Triumph and Tragedy in Mudville

by Gould, Stephen Jay; Halberstam, David

• ISBN13: 9780393057553
• ISBN10: 0393057550
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-03-01
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc

Summary

Science meets sport in this vibrant collection of baseball essays by the late evolutionary biologist. Among Stephen Jay Gould's many gifts was his ability to write eloquently about baseball, his great passion. Through the years, the renowned paleontologist published numerous essays on the sport; these have now been collected in a volume alive with the candor and insight that characterized all of Gould's writing. Here are his thoughts on the complexities of childhood streetball and the joys of opening day; tributes to Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, and lesser-knowns such as deaf-mute centerfielder "Dummy" Hoy; and a frank admission of the contradictions inherent in being a lifelong Yankees fan with Red Sox season tickets. Gould also deftly applies the tools of evolutionary theory to the demise of the .400 hitter, the Abner Doubleday creation myth, and the improbability of Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak. This book is a delight, an essential addition to Gould's remarkable legacy, and a fitting tribute to his love for the game. 20 b/w illustrations.

Author Biography

Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002) was the author of more than twenty books and wrote 300 consecutive columns for Natural History. He received the National Book Award for Wonderful Life, the National Book Critics Circle Award for The Mismeasure of Man, and an early MacArthur fellowship. For more than thirty years he taught geology, biology, and the history of science at Harvard University

Table of Contents

Foreword	9	(12)
David Halberstam
Editor's Note	21	(4)
Seventh Inning Stretch: Baseball, Father, and Me	25	(12)
REFLECTIONS AND EXPERIENCE
Streetball from a New York City Boyhood	37	(10)
The Babe's Final Strike	47	(3)
The Best of Times, Almost	50	(4)
Innings	54	(2)
More Power to Him	56	(5)
Rough Injustice	61	(3)
Tripping the Light Fantastic	64	(4)
Fenway Crowns the Millennium	68	(4)
Times to Try a Fan's Soul	72	(4)
Freud at the Ballpark	76	(4)
A Time to Laugh	80	(7)
HEROES LARGE, SMALL, AND FALLEN
Mickey Mantle: The Man versus the Myth	87	(10)
Dusty's Moment	97	(5)
This Was a Man	102	(3)
The Greatest Athlete of the Century	105	(7)
The Amazing Dummy	112	(18)
The Glory of His Time, and Ours	130	(4)
Eight More Out	134	(9)
NATURE, HISTORY, AND STATISTICS AS MEANING
Left Holding the Bat	143	(8)
Why No One Hits .400 Anymore	151	(22)
The Streak of Streaks	173	(15)
Letter to Joe DiMaggio, January 3, 1985	188	(2)
The Creation Myths of Cooperstown	190	(15)
The Brain of Brawn	205	(5)
Baseball's Reliquary: The Oddly Possible Hybrid of Shrine and University	210	(9)
Jim Bowie's Letter and Bill Buckner's Legs	219	(24)
CRITICISM
Diamonds Are a Fan's Best Friend	243	(5)
Angell Hits a Grand Slam with Collected Baseball Essays	248	(4)
The Black Men Who Integrated Big League Ball	252	(5)
Baseball and the Two Faces of Janus	257	(18)
The H and Q of Baseball	275	(20)
Sultan of Sentimentality	295	(6)
Baseball: Joys and Lamentations	301	(21)
Good Sports & Bad	322	(21)
Jacket Art Identification	343