A Season in the Sun (review)
Rent from DeepDyve- A Season in the Sun
The phrase "boys of summer," first used by poet Dylan Thomas, was adopted by Roger Kahn as the title for his best-known book, in which he placed his literary stamp indelibly on the Brooklyn Dodgers of Pee Wee, Campanella, and the Duke. The book reviewed here, A Season in the Sun, was originally written six years after Kahn's masterpiece. It contains two addendum, one an epilogue and the other a current afterword by the author.
Timing is important because 1976, which is Kahn's "season," was quite different from today, and few of the characters in the book are still active in the game. Free agency was just coming into existence, and baseball remained under the yoke of the reserve clause, which prevented players from moving voluntarily to other clubs. Nonetheless, the book has a timeless quality and, if nothing else, provides some interesting historical snapshots of the game at the end of an era.
Coverage ranges from dusty sandlots in Puerto Rico to a small college campus in Arkansas, from Double A ball in Massachusetts to the Major Leagues. Kahn is a natural storyteller with a good eye for the ingredients of an appealing yarn. Fans of a certain age will remember Wally Moon, who came up with the St. Louis Cardinals to replace the legendary Enos Slaughter and later starred for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The author spent a few days with Moon, who was then coaching at John Brown University in Siloam, Arkansas. Kahn's charming anecdotes about Moon, his team, and the area give the reader a sense of having participated in the visit.
The reader also vicariously shares Kahn's hanging out with Stan Musial, Johnny Bench, Walter O'Malley, Bill Veeck, and Early Wynn, plus some less recognizable people, such as John Felske, Artie Wilson, and Pat McKernan. In each case, the vignettes convey a graphic realism that extends beyond baseball to reveal the satisfactions and frustrations of everyday life.
Although the book succeeds as a nostalgic trip back to 1976, it lacks the magic of The Boys of Summer. A Season in the Sun is a far shorter book, and its fragments don't fit together as well; the era isn't as attractive (at least to me), and the writing, while certainly good, is not as compelling.
Kudos to the University of Nebraska Press for reissuing the books of Roger [End Page 115] Kahn, Mark Harris, and others in high-quality paperback at prices that do not strain the budget. [End Page 116]
Paul D. Staudohar is a professor of business administration at California State University, Hayward. He is the author of Playing for Dollars: Labor Relations and the Sports Business (Cornell University Press, 1996), and the editor of Baseball's Best Short Stories (Chicago Review Press, 1995), and Diamond Mines: Baseball and Labor (Syracuse University Press, 2000).
