none of us were very ‘sure’ and we certainly did not drive very ‘far.’ ” Oakhurst fell into disuse but has been restored and can be played today with the equipment of old.
Fans of the sport will relish this savory slice of golf’s past, gracefully served. (51 b&w illustrations)Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8027-1371-8
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2002
Exquisite photographs and 97 essays, ranging from dubious to exemplary in quality and relevance, trace the 125-year history of professional baseball. Major League Baseball lends its logo to the fan's ultimate coffee-table book. By having unmatched access to various baseball archives, including those belonging to Major League Baseball, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and the New York Public Library's Spalding Collection, Wallace has compiled a powerful visual account of the sport. Photographs of legendary players—including Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth, Frank Robinson, and, in one especially riveting still, Yankees' catcher Thurman Munson bracing for a collision at the plate—beautifully, almost eerily, preserve these heroes at the height of their youthful powers. Other effects, including uniforms, endorsements, cartoons, and trading cards, forcefully yet subtly demonstrate baseball's far-reaching cultural impact. While Wallace (The American Museum of Natural History's Book of Dinosaurs and Other Ancient Creatures, p. 1116) intends to show the game from all angles, the text occasionally struggles to meet the estimable standards set by the illustrated sections. Laudable is Wallace's inclusion of reports from the Reach and Spalding baseball annuals of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Other noteworthy items are a 1955 scouting report on Brooks Robinson, who later became one of the greatest infielders ever, and Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey's explanation of his choice of Jackie Robinson as major league baseball's first black player in over 60 years. But the impact of such documentation is somewhat mitigated by the inclusion of ghostwritten autobiographies and ``flack'' pieces of questionable objectivity, and by Wallace's own introductory passages, which, with their boosterish tone, gloss over some of the game's less obvious undercurrents. But above all, baseball is a fan's game, and this book, compiled lovingly by a fan, deserves notice as a beautiful and enjoyable baseball time capsule.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-8109-3135-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
With the capable help of sportswriter Levine (Life on the Rim, 1990), the smallest man ever to play in the NBA tells his story with warmth and humor. At 53'' Muggsy Bogues is an unlikely basketball star, but the Charlotte Hornets' pesky point guard is annually among the leaders in assists and steals, and he averages 10 points per game. Raised in the projects of East Baltimore, Bogues describes a tough life that included being shot when he was 5 years old and, at 12, watching his father go to prison for armed robbery. But there was always basketball, even if no one would take him seriously. He led his Dunbar High School team to 59 straight victories and national prominence in 1981 and '82 and was sought after by college coaches who were sharp enough to overlook his height. At Wake Forest, he averaged 14.8 points per game, collected 275 steals, and amassed an Atlantic Coast Conference record of 781 assists. He was drafted in the first round by the Washington Bullets in 1987 and became great friends with 76'' teammate Manute Bol (much to the delight of photographers). When Washington didn't protect him in the 1989 expansion draft, Bogues was thrilled to be selected by the Hornets. His career hit its stride when coach Gene Littles instituted ``an up-tempo offense'' with Bogues at the point. Later, with the additions of $84 million power forward Larry Johnson and, in 1992, center Alonzo Mourning, Bogues sparked the Hornets to a first-ever playoff appearance. Asked how he can play against men as much as a foot-and-a-half taller, he simply notes that ``the ball's on the floor more than it's in the air. And down there is Muggsland.'' A refreshingly good-natured sports biography by a man who's proud of his achievements but not an egomaniac. As he says, he's ``one happy little fella.'' (20 b&w photos, not seen)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-316-10173-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1994
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