Pennant Race: The Classic Game-by-Game Account of a Championship Season, 1961

“Brosnan obviously knows his baseball, writes about it wittily, informally and with irony. He is a cynical, tough professional athlete and his book makes wonderful reading.”—New Yorker

From the author of The Long Season—considered by many to be the greatest baseball book of all time—comes another classic sports memoir by legendary pitcher Jim Brosnan, which chronicles how his team, the Cincinnati Reds, went on to win the 1961 National League pennant.

In Pennant Race, Brosnan—with his trademark wise-guy wit and plain-spoken practicality—once again offers a refreshingly candid alternative to hackneyed baseball mythologizing. Day by day, game by game, Brosnan reveals the real lives of professional ballplayers: their exhilaration and frustration, hope and despair, chronic worry over job security, playful camaraderie, world-weary cynicism, and boyish—if cautious—optimism. Although the Reds would ultimately lose the World Series to the Yankees, for Brosnan and his teammates, this was a winning season.

Pennant Race vividly captures a remarkable year in the life of a ball club and the golden age of one of Major League Baseball’s most memorable eras.

With legendary pitcher Jim Brosnan’s first book, The Long Season, he not only entered the canon of great sports literature but also redefined it when he returned two years later to write Pennant Race—a memoir of his days playing for the Cincinnati Reds and how the team went from not being taken seriously as a contender to having a shot at the 1961 National League pennant.

In Pennant Race, Brosnan—with his trademark wise-guy wit and plainspoken practicality—once again offers a refreshingly candid alternative to hackneyed baseball mythologizing. Day by day, game by game, Brosnan reveals the real lives of professional ballplayers: their exhilaration and frustration, hope and despair, chronic worry over job security, playful camaraderie, world-weary cynicism, and boyish—if cautious—optimism. Although the Reds would ultimately lose the World Series to the Yankees, for Brosnan and his teammates, this was a winning season.

Pennant Race vividly captures a remarkable year in the life of a ball club and the golden age of one of Major League Baseball’s most memorable eras.

Praise for The Long Season: “One of the best baseball books ever written. It is probably one of the best American diaries as well.” - New York Times

“Takes readers inside the clubhouse, the dugout, and the bullpen-not to mention the airplane, the train and the hotel room-in ways no sportswriter ever has.” - Washington Post

“Rich and always interesting....This is the most authentic and convincing book about baseball I have ever read.” - Los Angeles Times

“Funny, candid, and even more interesting because it doesn’t chronicle an exceptional season (something Brosnan reserved for his second book, Pennant Race, 1962), this book was a game changer.” - Booklist

“Brosnan provides a dose of humor, a touch of self-deprecation and a shot of unvarnished reality.” - Plain Dealer

“Jim Brosnan is a gifted observer.... His book is beautifully constructed.” - Herald Tribune

Praise for Pennant Race: “Brosnan...with verve and humor...provides the type of insight into...the game that sportswriters can only dream of.” - Chicago Tribune

“Wonderful reading [from] the Samuel Pepys of the league champions.” - San Francisco Chronicle