John Mcgraw » (Reprint)

"He ate gunpowder every morning," complained one umpire, "and washed it down with warm blood." That described John McGraw, who in the 1890s was the rowdiest member of the ferocious Baltimore Orioles, the club that pioneered the hit-and-run, the cutoff, the squeeze play, and the "Baltimore chop." In 1902 he began his thirty-season reign as manager of the Giants, winning ten pennants—a record matched only by Casey Stengel. His career in baseball spanned forty years and two eras—from the game's raucous early days to its emergence as big business.Charles C. Alexander, a professor of history at Ohio University, Athens, and the author of Ty Cobb, calls John McGraw "perhaps the single most significant figure in baseball's history before Babe Ruth transformed the game with his mammoth home runs and unparalleled showmanship."

Library Journal

Sports biography at its best: an entertaining, scholarly treatment of the life and times of a legendary figure. In the tradition of Robert Creamer's excellent study of Babe Ruth, Babe (1974), Alexander portrays famed Giant manager John McGraw without sentimental bias. McGraw's career is a story of two baseball eras: its rowdy early days and the cool, corporate operations of post-World War I. McGraw's constant umpire baiting, penchant for inspiring either hatred or loyalty, and bond with star pitcher Christy Mathewson through many championship years, reveal a fiery, dictatorial, and brilliant man. Highly recommended. Thomas J. Reigstad, Buffalo State Coll., SUNY