The Braves have been my favorite baseball team since I was about 10 years old in 1960. Me and my neighborhood friends idolized them, especially Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews after they won the 1957 World Series against the Yankees and made another appearance in the series in 1958 only to lose to the dreaded Yanks. But we were always loyal to the Braves even when they moved to Atlanta in 1966. And what do you know? The Braves are in the World Series again this year (2021) after beating the Dodgers in the NLCS. The series starts next Tuesday and I'll definitely be watching and rooting for the Braves!
Back in the about 1963 when I was in Junior High School, I read this YP biography of Aaron by Shapiro. I finished reading Aaron's autobiography a couple of days ago which I really enjoyed so thought it would be fun to revisit this old biography. This is one of a series of sports biographies published by Julian Messner for young readers. Many of these were written by Shapiro and include bios of Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Mel Ott, Jackie Robinson, Warren Spahn, Eddie Mathews, and many others. Messner also published many biographies of historical figures back in the 50s and 60s. I mention this because Messner was actually sued by Warren Spahn who contended that the biography of him by Shapiro "violated all four of the tenants of privacy: invasion, false light, private facts, and appropriation. The author of the book admitted that his research consisted of looking at a few magazine stories and clippings, and that he had made no effort to speak with Spahn himself, his family, his teammates, or any of his friends or acquaintances. Spahn won an injunction against future distribution of the book and $10,000 in damages."
This biography of Aaron seemed to agree pretty much with Aaron's own autobiography but it did include dialog that was probably made up by the author. Of course, this is common in juvenile biographies and it makes them easier to read by young people. And overall, I thought Shapiro did a good job of telling Aaron's story up till 1961 when this was published. It includes his younger days in Mobile, Alabama, his play on sandlot teams and then for the Indianapolis Clowns in the old Negro Leagues, and then his signing by the Braves and his excellent play leading to the 1957 and 58 world series. It did, however, include a lot of detail of specific games (including play by play) and details of players and their positions on the Braves as well as other teams which became somewhat tedious. But for what it is, I mildly enjoyed it. I also have a few other of these old Messner biographies (including the one of Warren Spahn) that I have collected over the years and may revisit at some point.
Back in the about 1963 when I was in Junior High School, I read this YP biography of Aaron by Shapiro. I finished reading Aaron's autobiography a couple of days ago which I really enjoyed so thought it would be fun to revisit this old biography. This is one of a series of sports biographies published by Julian Messner for young readers. Many of these were written by Shapiro and include bios of Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Mel Ott, Jackie Robinson, Warren Spahn, Eddie Mathews, and many others. Messner also published many biographies of historical figures back in the 50s and 60s. I mention this because Messner was actually sued by Warren Spahn who contended that the biography of him by Shapiro "violated all four of the tenants of privacy: invasion, false light, private facts, and appropriation. The author of the book admitted that his research consisted of looking at a few magazine stories and clippings, and that he had made no effort to speak with Spahn himself, his family, his teammates, or any of his friends or acquaintances. Spahn won an injunction against future distribution of the book and $10,000 in damages."
This biography of Aaron seemed to agree pretty much with Aaron's own autobiography but it did include dialog that was probably made up by the author. Of course, this is common in juvenile biographies and it makes them easier to read by young people. And overall, I thought Shapiro did a good job of telling Aaron's story up till 1961 when this was published. It includes his younger days in Mobile, Alabama, his play on sandlot teams and then for the Indianapolis Clowns in the old Negro Leagues, and then his signing by the Braves and his excellent play leading to the 1957 and 58 world series. It did, however, include a lot of detail of specific games (including play by play) and details of players and their positions on the Braves as well as other teams which became somewhat tedious. But for what it is, I mildly enjoyed it. I also have a few other of these old Messner biographies (including the one of Warren Spahn) that I have collected over the years and may revisit at some point.
