The Long Ball The Summer of '75--Spaceman, Catfish, Charlie Hustle, and the Greatest World Series Ever Played Hardcover - 2003

From the publisher

The 1975 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Cincinnati Reds is generally considered the best of all time, and baseball historians often rank its sixth game as the greatest single game ever played. Adelman opens his story of this epochal summer with the dramatic preseason showdown between owners and players that catalyzed free agency, increased player salaries, and launched an age when baseball would be less about the game and more about "the green." THE LONG BALL then tells the dramatic story of the starstudded season that followed and the heart-stopping series itself. With unforgettable portraits of some of baseball's most colorful characters, this is an affecting look at baseball's last great days--all of it leading up to a magical home run that wins a game for a losing team and leaves the bat with the thump of a heartbeat.
- THE LONG BALL is packed with the most colorful players and managers of the modern era, among them Reggie Jackson, Pete Rose, Carl Yastrzemski, George Brett, Fred Lynn, Ken Griffey, Bobby Bonds, Bill "Spaceman" Lee, Steve Garvey, Billy Martin, Rickey Henderson, Johnny Bench, Sparky Anderson, Jim Palmer, Catfish Hunter, and many others.- Because the book looks at the whole season, fans of teams such as Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Oakland, the New York Yankees, and others will find plenty to enjoy.
- Jonathan Lethem has said about Adelman's writing: "Dazzling...[his] narrative stances are confessions of a heart pining over artifacts, a mind spinning fable and fantasy in pursuit of a usable history."