Penn Press Log

Dynasty, smhynasty! Phillies Fan and Historian Bill Kashatus is Enjoying the Ride

The weather forecast for the coming week is just one more thing for Philadelphians to worry about, especially those who have their fingers crossed for another World Series Championship. After Phillies' dramatic advance to the NLCS, anxiety is in the air mingling with today's rain. But William C. Kashatus, author of Almost a Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the 1980 Phillies advises fans to relax and enjoy the ride. The historian provides a broader perspective to stressed out Phils fans who hope to see the start of a real baseball dynasty. Dynasty, smhynasty!

Actually, postseason predictions are futile. What the Phillies did or failed to do during the regular season is a poor indicator of how they will perform in October.

The mind-set, intensity and approach players take for a short . . . series is completely different from what they do in the 162-game grind.

Hot teams can suddenly turn cold. Inconsistent pitching can become unhittable. And hitters who suffered prolonged slumps can carry their team in the playoffs.

The only clear thing is that the Phillies have the talent to compete with anybody. But their success will be determined by the mental toughness of the individual players and their desire to win.

You can read Kashatus's complete commentary, which appeared in the Philadelphia Daily News, at www.philly.com.

Kashatus asks Can the Phillies Do It Again?

In today's Philadelphia Inquirer, William C. Kashatus chose to give local baseball fans a little pre-season reality check.

. . .here in the City of Brotherly Love, fans ruminate about the Phillies' chances of repeating that late October parade down Broad Street. Some even dare to mention a 'dynasty,' capturing two championships and three or more pennants in a five-year span.

Let's be realistic, though.

Kashatus, historian and author of Almost a Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the 1980 Phillies, knows a lot about tempering high hopes with a little healthy pessimism. Read his op-ed "Can Phils do it again this year?" online at www.philly.com.

Pennsylvania Heritage Profiles William Kashatus

An article on William C. Kashatus appears in the current issue Pennsylvania Heritage magazine. The magazine outlines the career and contributions of the historian and author of a dozen books, including the recent Almost a Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the 1980 Phillies.

Click here to download an excerpt of the article from the Pennsylvania Heritage website.

Kashatus and Kuklick on Phillies Fans in WSJ

In case you haven't heard, the Philadelphia Phillies will face the Tampa Bay Rays in this year's World Series. In spite of this good news for sports fans in our city, an article in today's Wall Street Journal asks "Can Phillies Fans Embrace Optimism?" WSJ sports reporter Allan Barra went to Penn Press authors William C. Kashatus and Bruce Kuklick for some answers.

In all of their dismal history, there is but a single shining moment: the Phillies' victory over the Kansas City Royals in the 1980 World Series, celebrated with a parade down Broad Street that Philadelphians still talk about. "That still stands as the greatest day in Philadelphia sports history," says William Kashatus, author of "Almost a Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the 1980 Phillies." "People who had been battered by economic hardship and racial strife forgot their differences, took a day off from work, went out in the streets, and had a party.

"Philadelphia sometimes forgets this is really a baseball town," says Mr. Kashatus. "The parade in 1980 proved this. You wouldn't have gotten a celebration like that for the Eagles, '76ers, and Flyers combined."

Twenty-eight years later, a new generation of Phillies fans is asking: Is it time for another parade?

Phillies fans have a reputation as the meanest and most cynical in baseball, but given the history they've had to live with, that might be a natural reaction. "They're like characters in a Springsteen song," Prof. Kuklick [author of To Everything There Is a Season: Shibe Park and Urban Philadelphia and Black Philosopher, White Academy: The Career of William Fontaine] says. "They feel like dogs that have been kicked too much." But there's something about this year's Phillies that makes you feel that a new era is here. Maybe.

The Business of Sports Agents, 2e--Now Available

The Business of Sports Agents
Kenneth L. Shropshire and Timothy Davis
Second Edition
232 pages | 6 x 9
Cloth 2008 | ISBN 978-0-8122-4084-9 | $29.95 | £19.50

Kenneth L. Shropshire and Timothy Davis, experts in the fields of sports business and law, examine the history of the sports agent business and the rules and laws developed to regulate the profession and consider recommendations for reform.

Read more . . .

Book reviewers: to request a press copy, contact Ellen Trachtenberg.
Educators: to request an exam copy for course use consideration, click here.

Negro League Baseball--Now in Paperback

Negro League Baseball: The Rise and Ruin of a Black Institution
Neil Lanctot
512 pages | 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 | 31 illus.
Cloth 2004 | ISBN 978-0-8122-3807-5 | $37.95 | £25.00
Paper 2008 | ISBN 978-0-8122-2027-8 | $19.95 | £13.00

Winner of the 2005 Seymour Medal of the Society for American Baseball
Research

"Prodigiously researched and thoroughly unsentimental, Neil Lanctot's history of organized black baseball from 1933 through the early 1960s provides an enormously important historical corrective to feel-good versions of baseball integration."--New York Times

Read more . . .

Book reviewers: to request a press copy, contact Ellen Trachtenberg.
Educators: to request an exam copy for course use consideration, click here.

Almost a Dynasty Rekindles Fond Memories

A review of Almost a Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the 1980 Phillies, by William C. Kashatus, appeared in the March 30 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer. In this review, retired sports journalist Bill Lyon writes:

. . .[Kashatus] has knitted together a meticulously detailed, exhaustively researched, thoroughly dissected offering that contains no fewer than four appendices, a selected bibliography, an index, an introduction, a list of acknowledgments, and a veritable novella's worth of notes. It is difficult to believe that anything has been left out. . . .

If you grew up with the Phillies of his generation, this book will resonate and rekindle fond memories. If you are learning of it for the first time, well, there was a time, believe it or not, when the Phillies rose above their rag-tag history, when the teams of the most futile franchise in all of sport were perennial contenders.

Spring Training Trivia Challenge Final Results

Today is opening day of the Philadelphia Phillies 2008 season. Time to announce the final results of the Almost A Dynasty Spring Training Trivia Challenge.

The weekly trivia challenge winners are:

week 1, Bill Baer of Aston, PA
week 2, John Fea of Philadelphia, PA
week 3, Rodney Reuter of Lincoln, NE
week 4, Ron Rosen of Shrewsbury, MA

Each weekly winner receives a copy of Almost A Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the 1980 Phillies, signed by author William C. Kashatus.

The grand prize winner, Rodney Reuter, also receives two section 109 tickets to a Phillies vs. Mets game at Citizens Bank Park here in Philadelphia.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Almost A Dynasty Spring Training Trivia Challenge and congratulations to the winners.

Who Will Win the Phillies vs. Mets Game Tickets?

Congratulations to Ron Rosen of Massachusetts, winner of the fourth and final round of the Almost a Dynasty Spring Training Trivia Challenge.

For having his entry drawn from all of the entries that we received, Ron Rosen wins a copy of Almost a Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the 1980 Phillies by William C. Kashatus, and a chance at the grand prize--Tickets for Two to a Phillies vs. Mets Game.

1. What former left fielder played for the Phillies and the White Sox and was a career .276 hitter with 308 home runs and 1,128 RBIs?

Greg Luzinski

2. What four-time All Star and current infield instructor for the Chicago White Sox won the National League Championship Series MVP in 1980?

Manny Trillo

3. Which pitcher for the Phillies, Cubs, Rangers, Indians, Tigers, and Orioles became, in 1987, the second player (after Harry Chiti) in Major League Baseball history to be traded for himself?

Dickie Noles

The grand prize winner will be announced next Monday, March 31st.

The Spring Training Trivia Challenge Ends Next Week

Congratulations to Rodney Reuter of Nebraska, winner of round three of the Almost a Dynasty Spring Training Trivia Challenge.

For having his entry drawn from all of the correctly answered entries that we received, Rodney Reuter wins a copy of Almost a Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the 1980 Phillies by William C. Kashatus, and a chance at the grand prize--Tickets for Two to a Phillies vs. Mets Game.

Here are the answers to last week's Spring Training Trivia Challenge quiz.

1. Which relief pitcher, nicknamed “Tug,” pitched the final out for the 1980 World Champion Phillies and was father of country music star Tim McGraw?

Frank Edwin McGraw

2. What former pitcher managed the Yankees and the Mets, as well as the 1980 Phillies?

Dallas Green

3. What pitcher for the Phillies, Braves, and Pirates was nicknamed the “Whirly Bird” and is currently an announcer for Fox Sports Pittsburgh?

Bob Walk

You still have one more chance to win, so click here to answer the last round of  Spring Training Trivia Challenge questions.