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Bob Gibson and Reggie Jackson with Lonnie Wheeler, Sixty Feet, Six Inches |
Capsule Summary: Interesting insights and opinions from two of baseball's all-time greats.
Sixty feet, six inches, is, of course, the distance from the pitching rubber to home plate. Here are insights from two of the best on opposite sides of that distance.
Aside from just the enjoyable banter between the two (and the respect for each other is obvious) there are insights that the most knowledgeable fan will enjoy. Bob Costas loved the book; do you think you know more than he does? The casual fan will pick up even more.
You could probably guess one of the major subjects of the book: pitching inside. They discussed it frankly - if you remember Gibson, you know he would protect the plate. Jackson and Gibson discuss how it was in those days, and how it is so different now. (the pitcher doesn't bat in the AL, umpire warnigs, huge fines and suspensions, etc.) and the impact it has had on the game. Other changes discussed include the lowering of the mound by five inches.
One of the things that drives me nuts today is pitch counts. It used to be that pitchers might go over 300 innings, especially a team like the Dodgers with a four-man rotation. (Check out the stats of Sandy Koufax sometime. As Bob pointed out, no wonder he was forced to retire so young despite having one of the best years in history.) Teams only carried 10 pitchers; if I remember correctly, sometimes only nine. There was no such thing as a seventh-inning specialist; starters actually expected to complete the games they started on a regular basis. Have the changes made the game better? On this subject, their opinion may be predictable but their reasoning interesting nonetheless.
To show how much defense and pitching was emphasized before the steroid era, two AL teams had starting shortstops with averages under .200; obviously they were great with the glove. Ray Oyler was with the Tigers; you can see why they loved Trammell so mch when he came along. Eddie Brinkman started foe the Senators, and there's an interesting "rest of the story" there. When Ted Williams took over as manager, his coaching resulted in Brinkman becoming a .300+ hitter. It almost seems impossible, and I can't believe Williams doesn't get more kudos for his coaching.
Back to the book, what about off-season conditioning? What is the Gibson/Jackson take on the steroid era? What do they think of players like Frank Robinson, Aaron, Mays from their day and guys like A-Rod and Pujols from today?
| All in all, highly recommended for the casual observer and the fanatic alike for their HOF insights into these and other subjects. |
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