When the Giants Were Giants

April 15, 1994
Just when was the "golden age of New York baseball"? In "The Era", Roger Kahn argues for 1947-57, no doubt the majority view, but Williams makes a strong case for the 1930s, when the Yankees, with Ruth and Gehrig, dominated the American League, and the Giants, led by Bill Terry, had their way in the National. Whether or not Williams wins the golden age argument, he does a tremendous job of resuscitating the reputation of the unfairly maligned Terry, whose .341 lifetime batting average as a player and multiple pennants as a manager weren't enough to overcome the ire of a group of angry writers (including Williams' father) who kept the Giant star out of the Hall of Fame for 11 years after his retirement. In Williams' full-bodied, anecdotal portrait, Terry emerges as the prototypical modern player--savvy about money, unwilling to accept the patriarchal approach of team owners to their employees, utterly frank in his dealings with reporters. "Terry," Williams says, "was the first important baseball figure to rebel against a star system created by and for reporters, and they responded by trying to make an example of him." This is excellent baseball history: judicious use of game accounts mixed with appropriate dollops of period ambience and authorial interpretation. ((Reviewed Apr. 15, 1994))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1994, American Library Association.)