The First All-Star Game: Babe Ruth, FDR, and America at the Crossroads by Randall Sullivan recounts not just a pivotal moment in baseball history but much of the context that helped set the stage for July 1933’s “Game of the Century” in Chicago. While the book highlights many of the players and the details of the game, Sullivan spends about half of the narrative detailing baseball and American life in the 1920’s and early 1930’s.
To his credit, Sullivan avoids overwhelming the reader with statistics, instead focusing on character, motivation, and atmosphere. His descriptions of players, fans, and journalists create vivid scenes that invite readers into the era. You learn about some of the lesser-known (to today’s baseball fans) stars of the early 1930’s: guys like Lloyd and Paul Waner, Rick Farrell, and Pepper Martin.
Some sections include extensive background information. About 200 pages dive into the backstory of baseball and America between 1919 and 1933, from the “Black Sox” scandal and appointment of Judge Kennsaw Landis as baseball’s first commissioner to the World’s Fair and America’s political environment.
If you’re looking for a story on the All-Star game itself, this book may not be for you due to that extra context. However, as a history book that shows the connection between baseball, American life, and big city politics, The First All-Star Game is a detailed account of how the game came to take place and how a “one-time” event turned into a midsummer spectacle that has lasted nearly a century.
MY RATING: 3.5
