To Every Thing a Season

I had this book a while before I finally read it. You know the ending is going to be sad. It is. But Bruce Kuklick has written a profound and objective book that is chock full of interesting stories and a full explanation of not just baseball but city life for most of a century in Philadelphia.It seems that Philly had the “perfect storm” working against this great old city stadium – the ghetto, terrible owners and managers, restrictive city laws (no games after 5 on Sunday and no beer – ever!), renowned and sustained racism and a general tide of anti urban, anti preservation and well – teams that really sucked, year after year.I was surprised that the author ends the book by saying basically, it had it’s season, and will be forgotten. Oh well – to everything a season.Really?! The same author says earlier that the selfishness of management was “not enough to make us skeptics. Believing in what might be trivial was the price we paid to escape private interest for those of a more overarching enterprise.” And later “Ball park memories are not about the game but about a romantic vision of past family life, about a good old time whose potential the present has not fulfilled.”I had lunch today with a friend of mine who said he remembers walking to Connie Mack stadium as a kid in the 50’s with his dad. He said it was a long walk. But then the stadium would just “pop up” in the middle of a (still occupied) neighborhood. It was magic. Was something lost? Absolutely.I wonder if the author would make any further additions to this book today, given the short life of the soulless Veterans Stadium and the success of in town ball clubs like the Cubs, Red Sox and others and the millions spent on minor league ball stadiums in so many towns in the 1990’s and 00’s that helped revive many "dead" urban areas nationwide.Yeah I thinks things could have been different. Yes there is a season for everything. But seasons can be extended. The year they finally tore what was left of the stadium down was the year one of Philly's most famous (well ok, fictional) heroes made his entrance. He “coulda been a contender but instead was just a bum.” In the story of course, Rocky fights and goes the distance. I like that ending better too.

This beautifully written book weaves together the story of Philadelphia baseball with the larger history of Philadelphia during the 20th century. If you live in Philadelphia (or ever did) or if history interests you, you will enjoy this fascinating story.

The book is more than a history of Shibe Park. It is a history of Philadelphia from the early 20th century through the 1970s. It discussed the sociology of an urban area, ethnic and religious differences, and the changes in urban America before and after WW II.Much of the book is about Connie Mack ant the Athletics with the Phillies history after they began using Shibe Park, renamed Connie Mack Stadium.It is a well researched and written book.

I'm very found of the A's franchise, particularly the time the team spent in Philadelphia. The book does not only relate the history of the A's in the Brotherly Love city, but also present the struggling fight for birth, developpment and survival of Shibe Park in Philly.Explore the neighborhood, smell the perfume of the many people whose lifes were changed and enrished by the A's.You wish you could be a part of it.

with both great baseball stories, and Philadelphia history, along with some insights into what makes the Philadelphia baseball fan so unique. Kind of scholarly, but anyone who grew up with the Phillies really should have it.

what a great book, give me some insight on the way things where

If you're looking for info re: North Philly as well as baseball in Philly, you need to read this. If you've ever lived in this neighborhood it's a wealth of historical information.

A well-written work on the neighborhood, demographic and baseball histories of the environs which the Philadelphia Athletics and later Phillies called home for many years of their existences. Though picking his way carefully around the subject of the deterioration of the neighborhood over time and for someone who openly espouses such a cynical view of "the past" (most directly expressed in the book's epilogue), the author has put together a fairly comprehensive subject piece which merits a read based on its historical value.