A few weeks ago I touted the Facebook page Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride through Baseball in the 70s. You wouldn’t know it from the post content but the page is essentially a front for Dan Epstein’s book of the same name. He does mention his book occasionally but most Facebook posts are just fun tidbits about baseball in the 1970s. Well worth subscribing to if you’re on Facebook.
I contacted Epstein recently and he was nice enough to email me back. When I posted about our conversation, I got nothing but over-the-top positive feedback from The APBA Blog readers about how great this book was. Being a fan of 1970s baseball, I told him I’d have to purchase it someday. Well, as I’m on an extended vacation, I decided to get the book and see if it was all it was cracked up to be. I bought an electronic version so I could read it on my tablet on the plane ride. I’ve read through half of it and I must say I really like it.
Epstein admits that he doesn’t focus on the stats. His big talking point: “Oscar Gamble’s afro is more interesting to me than his OPS.” I guess that is why Big Hair and Plastic Grass appeals to me. As an APBA fan, I’m usually interested in the averages, rbis and ERAs to the point that I sometimes miss the big and interesting stories. Epstein breaks the decade down chronologically giving us the low down on the big stories of each year. For example, I never knew about Tony Horton’s battle with depression till yesterday (to be honest, it was a little before my time). Epstein writes about this in great detail and makes me wonder how I could not know about this. I’m looking forward to reading the second half of the book.
For those wondering, no, I’m not getting paid for this post nor am I even get a complimentary copy of the book. Epstein’s just getting a free plug for a good book. So if you enjoy baseball history especially from the 1970s decade, give this one a try. Also, like I said in my previous article, Epstein is putting the final touches on a new book about the 1976 season. For those who are find Epstein’s work appealing, keep an eye out for that.
