The Baseball Bloggers Alliance offers some unique opportunities. The major pull is the chance to talk a lot of baseball with like-minded people, who root for different teams and have different ideas about how to play the game. It also offers some other things, like the change to write for new sites, or review baseball publications.
Through one of my fellow BBA members I acquired a free copy of the Maple Street Press 2010 Cardinals Annual. I’ve received complimentary copies of other books since I started writing this blog, and for each of those I agreed to, and eventually did, post a review. Since that has now taken on the trappings of tradition, I decided to do the same for the 2010 Annual, although not asked to do so.
I have to say, here at the outset, it was hard to remain objective while reading this Annual with the thought of writing a review later. One of the first Cardinal Bloggers I contacted way back in 2006 when I started this site was Larry Borowsky, then lead blogger for Viva El Birdos. I didn’t know until opening the Annual that Larry edits the Cardinal edition. It’s fair to say my expectations rose immediately when I saw his Letter From the Editor. It’s also fair to say I relaxed and enjoyed the Annual that much more, because I knew it would be high quality.
The Annual doesn’t disappoint. Borowsky has assembled a fine collection of writers, including Dan Moore (currently of Viva El Birdos), Matt Philip, Will Leitch (late of Deadspin), and Jeff Sackmann (of the Hardball Times). It’s 128 pages of stories about the Cardinals, focusing on the state of the organization in 2010, but not exclusively. As a hard core Cardinal fan, it had all the detail I wanted – the breakdowns of key players strengths and weaknesses, rising stars in the farm system, profiles of the potentially next great Cardinals (Allen Craig and Lance Lynn). As a student of history, it had articles to satisfy that interest too – a retrospective on Rick Ankiel, and the best article in the Annual, a look back at the September 1974 pennant race between St Louis and Pittsburgh.
By the time I was able to dial into last week’s UCB radio hour (Matt Philip was a guest), there were only 20 minutes left, but during that time the host (Dan) mentioned a Whitey Herzog vs Tony LaRussa discussion Pip was involved in. That article is in this Annual. Tony LaRussa’s tenure with St Louis has been very successful, but Pip skilfully argues Whitey was/is the better manager in a head-to-head debate with Kevin Wheeler of KMOX. The curse of history includes dimming the accomplishments of those who went before in the light of accomplishments by those in the arena now. Pip seeks to shine the light back on Whitey.
As I’ve stated in previous posts, my metrics for reviews are three-fold: Was I entertained, Did the book achieve its stated goal, and would I recommend it.
Was I entertained? Yes. The articles are well written and enjoyable. I felt the most technical/sabermetric heavy story was Chuck Brownson’s evaluation of Yadier Molina’s place in Cardinal catching history, and that article didn’t overwhelm the reader with “stats-speak”. It had enough stats to make the point, and explained the methods for getting those stats clearly and concisely. I mentioned the 1974 article already as a personal favorite, and the Ankiel retrospective (penned by Leitch) was excellent as well.
Did the book achieve its stated goal? Yes. There is enough good information on the 2010 Cardinals to prepare any Cardinal fan for the upcoming season.
Would I recommend it? Yes. No need to restate it, but for entertainment value, as well has analysis weight, this Annual is well worth the read.
Copies of the 2010 Annual can be purchased at Maple Street Press, and I suspect at bookstores throughout the greater St Louis area.
