Flashback Friday: Book Review (1974)
Thanks to the 1982 Appleton Foxes program I have found a book that is exactly that. In 1974, Wait Till I Make the Show was published. Bob Ryan, a sportswriter for the Boston Globe, was the author and he spent time in Appleton.
This week's Flashback was actually a Flashback in the 1982 program. The Foxes reprinted a review of Ryan's book that was written by Roger Pitt for the August 25, 1974 edition of The Post-Crescent's View Magazine. This reason for the review by Pitt is because Ryan spent time in Appleton following the Foxes.
The Good Life in the Minors
Life in the minor leagues is neither as good nor as bad as many people believe.
This is a conclusion a reader will arrive at after reading the excellent book Wait Till I Make the Show by sportswriter Bob Ryan.
The book, written for Sports Illustrated's Little, Brown, and Company, is more than a superficial analysis of the minor leagues and American's national past-time.
Ryan, who spent two weeks with the Appleton Foxes, has only good things to say about the baseball operation in Appleton and about the city.
That is not the case in all of his travels, which covered the entire scope of minor league baseball - from Three Rivers (Canada) to Hawaii and the rookie league to AAA teams in Albuquerque, Hawaii, and Seattle.
Ryan spent an entire season in the minors.
He rode buses. He talked to players. He talked to managers. He talked with business managers. He ate, slept, and caroused with the various teams.
For that one glorious summer he lived the dream of many young boys and old boys, too. He was a professional baseball player.
Ryan is not disillusioned about minor league baseball, or its future. He, however, is quite poignant in his criticism of the major league clubs.
The most appealing aspect of the minors is the rapport players and fans have. This rapport seems to disappear as the player advances to the 'bigs' and his popularity and wealth increase.
There is a small loyalist group at Goodland Field who rank among the staunchest of baseball fans. These are the people who visiting players, writers, and baseball people remember. A missed game is a rarity.
In my duties of sportswriting I have the advantage of viewing minor league baseball, talking to the players and managers and even becoming friends with some. Ryan's conclusions on the sport are similar to mine.
A minor league team has value to a city like Appleton, just as a major league team does in Milwaukee. Maybe it doesn't draw as many fans from outside the area, but there are still many baseball people (scouts, farm directors, and other hangers on) who visit Appleton each year. Restaurants, bookstores, movie houses, bars, and hotels, motels, and apartment owners are all beneficiaries.
The entire city also benefits by stories, pictures, and features about baseball. Appleton is known in baseball circles.
Despite the benefits, the minors are a dying and at best struggling operation. As recently as 1949 there were 57 minor leagues and over 450 cities and towns supported teams. The car and television changed the "stay-at-home" American tradition and the minors dwindled to just 19 leagues and 137 cities by 1972.
But Ryan's book is not about statistics. He simply states, "It is about the minor leagues that do exist, those which are carrying on, which are (hopefully) developing baseball players for the parent teams, and which are drawing a few fans to provide a 'different' type of recreation for local citizens."
About Appleton, Ryan said:
"About as far removed from the dreariness of Key West as Class baseball can get is Appleton, where playing baseball is a pleasure for the home squad and visitors alike..."
"...It isn't one thing about Appleton; it's everything. The franchise, now a White Sox affiliate, is operated by Ed Holtz...He is a genuinely nice man with a sincere interest in people...He sets the tone for the entire franchise. But he gets his own propulsion from the town."
"From the minute your Air Wisconsin plane lands in Appleton, you know you are in a different world. You will never be treated better in your life. A lot of ballplayers will swear to that.
"I rode all around town for three days, searching for a rundown area. In the end, I had to concede that there were none. Employment was up, as it usually is, since the town's main paper mills keep the work force occupied."
A honey-coated book!
That conclusion is wrong, because Ryan isn't as generous with his praise for many areas.
Minor league baseball is in trouble for many reasons. Increased costs and attendance are the most outstanding. But the thinking of the major league clubs is another.
A common complaint is the assembly line treatment of prospective major leaguers by the farm system. See how quickly a player fits in a mold and then push him through the assembly line (minor league system) as rapidly as possible.
Winning in the minors is secondary to the major league club, but remains important to the fans who turn out to watch the game. This is the main complaint Ryan finds with the majors operation, along with the low pay and non-benefits minor league players receive. How many knew minor leaguers make about $500 a month salary and that is only paid during the season.
Ryan found 'cronyism' to be common and the greatest detriment in the minors. Too many managers and scouts were in the business because of past friendships with people in the front offices.
Another drawback was the number of good teachers in the minors. The teaching is left up to batting and pitching instructors who make a once or at most twice a year visit to a minor league team. There are some good teacher-managers but they are few.
Ryan finds the world of baseball to be upside down. The minor leaguers are low paid and get only $3 for meal money. The major leaguers are better paid and get $18 a day. Minor leaguers usually travel second-rate and in many cases housing is unsuitable. Big leaguers have the best in accommodations.
The big drawback, however, is in instruction. The majors have a manager, pitching coach, bullpen coach, and two or three other coaches...these are the top experienced players. The minors have one person usually. He is coach, manager, father, and most anything else required on any given moment.
Minor league baseball is good times, too.
It is the realization of a dream for some and the culmination of dreams for others. It is happiness and heart break.
There is something about the minors if you approach it with an open mind and just a little knowledge. Ryan sums it up:
"For that is a funny thing about the minors. It is all there, even in the lowest classification. On any given summer night, the fan paying his dollar and a half has a chance to see baseball happenings which cannot be surpassed, even in the World Series. Sure, he'll also see boneheaded plays - that's what they call them in baseball, isn't it? - and physical errors of every description. Ah, but he could also see the future Luis Aparicio glide into the hole for a backhanded stop and subsequent great throw; the future Sandy Koufax break off a gorgeous curve with the bases loaded and the count full; the future Hank Aaron stroke one 450 feet on a line; the future Willie Mays make a spectacular over-the-shoulder grab in deep right-center, or the future Maury Wills trick an outfielder into throwing behind him as he rounds second, moments before making it to third with a head-first belly flop...
The only meaningful issue is where the people who do have minor league baseball will realize that what they have is good and worthwhile, and whether they will support it. It would be a shame, an absolute tragic loss, if an activity as friendly and American as minor league baseball should die because of the lethargy of the public, the stupidity and shortsightedness of the owners, and the ignorance of the media and town officials. In that case, no one would admit to the guilt, and, of course, they'd all be right. None of them will have done it alone. It will have required a group effort."
Ryan hits the nail, well, you know where. Anyone who loves baseball and enjoys watching it and anybody interested in Americana will enjoy his book.
It would be a shame if you miss it.
NOTES:
I haven't read the book so the following is just a guess. Ryan must have traveled the US in 1973 to have the book released in 1974. In 1973, there were 24 major league teams. In the minors, there were three AAA leagues (Pacific Coast League, American Association, and International League); three AA leagues (Eastern, Southern, and Texas); five A leagues (California, Carolina, Florida State, Midwest, and Western Carolinas); two short season leagues (New York-Penn and Northwest); and three rookie leagues (Appalachian, Gulf Coast, and Pioneer).
The American Association folded (mostly) into the Pacific Coast League after the 1997 season. The Western Carolinas League wrapped in 1979, the year that Ryne Sandberg played for the Spartanburg (SC) Phillies.
The South Atlantic League, which went away after the 1962 season, was reestablished in 1980 as the replacement of the Western Carolinas League.
The 1973 Midwest League had the Foxes, Wisconsin Rapids, Waterloo, Clinton, Cedar Rapids, Danville, Decatur, Quincy, Burlington, and Quad Cities.
Some of the players that Ryan may have seen as he followed the Foxes in 1973: Bagwell, Goose, Foster, and Jackson...(Okay: William Bagwell, Goose Gregson, Larry Foster, and Mark Jackson)...and maybe Jack Z.
The '73 Foxes were 44-76. That is one of the worst records of the Goodland Field era. That was the team that started the season 0-15.
I am guessing that a lot of cities visited by Ryan in 1973 no longer have minor league franchises. Seattle had a major league team starting in 1977. Hawaii hasn't had a full season minor league team since 1987. Three Rivers...or the Trois-Riveres Aigles of Quebec...left the Eastern League after the 1977 season.
However, all (okay, almost all) of the changes since 1973 has definitely made Minor League Baseball grow and thrive. Look at what's happened here in Appleton. Attendance has gone from a high of 93,000 fans in a season at Goodland Field to over 250,000 in a season at Time Warner Cable Field. Baseball marches on.
So, too, does Bob Ryan.