NonSports Forum

Net54baseball.com
Welcome to Net54baseball.com. These forums are devoted to both Pre- and Post- war baseball cards and vintage memorabilia, as well as other sports. There is a separate section for Buying, Selling and Trading - the B/S/T area!! If you write anything concerning a person or company your full name needs to be in your post or obtainable from it. . Contact the moderator at leon@net54baseball.com should you have any questions or concerns. When you click on links to eBay on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network. Enjoy!
Net54baseball.com
Net54baseball.com
ebay GSB
T206s on eBay
Babe Ruth Cards on eBay
t206 Ty Cobb on eBay
Ty Cobb Cards on eBay
Lou Gehrig Cards on eBay
Baseball T201-T217 on eBay
Baseball E90-E107 on eBay
T205 Cards on eBay
Baseball Postcards on eBay
Goudey Cards on eBay
Baseball Memorabilia on eBay
Baseball Exhibit Cards on eBay
Baseball Strip Cards on eBay
Baseball Baking Cards on eBay
Sporting News Cards on eBay
Play Ball Cards on eBay
Joe DiMaggio Cards on eBay
Mickey Mantle Cards on eBay
Bowman 1951-1955 on eBay
Football Cards on eBay

Go Back   Net54baseball.com Forums > Net54baseball Main Forum - WWII & Older Baseball Cards > Net54baseball Vintage (WWII & Older) Baseball Cards & New Member Introductions

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 07-03-2017, 10:02 PM
Maxjacks Maxjacks is offline
Max Jackson
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 434
Default Fred Merkle book question

Has anyone read the book "Public Bonehead, Private Hero: The Real Legacy of Baseball's Fred Merkle"? How is it? Does it have a lot of info about his life after his career

I want to write something about Merkle and this seems like it may be a great resource but there isnt much info on the book I could find.


Thanks
__________________
Monster slain, 520/520!

Always looking for oddball Larry Doyle items.

Collecting New York Nationals in most Pre War sets. Especially t206 Non-Piedmont and non-sweet caporal backs.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 07-03-2017, 10:36 PM
drumback drumback is offline
Mark Peavey
Member
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Wichita, KS
Posts: 908
Default Merkle book

I have read this book and still have it. Honestly, I was disappointed. It was not really well-written, and there was very little about his life after baseball. However, to be fair, his life after baseball was not particularly interesting, so there wasn't much to write about.

If you want to read it, I could mail it to you, if you will ship it back to me when you are finished.

Mark
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 07-04-2017, 12:09 AM
BeanTown's Avatar
BeanTown BeanTown is offline
Jay Cee
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 2,036
Default

Copied this description from an REA old auction. Sums up really well what happened in an unforgettable moment in baseball history. One of my favorite postcards.

Exceedingly rare foldout postcard featuring a panoramic view of the legendary "Merkle" makeup game that decided the pennant of 1908. As the postcard notes in the printed caption provided, this game was well known as "The Greatest Ball Game Ever Played." The stature of this game was not an exaggeration! In the wake of the famous "Merkle's Boner" game that resulted in a tie, this was the game that National League president Harry Pulliam dictated would be played to decide the pennant. The fate of the world would be decided by this game for Giants and Cubs fans alike. The controversy over the Merkle's Boner game heightened emotions to a unprecedented fever pitch. This was more than a baseball game. This was war!

The large-format postcard provides a spectacular panoramic view of the Polo Grounds, taken from the perspective of an outlying area beyond the center field bleachers, during the game in progress between the New York Giants and Chicago Cubs on October 8, 1908. It was on that day that the Giants and Cubs met in the makeup game occasioned by the famous "Merkle's Boner" game that took place on September 23rd. In that historic earlier game, Giants backup first baseman Fred Merkle, who was on first base with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning of a tie game, failed to touch second base on what appeared to be Al Bridwell's game-winning hit.

Merkle's oversight resulted in his being called out on a force play, thereby negating the winning run and leaving the umpires no choice but to declare the game a tie (both darkness and a large contingent of fans on the playing field made a resumption of the game impossible). As fate would have it, the two clubs then ended the regular season tied for first, with the makeup game, pictured here, tantamount to a one-game playoff to decide the pennant. The importance of the game at the time is duly noted by the printed caption on the front that reads "The Greatest Ball Game Ever Played - Polo Grounds, New York Oct. 8 '08 Witnessed - by 50,000 People, Between Chicago & New York." The copyright date and photographer's name appear in the lower right corner, "Copyright 1908 D. Silberer Bros. N.Y." Unfortunately, nearly all of those 50,000 spectators were sent home disappointed, as the Cubs defeated the Giants by a score of 4-2, thereby winning (or "stealing," if you were a Giants fan) the pennant.


The "Merkle's Boner" game was the most controversial game in baseball history and the animosity it fostered in the hearts and minds of New Yorkers against the Cubs was overwhelming. Most of the Cubs players, especially Johnny Evers, received numerous death threats following the game. When the Cubs returned for the makeup game emotions were running so high among Giants fans that the team required police protection both to and from the stadium, literally traveling in a police paddy wagon for their own safety. The fact that they defeated the Giants in the makeup of a game everyone felt the Giants had originally won in the first place, only hardened fans' hatred of the Cubs.

This fact may actually explain the great rarity of this postcard. The card was produced by a New York manufacturer. It was therefore presumably offered for sale in New York. To purchase this card and then send it on to friends would have been the equivalent of intentionally sending a hurtful reminder of the most tragic defeat in Giants team history. It would be like trying to sell picture postcards of Bobby Thomson's "shot heard round the world" in Brooklyn during the fall of 1951. This is speculation, of course, but the extreme rarity of this postcard is certainly curious.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg IMG_5180.jpg (72.6 KB, 119 views)
__________________
Love Ty Cobb rare items and baseball currency from the 19th Century.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 07-04-2017, 12:12 PM
Maxjacks Maxjacks is offline
Max Jackson
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 434
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by drumback View Post
I have read this book and still have it. Honestly, I was disappointed. It was not really well-written, and there was very little about his life after baseball. However, to be fair, his life after baseball was not particularly interesting, so there wasn't much to write about.

If you want to read it, I could mail it to you, if you will ship it back to me when you are finished.

Mark
Thanks for the info on the book and the offer I'll pass, there is a cheap used copy on amazon so I'll save you the trouble

Beantown, I've never seen that postcard before I appreciate you sharing it
__________________
Monster slain, 520/520!

Always looking for oddball Larry Doyle items.

Collecting New York Nationals in most Pre War sets. Especially t206 Non-Piedmont and non-sweet caporal backs.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 07-04-2017, 01:48 PM
drumback drumback is offline
Mark Peavey
Member
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Wichita, KS
Posts: 908
Default Merkle book

I have read many accounts of the Merkle game, and the best, in my opinion, is by Peter Golenbock in his book, "Wrigleyville." It is fascinating and a joy to read.
Reply With Quote
Reply



Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Remembering Fred Merkle z28jd Net54baseball Vintage (WWII & Older) Baseball Cards & New Member Introductions 9 12-04-2013 01:39 PM
Show your Fred Merkle! Archive Net54baseball Sports (Primarily) Vintage Memorabilia Forum incl. Game Used 7 04-07-2008 09:17 AM


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:51 AM.


ebay GSB