Description:
The 1970s was a decade of shifting power in baseball. The Athletics' dynasty was dismantled, the Big Red Machine was formed, free agency delivered its opening pitch, the DH stepped to the plate, and the first off-the-field strike was called. It was a memorable time, one that veteran sportswriter Phil Pepe characterizes as filled with "broad, sweeping changes." In Talkin' Baseball he gives the forum to the change makers themselves: the players, managers, executives, and writers who bear first-person witness. As in all oral histories, the moments range from the brilliant to the mundane, the life-fulfilling exploits and personal sadnesses, most strikingly the tragic plane-crash deaths of Roberto Clemente and Thurman Munson. While Pepe's lineup of interviewees is impressive, there are some all-star no-shows: Hank Aaron, Willie Stargell, Carlton Fisk, and Johnny Bench, for starters. Still, that's less a quibble than an observation. Pepe doesn't need to swing only for the fences; he finds plenty of other ways to score.
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