Home British baseballProject COBB The Blokes of Summer, by Harvey Sahker

The Blokes of Summer, by Harvey Sahker

by Joe Gray

Blokes_of_SummerI have the cure: The Blokes of Summer, by Harvey Sahker (published back in April, and available in print or as a PDF download).

The ailment is baseball withdrawal symptoms. For those members of the British baseball community with no great interest in MLB, the symptoms have probably already kicked in. While for the majority who do follow the Big Leagues, the inevitable is just round the corner.

This is not going to be a formal book review, but instead a casual feature. My guess is that Matt Smith will enjoy this book, and he may well wish to apply his far superior reviewing expertise to it. Additionally, his impartial standpoint will be of benefit. If I wrote positive things about the book in a review,  it would too easy for readers to dismiss it as me repaying a favour. Harvey has done some great things for the Croydon Pirates, my former club, including publishing their 30th Anniversary Yearbook, bringing in baseball gear from his native Canada for the team on many occasions, and being a loyal and skilled servant on the diamond. He has also benefited me by supplying numerous pieces of help to Project COBB.

The truth is that the book is, in its own right, fully deserving of any praise I would have bestowed in a formal review, and am about to give in this casual feature. In my view, it makes a formidable addition to the small but growing library of books on British baseball.

The Blokes of Summer is a hugely enjoyable read that mixes Harvey’s historical research skills with his ability to entertainingly recount anecdotes from his own experience of from that of close acquaintances (of whom there are many, chiefly from his major spell in Britain, between 1988 and 2000).

The research aspects of the book focus in on the 1890s and the 1930s, two of the most fascinating eras of the game in Britain, and he not only provides an excellent framework for the stories but brings many new facts to light.  In addition, Harvey has compiled compelling accounts of some of the more unusual chapters of the game’s history on these shores, including the pocket of sustained baseball in the Cotswolds town of Chipping Norton.

The more anecdotal parts of the book come chiefly through Harvey’s connections made as a player for the Blue Jays and the Croydon Pirates in British Sunday baseball leagues, and also for the Southern Tigers in the semi-pro Scottish Amicable circuit. One of the anecdotes even includes yours truly, with Harvey delighting in my “emergency appearances” on the diamond as Croydon’s scorer — the role of “pinch-filling”, as I like to term it.

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2 comments

Matt Smith October 17, 2011 - 7:57 pm

I’m in the process of putting together my baseball book reading/reviewing list for the offseason and this will definitely be on it. Looking forward to reading it.

Reply
Offseason: Plenty to write and read about | BaseballGB November 3, 2011 - 8:36 pm

[…] be acting on Joe Gray’s recommendation for Harvey Sahker’s Blokes of Summer, while I’m sure I’ll love Craig Robinson’s Flip Flop Fly Ball book as I’m regularly […]

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