Bad Hair, Polyester, and All Kinds of Grass : American Baseball Culture in The '70s

by Dan Epstein

• ISBN13: 9781599211336
• ISBN10: 1599211335
• Format: Trade Paper
• Publisher: The Lyons Press

Summary

From polyester uniforms and Astroturf to free agency and World Series night games, more changes occurred in baseball during the 1970s than in all its previous decades combined. Speed supplanted power; such "unbreakable" records as Babe Ruth's career home run mark and Ty Cobb's lifetime steals total fell to Hank Aaron and Lou Brock, and skyrocketing player salaries changed the game's economics forever. This was also the era in which pop culture collided head-on with baseball, rocking the once-conservative sport to its foundations. Black power, the sexual revolution, the drug culture, the Nixon White House, and even disco music all made their presence felt. Bad Hair, Polyester, and All Kinds of Grass touches on all of these feverish phenomena and moreas well as the astounding feats of star players like Pete Rose, Rod Carew, Mike Schmidt, George Brett, Johnny Bench, Willie Stargell, Nolan Ryan, and Tom Seaver. It is an informative and irreverent Technicolor trip down the cultural highway of America's national pastime in a defining decade.

Author Biography

Dan Epstein is an award-winning journalist, a music critic, and the author of the 20th Century Pop Culture reference series. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, and LA Weekly. He lives in Los Angeles.