Clearing the Bases: The Greatest Baseball Debates of the Last Century

This book reviews a lot of baseball myths and debates and sheds new light on ones the experts thought were settled. As a Yankee fan from the 1950s and 1960s I was particularly interested in the chapters on Ruth and DiMaggio and questions about Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle. Barra address questions such as: Was Mays really a better all-around player than Mantle? Should Joe Jackson be in the Hall of Fame? Should Roger Maris be in the Hall of Fame? Was the asterisk on Maris' home run record a myth? Would Jackie Robinson have made the Hall of Fame if he were not black? Was Juan Marichal slighted when compared with Koufax and Gibson? How great was Mike Schmidt? Barra address these and many other issues with sometimes startling but always convincing agruments and statistics to back up his points. Many of the debates have been clouded by emotion and Barra tries to take a very dispassionate and objective approach to the issues. The result is some new and refreshing ideas that provoke thought and controversy!

Allen Barra does it again! Began reading this studiously written book while on vacation and almost recieved a third degree sunburn because I could not put it down long enough to get off the beach.Is a "must read" for any baseball enthusiast!

In the sullied craft of journalism the best, most insightful writing can always be found on the sports page. In Allen Barra we have one of the finest sportswriters in America today. Always asking the hard questions and giving in return uncompromising answers, here is a writer who has given us a book that might restore our fundamental appetite for sports as we once knew it. The questions we argued about as kids. I recall reading somewhere that if we had the answer to the Mays-Mantle-Snyder question, the universe would be a simpler more orderly place. Well, here is Barra's answer, hopefully making our universe a more orderly place. I thoroughly enjoyed this pleasurable book.

Allen Barra's "Clearing the Bases" engaged this reader. Sure, the controversies have been tackled many times before (Mays v. Mantle; Ruth the greatest player? Why cant pitchers go 9 innings anymore, etc--that is why they remain baseball's greatest debates--but Barra's ability to (1) approach the debates from every conceivable angle and (2)marshal all the relevant statistics are just the beginning of this book's strengths. Barra could write about the history of the white powder used down the base lines and make it interesting. He is honest, he is funny, and his writing is both crisp and accessible. He is a combative bloke who will hammer you with his certainty and, in the next breath, acknowledge the flaws in his own arguments. I turned first to the chapter comparing Grove, Clemens and Koufax. I had planned to go to my grave convinced that Sandy Koufax, at his peak, was the greatest pitcher ever, but Barra argues, all too convincingly, that I might be wrong. I've tried to pick his arguments apart, but I am losing that game. Barra himself weighed in on some of these debates [e.g., Mays v Mantle] with his own preconceived notions, only to find that his methodology has led him to new discoveries and new notions. He is as honest with himself as he is with the stats. It has been suggested that the book adds nothing to what Bill James has already said. Well, James disputes that: in his cover blurb, Bill James writes, "Barra pushes aside the accumulated debris of a century's assumptions to see things as they were....A wonderful collection of thoughts and essays." So Bill James in effect says "buy this book." As Bob Costas says, "Next time you debate these questions with someone, make sure you've read this book first."

Whether or not you've decided for yourself who was the best player at his position, the best team, what is the best stat that determines anything, you must now re-think your position. Allen Barra has challenged us all to do so with this well reasoned and obviously long thought out clever look into the real facts. It is a joy to look back at the circumstances that led us to believe what we understand to be the total picture of fact. While I don't neccesarily agree with all that Barra points to in his own reconciliation, I found myself wound up like a pretzel trying to accomodate my own beliefs on numorous occasions within the pages of "Clearing The Bases". Following the pattern of his "That's Not the Way it Was" volume, he has outdone himself with this new set of chapters debunking the myths of sports legends. This book is a must read for anyone interested not only in Baseball, but sports of any kind. It is one of the most thought provoking, intriguing books I have read in many years. Thank you Allen, for a re-energizing look into the greats of the game!