Ebook: Swinging '73: baseball's wildest season

Front Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Contents; Prologue: Reunion; 1. A Walk into History; 2. "Matter of Fact, It's All Dark"; 3. Ring of Truth; 4. The Players' March; 5. The Cutting; 6. Not Your Average Joe; 7. Wounded Knee, Fractured Skull; 8. The Winning Diet; 9. Coming Down; 10. Believe It If You Need It; 11. "And a Fight Breaks Out!"; 12. The Playoff Vault; 13. Scapegoat by the Throat; Epilogue: Aftermath; After '73; Acknowledgments; Notes; Sources.;Interest and attendance were dropping, and football was ascending. Stuck in a rut, baseball was dying. Then Steinbrenner bought the Yankees, a second-division club with wife-swapping pitchers, leaving the House That Ruth Built not with a slam but a simper. He vowed not to interfere & mdash;before soon changing his mind. Across town, Tom Seaver led the Mets & rsquo; stellar pitching line-up, and iconic outfielder Willie Mays was preparing to say goodbye. For months, the Mets, under Yogi Berra, couldn & rsquo;t get it right. Meanwhile, the A & rsquo;s were breaking a ban on facial hair while maverick owner Charlie Finley was fighting to keep them underpaid. But beneath the muttonchops and mayhem, lay another world. Elvis commanded a larger audience than the Apollo landings. A Dodge Dart cost $2,800, gas was a quarter per gallon. A fiscal crisis loomed; Vietnam had ended, the vice president resigned, and Watergate had taken over. It was one of the most exciting years in the game & rsquo;s history, the first with the designated hitter and the last before arbitration and free agency. The two World Series opponents went head-to-head above the baby steps of a dynasty that soon dwarfed both league champions. It was a turbulent time for the country and the game, neither of which would ever be the same again.