1978

Baseball and America in the Disco Era

De: David Krell

Narrado por: David Krell

From spring training to the World Series, 1978 gave baseball fans one of the sport's greatest seasons, full of legendary moments like the battle between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox for the American League East pennant, Gaylord Perry's three thousandth strikeout, Tom Seaver's only career no-hitter, Willie McCovey's five hundredth home run, and Pete Rose's marathon forty-four-game hitting streak. The 1978 season played out against a backdrop of disco music, bell-bottom pants, and gas-guzzling cars, while Hollywood answered a desperate longing for a simpler time with nostalgic offerings such as Grease, The Buddy Holly Story, American Hot Wax, Animal House, and Superman. Robin Williams became a household name with a guest appearance on the popular TV show Happy Days, Atlantic City debuted its first casino, and Jill Clayburgh symbolized the emerging independence of women in An Unmarried Woman.

In a memorable end to the baseball season, Reggie Jackson and Bucky Dent led the Yankees to their second consecutive World Series over the Dodgers after losing the first two games, then winning four in a row. David Krell breaks down major events in both baseball and American culture in 1978, chronicling the notable achievements of some of the greatest players of the era, along with some of the quirkiest moments, to capture an extraordinary year in baseball.

©2025 David Krell (P)2025 Tantor Media

Tremendous Premise

This story is quite good. I like that it combines popular culture and baseball. This type of book seems difficult to write properly, lest it become neither fish nor fowl.

Examples that I have particularly enjoyed are “Big Hair and Plastic Grass” and “Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning.” While “1978” is not quite on their level, I still enjoyed it.

I think the publisher should have hired a professional narrator. A plus is that the author knows how to pronounce everything. But the overarching problem was that he read the baseball summaries extraordinarily quickly. At a more accessible pace, the book probably would have been an hour longer. That is a deadline-day trade that I would have made.

Nevertheless, I was satisfied. I think four out of five stars is about right.

Rather Disappointing

It was a quick read but a fairly unpleasant one. I was frustrated by the lack of new information and baffled at the too lengthy descriptions of things unrelated to Baseball. Did we need that deep dive into the TV show, Dallas? The book feels kind of all over the place and patched together. Combine this with the almost unlistenable voice of the reader and you get, for me, a book I could have done without.