Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging '70s

by Dan Epstein

Book Overview

The Bronx Is Burning "meets Chuck Klosterman in this wild pop-culture history of baseball's most colorful and controversial decade """""The Major Leagues witnessed more dramatic stories and changes in the '70s than in any other era. The American popular culture and counterculture collided head-on with the national pastime, rocking the once-conservative sport to its very foundations. Outspoken players embraced free agency, openly advocated drug use,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312607547
• ISBN13: 9780312607548
• Release Date: May 2010
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Length: 340 Pages
• Weight: 1.27 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.6" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Great read whether you lived through it or not

I was born in 1970 and became a cetfified baseball fanatic by the end of the decade. Thanks to my Oriole-loving parents, I even attended two games of the 1979 World Series. Now, as a SABR-member and voracious student of baseball history, I feel pretty well versed in baseball happenings during my lifetime. There aren't that many baseball books I can honestly say I enjoy, because an awful lot of them only go as far as things I'd committed to memory by my teens. However, Dan Epstein's Big Hair and Plastic Grass drew me in quickly and held my attention so steadfastly that I finished it in less than three days despite working overtime hours and having a toddler vying for my attention. The author writes very well and demonstrates a thorough understanding of the events he describes both in their own time and with historical hindsight. Though he mentioned something about being more interested in hairstyles and uniforms that statistics, it's obvious that he's as well-versed in both from reading his descriptions of the players and games themselves, plus the funky, freaky and weird occurences he skillfully highlights throughout the book. The highest compliment I can honestly pay this book is to say you don't have to be a baseball fan to enjoy it. If you have a sense of humor, curiousity about the bizarre, a longing for the 1970's or just the desire to learn more about a period of tremendous change in American life -- this book is for you. And, if you ARE a baseball fan --whether you lived through the 1970's or not-- this is one you owe it to yourself to pick up. I'm sure glad I did. A tip of my cartoon bird Orioles cap and pull tab can of Schlitz to you, Dan. Keep up the good work!

Fun, entertaining and informative read for fans of all ages!

When I heard about this book a few months ago my first thought was, "Did I commission this in my sleep?!" And when I finished reading this book a few days ago, my first thought was "When is the sequel coming out?!" Big Hair & Plastic Grass is a stone gas from start to finish. Author Dan Epstein breaks down baseball's most transformational (and entertaining) decade year by year, interspersing separate chapters along the way dedicated to garishly colored uniforms, drab concrete multi-use stadiums, Afros that could barely be contained by a baseball cap and other 70s-specific phenomena. This is not a dry look at the progression of the decade, and for me that's the book's biggest strength; there are other places to turn for a monotoned history of the game. Big Hair & Plastic Grass gives you the personalities that ran wild as Major League Baseball's resistance to the cultural revolutions of the '60s and '70s began to erode. Each of the Year chapters recaps what happened on the field that season, and along the way Epstein brings out details that otherwise would exist only on microfiche (if even there!) to give the full story of the powerhouse teams of the era (A's, Pirates, Reds, Orioles, etc.) as well as the also-rans. I can't recommend this book enough for anyone from the most die-hard to the most casual baseball fan. It's a wonderfully entertaining read.

Having a gas with Big Hair and Plastic Grass

The title and cover caught my attention despite an admittedly limited interest in baseball history. Dan Epstein's Big Hair & Plastic Grass manages to educate and entertain with a look at the all American pastime when it was most colorful in more ways than you could possibly imagine. Obviously this is a must read for serious lovers of baseball. More importantly, this a great read for anyone interested the changing culture, fashions, music and amazing hair of the 1970's.

A Quick Review of the 1970s

For those of us who were baseball fans during the 1970s in many ways the events that took place seem like only yesterday when in reality several decades have passed. This book is a quick read. There really are no blockbuster revelations to be found. I certainly don't believe the book was meant to be a classic by any means, but the author does a good job in covering the decade in slightly more than 300 pages. We briefly relive the antics of Mark "The Bird" Fidrych, revel in the shenanigans of Billy, George, Reggie, and the gang. Charley O. and the angry A's most certainly are included. Cincy's Big Red Machine, that classic game six of the '75 World Series is here as well. Free agency, flakes such as Bill Lee among others are well represented. With so much to cover author Dan Epstein understandably can't go into much detail. If you remember this decade from baseball's rich history you will receive a summary of the events that took place, but understand that entire books have and will be written about the subjects I have listed above. I didn't find any factual, spelling, or grammatical errors in the book. I rate this book four stars because it does a good job in covering an entire decade of baseball history in a relatively short book, but it isn't a classic by any means nor I'm sure was it meant to be.

An Irreverent Slice of Baseball Folklore

By the latter part of the '60s, most major league baseball teams had abandoned their old ballparks, replacing them with those hideous facilities that all looked alike - rounded concrete edifices that seated 50,000 or so, but rarely were filled to capacity. And of course, by the '70s, most of these modern ballparks came equipped with that goofy astroturf, which made any ballgame an adventure; more like a travesty. The game of Wille Mays and Mickey Mantle had morphed into one big disco. It seemed the whole country came to party, and the ballplayers were glad to join in, all dressed up in their polyester jump suits, mutton chop sideburns and crazy hair. Every game looked like one big, Elvis performance, while the players themselves were popping enough pills to fit right in with the rest of the King's entourage. For anyone old enough to recall that bizarre period of major league baseball, Dan Epstein's wildly irreverent tome will bring back many memories; from Ted Turner and George Steinbrenner's antics, to Charlie Finley's wild bunch in Oakland, to the more straight-laced but equally dominant Big Red Machine in Cincinnati. For anyone too young to remember this crazy decade, this book serves as a wonderfully wacky lesson in baseball history. It doesn't get any zanier than this; and for fans of all ages, this is a joyous romp through some of the weirdest moments imaginable. You'll love it.