Special Season: A Players' Journal of an Incredible Year

by Rob Rains

The 2002 baseball season will be one St. Louis Cardinals fans will remember forever, for many reasons. From early pitching woes and the tragic deaths of long-time broadcaster Jack buck and promising... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1582616574
• ISBN13: 9781582616575
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: Sports Publishing LLC
• Length: 250 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

VERY SHORT AND SWEET

THIS IS A COLLECTION OF COMMENTS AND THOUGHTS BY SOME OF THE CARDINALS DURING THE 2002 SEASON. A TEAM THAT WOULD MAKE THE PLAYOFFS AND WERE VERY CLOSE TO A WORLD SERIES TRIP. ALONG THE WAY, ONE OF THEIR TEAMATES ( DARRYL KILE) AND THE TEAMS LONGTIME BROADCASTER (JACK BUCK) PASSED AWAY. MOST OF THE CONTENTS IN THE BOOK IS ABOUT THE SEASON ITSELF AND DOES NOT DWELL ON THE DEATH OF THEIR FRIENDS. I REALLY LIKED THIS BOOK AND FOUND IT VERY INTERESTING. ONLY COMPLAINT IS THAT IT WAS NOT LONGER. I RECOMMEND IT FOR ALL CARDINAL FANS.

A special book for Cardinals fans

Unlike most other baseball biographies, A Special Season focuses for the most part on everyday players, instead of super-stars. The majority of entries in the journal-style collection are from the team's thoughtful and intelligent Gold Glove catcher, Mike Matheny, often described as the team's spiritual leader. Pitching ace Matt Morris also has several segments, along with Fernando Vina, Kerry Robinson, Jason Isringhausen, Andy Benes and Miguel Cairo. Going beyond the cliched responses heard in most post-game interviews, the observations of the Cardinals players give fans an inside look at how players made it through the long, trying season. Although some entries deal with the tragedies the team endured in 2002, they don't dwell on them constantly. Starting with Opening Day and going through the last game of the National League Championship Series, the "diary" gives fans a look at the inner thoughts of the players. I would have liked a longer book, with commentary from more players and from coaches, but the chosen excerpts from these players were all insightful and interesting. Accompanied by a few black and white photographs with scrapbook-like captions and a list of results of every game of the 2002 season, paragraph-long biographies of the final 25 man roster, and team statistics, the book makes a nice keepsake for Cardinals fans who also endured that special and difficult season. Suitable for baseball fans of any age, the book is absolutely G-rated.