Author Matt Wentworth and Tigers announcer Ernie Harwell
The Perfect Season, Matt Wentworth’s new book on the Detroit Tigers, is obviously a labor of love. He spent more than a year combing through microfilm to achieve his goal: find 162 of the best Tiger wins in the franchise’s long history. And not just any 162 wins, plus post-season. He picked the best Opening Day win, the best Game 2 win, etc., each in schedule order, a time consuming chore to be sure.
Wentworth, a television producer in Detroit, shared his process with the Bookshelf in an e-mail conversation.
“I researched every game on microfilm at the Detroit Public Library, at least the ones I couldn’t find on-line, which was most of them,” he said. “There are only three libraries in the state with the papers on film going back to 1901, so I was lucky enough to live near one of them.”
He credits his brother-in-law for planting the seed for the book. “I didn’t do anything with it right away. I just thought it was one of the most original ideas I’d ever heard.”
Wentworth also received some advice from a couple of prominent and knowledgeable source: the Tiger’s long-time announcer Ernie Harwell. “[He] gave me the idea to put the box scores in there. He also told me not to focus much on doing play-by-play, but instead, tell why each game is significant. A friend of mine at work actually knows Dan Dickerson, the Tigers radio play-by-play announcer. I interviewed him, and he put me in touch with Ernie, which was a huge help to give the book credibility.”
A lot of thought went into picking all those games. The 29-year-old author has a respect for the game that is unusual among younger fans these days. “One of my biggest pet peeves are the sports lists on cable sports stations which countdown the greatest moments in history, and they’re all in the last 30 years, as if there is no sports history prior to 1975,” Wentworth said. “I wanted to get an accurate representation of the entire 107 year history of the franchise and feature all of its greatest players”
Like any good editor, he had some tough choices to make. The unique format forced him “to leave out some outstanding games. I left out the one where Jim Northrup hit two grand slams in a game in 1968, because it conflicted with, I think, Mark Fidrych on Monday Night Baseball against the Yankees, a game I absolutely had to have in the book.”
The result is a passionate ode, a mix of recapping the past with a modern commentary. The only blemish might be the presentation of box scores and some of the illustrations, since Wentworth used them from their original sources. Some of the older ones are virtually unreadable.
“It was sort of 50/50 on what to do about the box scores,” he conceded. “I went with using the originals. I think that, even though they’re hard to read, it makes it more authentic. People love their sports memorabilia, like old programs and baseball cards….I figured I’d be better off with the original, indisputable record of the box score. It gives it more of a classic feel.”
Tiger legend Willie Horton and Wentworth
Another technicality: If the object was to present a prefect season, why does the World Series go to a full seven games, rather and a four-game sweep? “The Tigers have never swept a World Series in franchise history. Therefore, ending on a game four would make it feel incomplete. The game four I chose is from 1909, a game which tied up the series — if my memory is correct — at two games apiece, in a series they eventually lost. Game seven of the 1968 World Series is one of the greatest moments in Detroit sports history. The Tigers, after trailing three games to one, came back to beat the Cardinals and their Hall-of-Fame ace, Bob Gibson. Ending a book with a championship only made sense to me. The only reason the previous rounds didn’t go further is simple: the Tigers have never won a game 5-7 in the ALCS, or a game five in the ALDS for that matter. Since I was able to find great games 1-7 of the World Series, I went with that.”
At the risk of suggesting other enterprising authors steal Wentworth’s idea, it would be great to see this concept used for other teams. What Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, or Cubs fan wouldn’t love to read about their own beloved ball club’s finest hours? Maybe Wentworth can franchise his Perfect Season.
is available on Amazon.com,
Comments on this entry are closed.