COVER STORY

The Philadelphia Phillies: An Extraordinary Tradition edited by Scott Gummer

For when: You realize you peaked in 2008

by Andrew Milner

Published: Jun 16, 2010


(CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

It took 127 years, but the Phillies finally have an oversize photo book worthy of a coffee table. The Phillies: An Extraordinary Tradition covers pretty much everything in team history from their humble 1883 beginnings (won-lost record: 17-81) to the last two World Series seasons (Roy Halladay's perfect game and the on-field tasering will presumably have to wait for Volume 2). There's an excellent cross-section of player profiles, including fan favorites Maje McDonnell, Tony Taylor and John Kruk, plus Art Mahan of the 1940 team (he's the oldest-living Phillie) as well as first-person accounts from various team and clubhouse personnel. Cheryl Spielvogel, who's been a peanut vendor since 1976, speaks for all of us when she says, "(W)ithout baseball in your life — what do you do?"

The book includes several slightly gimmicky but harmless "interactive insert" reprints of old Phillies scorecards, tickets and newspaper clippings. Team artist Dick Perez includes baseball card-size portraits of Phillies Hall of Famers, and there's a section devoted to the Cooperstown induction speeches of Richie Ashburn, Robin Roberts, Steve Carlton, Mike Schmidt and Jim Bunning. The narrative is well-balanced; the agonies of 1964 draw as much space as the triumphs of 1980 and 2008. The book's foreword is by Phils fan Christopher Guest of Spinal Tap, a perfect beginning to a Phillies history that, indeed, goes to 11.

Insight, 244 pp., $50, May 25

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