Those of you who follow The APBA Blog’s Facebook page have probably noticed that occasionally I’ll share a post from a fan page called Big Hair & Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball In The 1970s. It’s one the few fan pages on Facebook that I truly enjoy. As a child of that era, I grew up on 1970s baseball and every daily post is trip back to that time.
After sharing more than a few of his posts in the past year, I thought I’d see if I could contact the man behind Big Hair & Plastic Grass and get a sense who he was. So I contacted via email and found him to quite friendly. His name is Dan Epstein and is an author. Those who enjoy his Big Hair & Plastic Grass fan page might want to check out his book of the same name. It’s on my short list of books to get.
And as it turns out, Dan tells me that he’s a tabletop baseball fan. That probably shouldn’t surprise anyone. He’s played Strat-O-Matic since the age of 10. Maybe he’s blowing me smoke but he tells me he’ll check out APBA sometime.
For those who are really into 70s era baseball like I am, keep an eye out for Dan Epstein’s next book. He tells me he’s just putting the final touches on the manuscript and it will cover the 1976 season. No word on a title yet but Dan says that it should be out next spring.
thanks, Dan! Keep the great FB post comin’!
I read the book when it first came out. Devoured it on one airplane trip, it was that good. Not only enjoyable, but very easy to read.
thanks for the review, Mike. I guess I better read it. :)
As an avid reader I don’t throw this out much at all, but this book is on my short list of fave books of all time!
I read it a couple of years ago & really enjoyed it! I recommend it to any table top baseball fan! I an excited to hear tht Dan is writing another baseball book on the 1976 season. I’m from Indiana & not far from Cincinnati & my dad is a big Reds fan. This is one season tht he says nobody gives the reds credit because the Machine smoked tht media darling Yankees. Looking forward to it! I read The Long Ball abt the ’75 season & really liked it; also Black & Blue abt the 1966 season by fans author.
Keep up the good work;)
Shawn Kaufman
Now I know what book to put aside for vacation! I’ve owned it for a couple of years and never read it.
I know this appeared elsewhere but for you 70’s geeks (like me) This Week in Baseball
The first season complete CD is available through MLB and it’s worth the $10!
Just finishing this great book! Started playing APBA in 1977 (1976 season) and the book has inspired me to start a 1976 solo replay on the computer.