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June reads: Let's Play Two (Ron Rapoport)
Jun. 25th, 2019 10:58 amSo some people (you know who you are) are chronicling all the books they read in June and I'm like...joke's on you, I don't read books anymore. Except occasionally I do, and now I'm staying at home for a while where there will probably be frequent library trips. So maybe I sneak a couple more in here.
Growing up I read a lot about and greatly admired (Chicago Cubs baseball player) Ernie Banks for his talent and optimism, even though he played decades before my time. The biography fleshes out his not-always-chipper personal life, but also validates some of the mythology. He wasn't exactly an introvert in an extroverts' world, so much as an...I don't know, naturally easygoing guy in an often uptight world, so some of his good-naturedness (not arguing with umpires, etc.) just kind of stood out.
There are also nice profiles of Philip Wrigley, the Cubs' reluctant owner, and the Bleacher Bums. Wrigley has been characterized as someone who didn't like or understand baseball and only kept the team because his father asked him to, but Rapoport portrays him as also an innovator and tinkerer, and a capitalist with a conscience who supported some of Roosevelt's New Deal policies even when fellow businesspeople side-eyed them. The Bums are characterized as individuals who coalesced during the late 60's, which I hadn't really known. And there are also nice asides with "so-and-so is now the Illinois secretary of state/Dodgers' GM/etc."
Banks' oldest sister, Edna Banks Warren, is still alive in her 90s, and helped Rapoport with a lot of interviews; the book is dedicated to her. :)
Growing up I read a lot about and greatly admired (Chicago Cubs baseball player) Ernie Banks for his talent and optimism, even though he played decades before my time. The biography fleshes out his not-always-chipper personal life, but also validates some of the mythology. He wasn't exactly an introvert in an extroverts' world, so much as an...I don't know, naturally easygoing guy in an often uptight world, so some of his good-naturedness (not arguing with umpires, etc.) just kind of stood out.
There are also nice profiles of Philip Wrigley, the Cubs' reluctant owner, and the Bleacher Bums. Wrigley has been characterized as someone who didn't like or understand baseball and only kept the team because his father asked him to, but Rapoport portrays him as also an innovator and tinkerer, and a capitalist with a conscience who supported some of Roosevelt's New Deal policies even when fellow businesspeople side-eyed them. The Bums are characterized as individuals who coalesced during the late 60's, which I hadn't really known. And there are also nice asides with "so-and-so is now the Illinois secretary of state/Dodgers' GM/etc."
Banks' oldest sister, Edna Banks Warren, is still alive in her 90s, and helped Rapoport with a lot of interviews; the book is dedicated to her. :)
