Nerd Picnic reviewed Big hair and plastic grass by Dan Epstein
Maybe I'm right in the target market, but I would give this book 6 stars
5 stars
This book has funny, impressive, dark, and bizarre incidents on nearly every page for 316 pages. I didn't want the book or good times to end.
A few of the stories are famous even to non-baseball fans, like Ten Cent Beer Night, Dock Ellis's no-hitter on LSD, and Disco Demolition Night. But there are dozens and dozens more. (A 10 watt amateur radio station with exclusive broadcasting rights? The future MC Hammer spying on ballplayers? Fistfights in the team showers? Hot Pants Patrol? Wife-swapping pitchers? Oversized helmets for guys with afros?)
Besides the colorful anecdotes, the book highlights a lot of great but non-Hall of Fame players who don't get talked about as much these days. So the baseball content is just as good as the cultural material.
If you ever wonder if the United States has real culture of its own - whether the US is merely a site …
This book has funny, impressive, dark, and bizarre incidents on nearly every page for 316 pages. I didn't want the book or good times to end.
A few of the stories are famous even to non-baseball fans, like Ten Cent Beer Night, Dock Ellis's no-hitter on LSD, and Disco Demolition Night. But there are dozens and dozens more. (A 10 watt amateur radio station with exclusive broadcasting rights? The future MC Hammer spying on ballplayers? Fistfights in the team showers? Hot Pants Patrol? Wife-swapping pitchers? Oversized helmets for guys with afros?)
Besides the colorful anecdotes, the book highlights a lot of great but non-Hall of Fame players who don't get talked about as much these days. So the baseball content is just as good as the cultural material.
If you ever wonder if the United States has real culture of its own - whether the US is merely a site for other nationalities to bring their stuff while capitalism ruins everything fun - read this book.