"We Would Have Played For Nothing" is based on a concept originated by Lawrence Ritter in "The Glory of Their Times," one of the most well-respected baseball books out there. The concept is to let the players tell the stories in their own words, with the author getting out of the way, except as an editor. The Glory of Their Times contained interviews with some serious old-timers, of varying degrees of notoriety. The beauty of the concept was getting these players down on paper, before they were too old to carry forward the oral history of the majors. The downside of that book was that players would sometimes ramble, and while the lesser known players could offer an interesting perspective, they often did not.
This time the author is former MLB commissioner Fay Vincent, and he focuses on starts of the 50s and 60s. There are no interviews here with backup utility infielders. All but one of the interviews is with a true "star;" Bill Rigney was a long-time manager, and was fairly well known at the time, but was not much of a player. Another of the interviews is with a lesser star, Ralph Branca, famous for giving up the "shot heard round the world." Certainly a very good pitcher.
The rest of the guys are mostly household names. Frank and Brooks Robinson. Whitey Ford, Harmon Killebrew, Duke Snider, Robin Roberts. Even Lew Burdette and Carl Erskine, who don't fall into the household categories, were genuinely great pitchers in their day.
Perhaps because the players are more well-known, and because the time period is closer to us (though still primarily before I was born), "We Would Have Played For Nothing" is a fun read. Vincent's touch is not as light as Ritter's, and I think that's a good thing. Vincent has written a short (one page) introduction to the players, in case you don't know who they are. The rest comes from the players themselves.
It is apparent that they are responding to particular questions, and not just rambling on about whatever strikes their fancy. It is also clear that there was a lot of cleanup, because the player comments have a lot of data. I don't believe this many players could have absolute recall of game scores from 50 years ago, and there's a ton of that peppered in their comments.
I raced through the book...it is very accessible. If I had to complain about anything it would be the organization within each player's comments. I'm not sure if the players' comments are presented in the same order in which they were given on videotape tot he author, but if so, the ordering of the questions (not printed in the book) seems a little disjointed. It isn't obvious at the beginning. There's no surprise a player would ramble. But you start to see the pattern by the end of the book. There's always a section near the end about who the player thought the best players were, and the last question is clearly along the lines of "How would you like to be remembered?"
The most refreshing thing about the book is how humble and appreciative these players are, even though they were vastly underpaid. There's a lot in here about contract negotiations and their salaries, which means there's a lot in here about how stingy the owners were. Brooks Robinson tells of his GM saying he couldn't pay Brooks' requested salary because that's what Mickey Mantle made when the GM worked for the Yankees. There was no attempt to value the player. They just made him feel guilty for the request; like you know you aren't as good as Mantle, so stop pretending. In another situation with Robinson, they made him feel guilty for requesting $500 a year. This was in the 60s...$500 wasn't that much money.
Or Frank Robinson being told by the Reds GM he was going to cut his salary. The GM said "I hear your reputation, you don't always hustle." When Robinson asked where he got his information, the GM basically said that's just what I've heard, so I'm cutting your salary. Just an excuse to avoid paying Robinson, who had just turned in a season where he hit .296 with 33 HR and 113 RBI...and this was in the 60s, with suppressed offensive levels. The players didn't have agents. (Robinson, by the way, is the only player entry that shows a hint of bitterness).
Anyone interested in baseball and baseball history would enjoy this book. If you aren't from that era, you'll learn a lot about baseball in the 50s and 60s, and in an entertaining way. I'll leave you with an example:
Frank Robinson tells a story about batting against Don Drysdale, which he said was like "wrestling a horse or a mule, or being in a fight. That's how tired I would be after the ballgame." One time, with Robinson at the plate, the Dodger manager signaled to Drysdale that he should put Robinson on base. Instead of an intentional walk, or pitching around him, Drysdale drilled him in the ribs. When asked later, Drysdale said "Why waste three pitches?"
