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Willie's Time: Baseball's Golden Age (Writing Baseball)
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Product Description
This twenty-fifth anniversary edition of Willie’s Time: Baseball’s Golden Age restores to print Charles Einstein’s vivid biography of one of baseball’s foremost legends. With a new preface from the author, this volume replays the most dramatic moments of the Say Hey Kid’s career—from the 1951 Miracle Giants to the Amazing Mets of 1973—and takes us inside the lives of Ruth, DiMaggio, Aaron, Durocher, and others along the way. Einstein offers a compelling and complete look at Mays: as a youth in racist Birmingham, a triumphant symbol of African American success, a sports hero lionized by fans, and yet all the while, still a very human figure destined to play for two decades amid baseball’s Golden Age.
First published in 1979, Willie's Time is the only ballplayer biography ever named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #771654 in Books
- Published on: 2004-02-20
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Paperback
- 368 pages
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Einstein uses history and Willie Mays interchangeably, and it works." -- New York Times Book Review
"[A] beautifully written memoir of a tempestuous, complicated, devastating, and exhilarating period in America." -- Gene Shalit, Today Show
"[A] skillful and loving picture of Willie Mays as the archetypal athlete of our time." -- Los Angeles Times
"[A] superb blend of sports lore and American history." -- Christian Science Monitor
"[O]ne of the best nostalgia books in years." -- Boston Globe
Review
“[O]ne of the best nostalgia books in years.”—Boston Globe
“Willie’s Time is the story of an era—a beautifully written memoir of a tempestuous, complicated, devastating, and exhilarating period in America—twenty-three years that paralleled the baseball career of the most gifted and exciting player in history.”—Gene Shalit, the Today Show
“One can only recall lovingly the man and his joyous vitality—and this Einstein does brilliantly. He masterfully superimposes Mays’s career onto the political and social events that framed it.”—Library Journal
“Absorbing reading.”—Publishers Weekly
“Entertaining, enjoyable, and, yes, even educational . . . Charles Einstein’s memoir of the life and times of Willie Mays is a superb blend of sports lore and American history.”—Christian Science Monitor
“Baseball fans of whatever vintage, as well as anyone interested in recapturing a slice of the past, should greatly enjoy this knowledgeable and affectionate biography.”—New York Post
“A private, guarded man, Willie Mays isn’t easy to know. Einstein seems to know him well. He writes boldly, with love, and from direct experience. The result is a degree of insight that an impersonal history couldn’t achieve.”—Denver Post
“Mays had such a glittering career that merely describing the highlights would be entertaining enough. But Einstein does more. He sets the scene. He seeks out the unusual quote. He finds the perfect anecdote. He unearths some choice tidbits that are pure delight.”—Newsday
“Willie’s Time is a splendid book . . . a moving story, thorough and warm, filled with rich humor and wry anecdote.”—The Sporting News
“Einstein relates baseball life to American life as few recent writers have.” —Forth Worth Star-Telegram
“Einstein documents the crucial role of baseball in the civil rights struggle, drawing a skillful and loving picture of Willie Mays as the archetypal athlete of our time.”
—Los Angeles Times
About the Author
Charles Einstein has been a journalist, novelist, editor, and screenwriter. A lifetime member of the Baseball Writers Association of America and a ranking historian of the game, Einstein is the author or editor of thirty-five books and more than five hundred magazine articles. His previous works include four Fireside Books of Baseball, The New Baseball Reader, and (with Willie Mays) Born to Play Ball and My Life In and Out of Baseball.
Customer Reviews
a magical book about a truly great baseball player
"Willie's Time," by Charles Einstein, is a magical read, in my opinion. Einstein basically starts when Willie made it to the "Bigs," and he weaves history into the phenomenal career of Willie Mays, who is arguably the greatest baseball player that ever lived.
I started playing Little League baseball in 1960, and I played center. Willie Mays was my hero. Mays could-and did-do it all: (1)hit for average, (2)hit with power, (3)run the bases, (4)play defense, and (5)win games for his team with intangibles. Many players challenged Willie's arm, and Mays threw the majority of them out.
To attempt to compare drug-enhanced players of today with Willie Mays is ludicrous. They are mere children compared to Willie.
Today (27 May 2005), Major League Baseball no longer exists (to me). But "Willie's Time" was a wonderful reminder of not only a great baseball player, but also a time when Major League Baseball was fun. (RIP, Major League Baseball.)
In my opinion, you will NOT be disappointed if you buy this book.
History lesson
This book is a great history lesson not just of baseball but of the times Willie played. There are many memories of the "Giants" of yesterday.
