Product Description

Cubs Journal is the definitive 128-year history of the Chicago Cubs. The chronicle covers each year from 1876 through the 2004 season. Organized by decade, each section features a summary, team and player statistics, and highlights of great games. Within each respective decade, every year is given extensive coverage, including a statistical overview and day-by-day breakdowns. Each date includes anecdotes, hitting and pitching highlights, plus interesting and unusual facts — much more than just a box score.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #863315 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 734 pages

Review
"...captures the zeitgeist of the true baseball fan. Snyder’s book provides the perfect gift for the Chicago Cubs diehard." -- 5 stars by Ram Subramanian at www.curledup.com

From the Publisher
For Cubs fans, CUBS JOURNAL provides the opportunity to relive great plays, settle those "friendly wagers" and dive headfirst into the most fascinating, fact-filled book ever written on the Chicago Cubs.

About the Author
John Snyder has a master’s degree in history from the University of Cincinnati and a serious passion for baseball. He has authored thirteen books on baseball, soccer, hockey, tennis, football, basketball and travel. Redleg Journal: Year by Year and Day by Day with the Cincinnati Reds Since 1866, which he co-authored with Greg Rhodes, won the 2001 Sporting News-SABR Baseball Research Award. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Customer Reviews

A 720-page, in-depth, definitive history
In Cubs Journal: Year By Year & Day By Day With The Chicago Cubs Since 1876, historian and sports enthusiast John Snyder has written a 720-page, in-depth, definitive history chronicling the Chicago Cubs baseball team from its inception in 1876 down through the 2004 season. Enhanced with a profusion of photos, sidebars, statistics, and anecdotes, Cubs Journal is organized by decade, with each section featuring an informative summary, team and player statistics, and highlights of great games, a statistical overview, and day-by-day breakdowns. In addition to anecdotes, each date also includes a hitting and pitching highlights and so much more than a simple box score. The Cubs Journal could well serve as a template for similar sports club histories in baseball or any other team sport. Every dedicated Cubs fan will want their very own copy of John Snyder's Cubs Journal!

A Treasured Gift
It was given to someone who has follwed the Cubs for more than 50 years and he cannot put it down. His friends come over and they each in turn pick it up and read and read...laugh, remember, commiserate! They all want a copy now.

Very engaging but a bit sloppy
This is quite an ambitious book, as it covers the history of the Cubs from 1876 through early in the 2005 season. The book touts itself as a day-by-day history of the Cubs, but that doesn't mean it's simply a dry recessitation of mere box scores or pages of statistics. Instead, author John Snyder has put together a collection of memorable dates and games from each of the Cubs' many seasons.

Sprinkled in between the game highlights are little factoids that don't otherwise fit neatly into the chronogical format. These factoids offer everything from analysis of various Cub trades to changes at the ballpark to details of games that the overview leaves out. Very often they are the most intriguing parts of the book.

The book makes for great reading, whether you're a veteran (and long-suffering) fan who wants to reminisce about days gone by or for younger fans who want to get a thorough primer on Cubs lore. Considering the dearth of truly comprehensive books on Cubs history, this book should find a place on every fan's shelf.

Having said that, the book is not without its flaws. The highlight dates definitely make for a good idea, but occasionally it's unclear that the games the author has chosen are really the ones that the fans themselves would have considered the most memorable at the time. He appears to have a fondness for highlighting games which have high-scoring innings. Other times it is not so clear why a particular game has been chosen to be spotlighted, such as this random entry for August 18, 1983: "A three-run homer by Jody Davis accounts for all of the runs in a 3-0 win over the Braves at Wrigley Field. Ferguson Jenkins (8 2/3 innings) and Lee Smith (1/3 of an inning) combined on the shutout." Okay, that's interesting, but what makes this game stand out? In contrast, Snyder fails to mention the June 2nd game of that same seaon, when the Cubs turned a rare triple play against the Pirates.

One weakness with the day-by-day approach is that the whole is often no more than the sum of its parts. One may come away feeling like he or she didn't really get the full picture of the themes, characters, or pennant race of any given season, leaving you wanting more.

A more serious criticism is the great abundance of factual errors throughout the book. Dates and statistics are often wrong. Let's hope that prior to the second edition the publisher carefully scrutinizes the book and cleans it up.

Despite the various criticisms, this is still an essential read for Cubs fans.