Texas Rangers: The Authorized History by Eric Nadel Taylor Publishing Co., 1997 Eric Nadel has been a broadcaster for the Texas Rangers for 20 years now. He's seen near-every famous and infamous moment in the Rangers storied history. So who better to write the Rangers authorized history? Who better to write it? Well, to be honest, someone with some writing ability. Nadel is a wonderful broadcaster, one of the best in the game, but Texas Rangers: The Authorized History is written in such a dry, tepid style that even I--a Rangers fan and baseball book addict--was counting down the pages until I was going to be through reading Nadel's ode to his employers.

I think the big problem with the book is that the author seems to be afraid to criticize the Rangers organization or any of the moves they have made over the 26-year history (and believe you me, there is no organization that deserves more criticism.) Nadel is forced to repeat dry facts. "On July 1, 1977, this happened. This next day, so-and-so hit a homerun to win a game against the Red Sox. Then on the following day, Mr. Smith pitched a three-hitter. The Rangers lost the next Monday 4-2, an upset in the ninth inning." His style of writing gets very old, very quick. I can dig through box scores if I want this kind of information. None of the many characters on those 70s Rangers teams--Mickey Rivers, Sparkly Lyle, Jim Kern, David Clyde, to name a few--come alive at all in Texas Rangers: The Authorized History.

The book isn't all bad though. It's filled to the brim with wonderful color and black-and-white pictures, at least one on every page and often two or three. My personal favorite is a shot of the inaugural home opener at Arlington Stadium on April 21, 1972. All the ex-Senators/now-Rangers are lined up along the third base line being introduced. They're all wearing cowboy hats, seemingly "proud" of their new home state...Well, almost all of them are wearing cowboy hats. Manager Ted Williams is standing at the top of the line, baseball cap pulled low and a scowl on his face. Teddy Ballgame only made it one season in the Texas heat.

Nadel does do a good job of relating the thrill of the 1996 season, the first year that the Rangers actually made the post-season. And even his dry style of writing is unable to totally ruin the hilarity of some of the funnier moments in Texas baseball history--with the most famous maybe being June 4, 1974, Ten Cent Beer Night in Cleveland. 23,000 people came to get drunk, get drunk, watch a baseball game, and then get drunk some more. Fans kept running out onto the field the whole game and it finally reached a standstill in the bottom of the ninth with the score tied 5-5. A rowdy fan jumped onto the field and tried to steal Texas right fielder Jeff Burroughs' cap. The fan pushed Burroughs, Burroughs pushed back, and the melee began. Bat-wielding Rangers and Indians were everywhere trying to protect each other from the drunken mob. Finally the game was forfeited to the Rangers, but not before Cleveland pitcher Tom Hilgendorf was seriously injured when he was hit over the head with a metal chair.

It's hard to say if I recommend this book. The pictures are wonderful, they do a great job of helping bring to life the story of Rangers past. The writing is near-horrible. So if you want to pay $36.95 for a picture book on the Texas Rangers and ignore the text, I'd give it a thumbs up. But if you're wanting a thorough look at the history of the Rangers, this isn't the book for you. Try Seasons in Hell by Mike Shropshire for a history of the 1973-75 Texas ALers. It's half as cheap and a hundred times better-written.

Texas Rangers: The Authorized History may be available for purchase on the net at one of these sites.

--JingleBob, March 8, 1999

© 1999 JC White