The Summer of Beer and Whiskey

How Brewers, Barkeeps, Rowdies, Immigrants, and a Wild Pennant Fight Made Baseball America's Game

By: Edward Achorn

Narrated by: Ax Norman

Chris Von der Ahe knew next to nothing about baseball when he risked his life’s savings to found the St. Louis Browns, the franchise that would become the St. Louis Cardinals. Yet the German-born beer garden proprietor would become one of the most important - and funniest - figures in the game’s history.

Von der Ahe picked up the team for one reason - to sell more beer. Then he helped gather a group of ragtag clubs into a maverick new league that would fight the haughty National League. Sneered at as The Beer and Whiskey Circuit,” their American Association ended up revitalizing the sport, bringing Americans of all classes back to the ballpark. Their recipe: Sunday games, booze, 25-cent-tickets, with teams comprised of exciting, renegade, and often drunk, players.

Edward Achorn re-creates this wondrous and hilarious world and illuminates a long-forgotten turning point in American baseball history.

©2013 Edward Achorn (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Decent but expected a different type of story

Baseball pennant races always are exciting. no matter the league or the year. In 1883, there was an exciting finish to the end of the American Association's season and this season is captured in this well-reasearched book by Edward Achorn.

The title will draw in readers and it sounds like it was a very wild time in the game. While it was true that many of the players were hard drinkers and were "rewarded" with adult beverages, the bulk of the book deals with the business of the game, such as it was in the 19th century, as well as the play on the field.

The American Association was considered a major league at the time and both Achorn and narrator Ax Norman, who does a good job on the narration, are careful to treat it as such. The best work in the book is about Moses Fleetwood Walker. a Black catcher who was the first Black player to be in a game considered Major League. (Jackie Robinson would be the first in Organuzed Baseball, as we know MLB today) Achorn's accout of Walker's treatment and how he handles it is well written and well spoken by Norman.

This is a good account of the 1883 pennant race and will bring the reader back to that time in the game complete with the booze, the gamblers, the train transportation and even happy fans of the Philadelphia Athletics cheering their champions at the platform. Recommended for readers who enjoy books on baseball of that era.

Entertaining

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If you love base ball and history you will like this book

What did you like best about this story?

I loved it, even though I'm not a Cards fan. Interesting Story.

What does Ax Norman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The way he plays with the German accent.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No none, liked the facts about old baseball but nothing extreme.

A must read for any baseball fan

This book captures the chaos and fun of baseball in the late 1800s. The characters are interesting and the author does a great job of fleshing them out as real people, not sugar coated. The hook does get slow in parts, heavy with stats, but definitely a worthwhile read.

Enjoyable

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I did recommend this book to my son and grandson, both baseball fans. A very enjoyable read. I did enjoy the little talked about facts of the starting of the American and National Leagues.

What other book might you compare The Summer of Beer and Whiskey to and why?

The

Entertaining

I was impressed at all the daily game information the author was able to dig up from the 1883 season. The pre- and post-game stories about the players, managers and owners were great.

This is Great History!

If all history classes could be adjusted to throw in some fun, I think more people would enjoy learning. This book is fun, enjoyable, easy to understand and just plainly well done.

The narration is simple, inflection as if telling a story rather than rote history. It's a tale of the 1883-1884 baseball, before all the big money, when alcohol selling and drinking and playing on Sundays was frowned upon (for a while) and only some 20 years after the Civil War, bigotry still reigned between the races, salaries were not so obscene, players played no matter their injuries and it is wrapped in a book that makes it all really to understand and very much enjoy and long for "the good ol' days" of baseball.

I have recommended this book to any and all, baseball fans or not, it's a great listen and made me get onto the internet to see what these men looked like--bushy big mustaches reigned.

Relive the 1883 American Association pennant race

"The Summer of Beer and Whiskey" is an enjoyable trip back to the early days of professional baseball, focusing on the thrilling 1883 American Association pennant chase. Author Edward Achorn examines the contributions of German immigrant Chris Von der Ahe, the owner of the St. Louis Browns, to the national pastime. The author makes a compelling case for Von der Ahe's induction into the baseball hall of fame. I found Achorn's book captivating and enlightening, as he also covers the history of racism in the game, the birth of the Louisville Slugger, and the evolution of umpiring. Additionally, Achorn traces the baseball path of Charles Comiskey, and addresses misnomers about the former Chicago White Sox owner. I strongly recommend "The Summer of Beer and Whiskey," and Achorn's sensational "Fifty-Nine in '84," which tells the story of the rubber-armed Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn.

A good sense of the times

Where does The Summer of Beer and Whiskey rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Having only listened to three so far it's comparable. I appreciated the overall view of the league rather than the focus on one individual. I would have preferred less "of the times rhetoric" to be understood a bit more in certain areas when not making actual writers or article references.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Chris von der Ahe. To see a cycle of life and to start from humble beginnings then be lifted to the wealthy class just to come back down to almost the same status is an interesting perspective and how the treatment of others while wealthy changes his life when his wealth wasn't there.

What does Ax Norman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Mood setting. Bringing out the lower points or the more disastrous moments. Would have preferred more emphasis on the high points. Also not as enthused about his way of pronouncing "W" words with an almost whistle.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

The Epilogue delved further into the "long-term" lives of more players than the book did and would have have preferred to hear more about the players upbringing than just the select few that were highlighted.

Well written and extensive research but just not interesting

Well written and extensive research but just not interesting — might be bc none of players known to me