[.ca] Sleeper Cars And Flannel Uniforms (ISBN 157243824X)

a surprising book:
eldon auker? didn't he lose to dizzy dean in the 7th game of 1934 world series? i can believe he's still around.

Sadly, for Tiger Fans Only.:
"Sleeper Cars and Flannel Uniforms" is a perfectly titled baseball yarn from an era when life was easier, gentler and the players did indeed wear flannel and travel from city to city by train. It wasn't so long ago when "a western swing" by the New York Yankees included a trip to Cleveland! The author was a "submarine" pitcher for the Tigers, Red Sox and St. Louis Browns (now the Orioles) in the 30s and 40s. His years with the Tigers are his main focus. He does not disappoint. Readers will be treated to a pleasant, leisurely journey through the halcyon American League. We visit with his favorite teammates and opponents; Mickey Cochrane, Joe DiMaggio, Hank Greenberg, Ted Williams, Charley Gehringer and Schoolboy Rowe (remember him?). This reviewer is too young to remember these guys as players, though I got DiMaggio's autograph as a kid and saw Rowe, then a Tiger coach, get thrown out of a game at Yankee Stadium for arguing with an umpire. This is all very old school, soothing and nostalgic- light years from the "Bronx Zoo" and "Billy Ball" of later years. And then? And then, the author proceeds to ruin his story by subjecting us, over the final 47 pages, to his boring, proper, upper class, (Republican?), country club, politically connected second life as a successful businessman and lobbyist. We get to visit with Gerry Ford, Joseph P. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan. Isn't this exciting? B-O-R-E-I-N-G! For what purpose? Why? For filler? For an ego boost? In my opinion, Mr. Auker seriously watered down an otherwise superior, compact and focussed biography. Readers can decide for themselves if he ruined it. In this reviewer's opinion, the effect of the final 47 pages is to render "SCFU" useless for all but Tiger fans. The rest of us should bring another sports (or train) tale to read in the club car.

A storied life:
Elden Auker, with the aid of celebrated New York sportswriter Tom Keegan crafts an autobiographical piece spanning his 90+ years. Auker was born in rural Kansas and graduated as a three sports star from Kansas State university. Deciding that his quickest road to success was through baseball, he signed a professional contract to pitch for the Detroit Tigers. Auker developed an unorthodox submarine delivery which allowed him to enjoy a creditable 10 year major league career. Along the way he befriended some of the greats of the game such as Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Babe Ruth and countless others. Auker was wise enough to create a life for himself outside the game. He evolved into a highly thought of executive in the abrasives industry. As such he rubbed elbows and played golf with some of the paragons of both politics and industry. The book is essentially an array of amusing stories which formulate the backbone of Mr. Auker's long and fruitful life. This was one of the better sports type books I've read in that Auker feels no compulsion to be politically correct on many issues.

A Pleasure To Treasure:
I read a lot of baseball books and this is one of the best I've come across in years. I took it straight home from the bookstore and read it in one sitting. Auker tells us what baseball was like in the '30s without getting on a soapbox about how wonderful the old days were. It uses humor in just the right doses and offers plenty of insight into a past era. One minor complaint: Toward the end, we get a little too much about his post-baseball life. But that's not near enough to bump this from the elite of baseball books. This one will endure.

A BREATH OF FRESH AIR:
I REALLY ENJOYED THIS BOOK. ELDEN AUKER DOES A GREAT JOB DESCRIBING HOW IT WAS WHEN MEN WERE MEN. TODAYS ATHLETES ARE SO PAMPERED, SPOILED AND GREEDY. TO MIX WITH THE PEOPLE HE DID IN HIS LIFE IS QUITE UNIQUE. HE CERTAINLY IS A GOOD STORY TELLER AND IS QUITE AN INTERESTING MAN. HE AND THE PEOPLE FROM HIS TIME ARE MUCH TOUGHER AND HAVE MUCH TO OFFER TO THE NOW GENERATION OF NO DISCIPLINE, I BEFORE ANYONE ELSE, AND THE LAZY WORK ETHICS THAT NOW EXIST IN THE WORLD. YOUNG PEOPLE SHOULD LEARN FROM PEOPLE LIKE ELDEN AUKER. VERY RECOMMENDED.