October 1st, 1934 - Book Review - Sleeper Cars and Flannel Uniforms

Sleeper Cars and Flannel Uniforms

Eldon Auker

pp. 212 + index

Former (and recently late) Tiger pitcher Elden Auker promises his reader a chance to "turn off you cellular phone, remove the battery from your beeper, inform your personal trainer you won't be making it in this week, put on your slippers, settle back into a recliner, don your reading glasses and take a trip back in time..."

Auker's book provides many great tales about the best and worst in baseball. Auker himself is no romantic: "you can go on believing that we didn't care about money and played only for the romance of it..." he says. Instead, Auker shares stories about the famous shortstop who was blackballed in the AL after being caught stealing from the Babe, and other sordid stories, as well as inspiring ones, such as as his recollections of Lou Gehrig. Auker is also free with his opinions - Pete Rose should never be allowed anywhere near the game, he says, but "Shoeless Joe" get a raw deal in Auker's book. Auker also paints a vivid portrait of his favorite, Mickey Cochrane (the "perfect player and perfect manager in the perfect situation").

The book contains stories about players that I have yet to see in other books. More importantly, he explains how the Tigers transfored from a middle of the pack team in 1933 to pennant winners in 1934 and world champions in 1935. Obviously, getting new talent in Cochrane and Goslin helped, but as a Tigers' pitcher, Auker shares how Cochrane's catching raised their pitching staff to the next level as well. Also interesting is a portrait of Dizzy Dean very different than his traditional depiction (Dean's "Rube" persona was a calculated act).

One nice touch are the occassional historic side notes, presumably thrown in by Auker's co-author Tom Keegan. They cover topics such as nicknames and sportswriting during the era Auker covers. More of these would have been great. In short, the only thing that this book lacks is more of what it already has.

Rating: **** (buy it new) for Tigers' fans and *** (buy it used) for all others.

A promotional video for the book can be found here. It has some great footage of Auker's submarine pitching style.