The Team that Changed Baseball, by Bruce Markusen

The subtitle of Bruce Markusen's The Team that Changed Baseball is "Roberto Clemente and the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates."  I was born and raised in Pittsburgh and the '71 World Series is one I'll never forget.  On top of all that, Roberto Clemente has always been a hero of mine, so I simply had to read this book.

One of the things that makes this title so special is the difference between media coverage of a World Series back then vs. one today.  Every aspect of the game and players lives is covered today.  It's hard to miss even the smallest detail.  Back then you had the game itself and a couple of local sports columnists.  No ESPN.  No Internet.  No DVR-ing all the pre-game hype on every single channel.  Even though I read every article I could back in 1971, I learned a lot of new tidbits thanks to this great book.

Markusen does a fantastic job of taking you back to the entire 1971 season.  His extensive interviews with many of the players and coaches make this book a treasure for any Pirates fan of the 1970's.  Month-by-month regular season assessments of the team's performance, roster changes, etc., lead up to almost 40 pages of coverage dedicated to the '71 World Series...yet another one the Pirates were supposed to lose, this time, to the extremely talented Baltimore Orioles.

My favorite part of this book is the "Where Are They Now" chapter he closes with.  It was fun to read what some of these guys are up to now, especially the ones I hadn't even thought about since the early '70's.  Any baseball fan will enjoy this book, but if you're a Pirates fan and you followed the team in 1971, you definitely need to add The Team that Changed Baseball to your library.

Comments

[Susan Helene Gottfried]

I KNEW I liked you, Joe. The Tour Manager and I are both Pittsburgh-bred.

Thanks for the suggestion; this would make a nice birthday present for the Tour Manager (who, like me, isn't really old enough to remember the 1971 season. Ulp!).

[Joe Wikert]

Hi Susan. Gee, thanks for making me feel so old! ;-)

[Bruce Markusen]

Joe,

Thanks very much for the kind review you wrote about my book. I really appreciate it. Glad you enjoyed it.

Sincerely,

Bruce Markusen
Cooperstown, NY

[Joe Wikert]

Hi Bruce. Thanks for stopping by. Kudos to you for writing an *excellent* book that brought back a lot of memories for me. Great job!