The Bookshelf Conversation: Jason Turbow

May 2, 2017

I don’t like Jason Turbow.  Like Jeff Katz and Dan Epstein, he makes me feel old.

Used to be that baseball nostalgia was reserved for the Brooklyn Dodgers — “The Boys of Summer” — and the New York Yankees of Mantle, Maris, Ford, and Berra. But thanks to these guys, nostalgia now seems to be entrenched in the 1970s. I’m not ready for that yet. I feel like a 20-year-old trapped in a xx-year-old body.

Image result for jason turbowEpstein and Katz have written some great books about baseball in the 1970s and ’80s. And now Turbow has added to that sub-genre with Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic: Reggie, Rollie, Catfish, and Charlie Finley’s Swingin’ A’s. In case you’re too young to have seen them play, you should know the A’s won five consecutive AL West crowns and three World Series in a row, beating the Reds in ’72, the Mets in ’73, and the Dodgers in ’74. A dynasty indeed. And all under the colorful ownership of Charles O’ Finley, who could be described as cross between Bill Veeck (for his innovations including brightly colored uniforms and mustachioed players) and George Steinbrenner (for his ego, bluster, and micro-management).

I spoke with Turbow about Finley and those A’s and the fun and challenges  he had putting the book together.

And that part about hating those guys? Just kidding. Guess I’m just cranky. Time for a nap.

You want nostalgia? Here’s an interview I did with Turbow for his previous book, The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime, way back in 2010.

And that part about hating those guys? Just kidding. Guess I’m just cranky. Time for a nap.

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