At Home Plate

Book Review: Tales From the Pirates Dugout: A Collection of the Greatest Pirates Stories Ever Told

Tales From the Pirates Dugout: A Collection of the Greatest Pirates Stories ever Told.
By John McCollister
Sports Publishing L.L.C.
List price $22.00

This book is another in the Tales from the Dugout series by Sports Publishing. Like many of the others in the series this book is a collection of great moments, anecdotes and it includes a behind the scenes look at some of the greatest, not to mention forgettable Pirates of all time. Some things are better with age, and these books often seem to reflect the age of the franchise that they are about.

This book is no exception, the Pirates are one of the oldest franchises in baseball and this is a wonderful book for any baseball fan, not just Pirates fans. The book has its share of recent Pirates including Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke, John Candelaria, and Dave “the Cobra” Parker and some stories about them, but it offers a lot more.

There are looks back at some of the all time greats - and the Pirates have had more than their fair share - including Bill Mazeroski, Willie Stargell, Ralph Kiner, Honus Wagner, Deacon Phillipe, Paul and Lloyd Waner, Connie Mack, “Rabbit” Maranville, Hank Greenberg, Branch Rickey and others. In this the book takes a different approach than others that we have reviewed here at AHP. This book is broken down to chapters based upon each player/personality and how they affected the Pirates.

The book is light hearted and well written and shares both insights as to individuals, their sense of humor, or honor, or even just their will to win as well as a huge portion of baseball history.

Inside are pieces of the first World series not to mention later ones as well as the races that the Pirates have enjoyed, not to mention the seasons that they brought up the cellar in the National League.

There are moments of baseball greatness, such as Harvey Haddix’s 12 inning perfect game which he lost in the 13th inning, on a home run that was ruled a double with the batter being out for having passed the runner who was on base, the triumphs and incredible play that was Roberto Clemente, and owner Barney Dreyfuss giving his owners share of the World Series proceeds to his players. It also includes some ugly moments in their history, such as the madness and death of pitcher Ed Doheny under the pressures of the first world series and such inglorious moments as the standing ovation that Dick “Dr. Strangeglove” Stuart received for snagging a wisp of paper floating through the air near his station at first base, or Babe Ruth hitting the longest home run ever hit at Forbes Field.

This book is so far my favorite in the Tales from the Dugout series. It’s amusing, informative and a great read. I don’t think you need to be a Pirates fan to enjoy this one, and in fact I know it’s true since I am not a fan of the Bucs, but I know I really enjoyed this book.

Being a little critical however I must note this book does not tell a story, but provides glimpses of players from ages gone by as well as the modern era. I found that this book filled in some gaps in my baseball knowledge and left me feeling delighted that I had taken the time to learn about what makes the Pittsburgh organization something special.

Give this one a 2.5 ball rating out of 4.

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Other books in this series that we have reviewed: Tales from the Phillies Dugout , Tales from the Angels Dugout, Tales from the Cardinals' Dugout and Leo Mazzone's Tales from the Braves Mound

Our Rating System is based on a four ball system as follows:
One Ball: Average. It has something to say but is nothing special.
Two Balls: Something men usually have - also means its a cut above average, and worth reading/owning.
Three balls: Stands out from its peers and is highly recommended.
Four Balls: More than just what two men have when hanging out together, it means it is an exceptional book that truly earns a walk - straight to the local book store to get a copy.

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