Tuesday, January 12, 2021

David Ostrowsky’s Pro Sports in 1993 Gives Readers an In-Depth Look at a Memorable Year in Football, Basketball, Hockey and Baseball

 

The Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bulls, Montreal Canadiens, and Toronto Blue Jays.  These four teams were once dominant franchises in their respective sport.  However, over the past couple of decades, these franchises have struggled to recapture their past championship glory.  In his book, Pro Sports in 1993:  A Signature Season in Football, Basketball, Hockey and Baseball, David Ostrowsky takes the reader back to a memorable year in which this quartet of teams stood tall as champions of the four major sports.

Ostrowsky splits his book into seven chapters, each of which examines a major event that shaped the 1993 sports world.  Ostrowsky devotes a chapter to each of the championship teams from the four major sports.  In addition, Ostrowsky also includes three additional chapters which cover Joe Montana’s first season with the Kansas City Chiefs following the veteran quarterback’s controversial trade from the San Francisco 49ers, the opening of the Baltimore Orioles home ballpark Camden Yards which played host to the 1993 MLB All-Star Game, and the Buffalo Bills incredible comeback win against the Houston Oilers in AFC Wild Card Playoff Game.  Each of the seven chapters are thoroughly researched and well written.  Ostrowsky secured first-hand interviews with a wealth of players, coaches, and team personnel.  Ostrowsky does an excellent job of mixing his writing with quotes he gathered from these first-hand interviews.

As a baseball fan, I was drawn to the chapters about Camden Yards hosting the MLB All-Star Game and the Toronto Blue Jays repeating as World Series champions.  Ostrowsky gives details on the background of the building of Camden Yards, takes the reader through the April 1992 opening of the ballpark, the pregame festivities of the 1993 All-Star Week, and the All-Star Game itself.  I learned a lot about Camden Yards in this chapter.  For example, I was not aware that a young Orioles intern named Theo Epstein was instrumental in putting together a five-day celebration during the All-Star Week to honor former Negro League players.  Also, I was surprised to find out that there was a fair amount of push back for the retro-style ballpark design which Camden Yards made famous.  Ostrowsky brings the All-Star Game to life with quotes from both American and National League players including Jay Bell, Devon White, John Burkett, and Andy Benes.  Ostrowsky also gives insights into the clash between Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston who helmed the AL team and Orioles hurler Mike Mussina who was denied the chance to pitch in front of the hometown fans when Gaston opted to have Blue Jays reliever Duane Ward toss the final inning of the Midsummer Classic.
 
Pro Sports in 1993 includes several quotes about players from the World Series-winning Toronto Blue Jays as well as the teams they faced in the playoffs

The chapter about the Blue Jays features an assortment of quotes centering on Toronto’s top players including future Hall of Famers Roberto Alomar and Paul Molitor as well memorable sluggers Joe Carter and John Olerud.  This chapter also highlights the differences between Toronto’s 1992 World Series-winning team and the 1993 club along with the challenges they faced trying to repeat as World Champions.  The acquisition of Molitor—the eventual 1993 World Series MVP—and the emergence of Olerud— the 1993 AL batting champ—are identified as key factors in Toronto repeating as World Champions.  Ostrowsky doesn’t just focus on the Blue Jays, he also takes a look at the Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies, the two teams Toronto defeated in the playoffs on their way to securing a second-straight World Championship.  The speed and power of the White Sox is spotlighted with quotes about future Hall of Famers Tim Raines and Frank Thomas while characters like John Kruk, Darren Daulton, and Lenny Dykstra are remembered from the collection of misfits who made up the unlikely NL Pennant-winning Phillies.  Ostrowsky interviews some notable players for this chapter including 7-time Gold Glove winner Devon White and 1993 AL Cy Young Award winner Jack McDowell.  However, the player with the most intriguing quotes is veteran Blue Jays infielder Alfredo Griffin.  As a light-hitting middle infielder who was primarily on Toronto’s postseason roster for his glovework, Griffin describes entering Game 6 as a late-inning defensive replacement and finding himself with the unique perspective of being the on-deck hitter when Joe Carter took Mitch Williams deep for his Series-ending walk-off home run.
 
The 1993 Stanley Cup Finals featured a match up between future Hall of Famers Patrick Roy and Wayne Gretzky with a young John LeClair emerging as an unlikely hero

I was also drawn to the chapter about the 1993 Stanley Cup-winning Montreal Canadiens.  I have always drawn a parallel between the dominance of the 24-time Stanley Cup champion Canadiens and the New York Yankees, winners of 27 World Series Titles.  It’s hard to believe that with Montreal’s long history of success, 1993 represents their most recent championship to date and perhaps even more shocking is that no Canadian-based franchise has raised the Cup since.  As a one-off championship team, the 1993 Canadiens are rarely written about and not romanticized in the same way as the club’s dynasties from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.  Thus, it is nice to see Ostrowsky focus on the 1993 team’s postseason triumph.  This chapter largely centers on the two iconic players who faced off in the Finals, Montreal’s Patrick Roy and Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings.  Ostrowsky gives a background on each of these superstar player’s struggles prior to the playoffs—Roy’s subpar regular season before railing off an amazing 10 straight overtime playoff wins and Gretzky’s return from a career-threatening injury to help lead the Kings to their first and ultimately his last Cup Final.  In addition to the in-depth look at Roy and Gretzky, this chapter also focuses on the controversial penalty involving Kings defenseman Marty McSorley which played a key role in shifting the momentum of the Finals to Montreal as well as the clutch play of young Canadiens left winger John LeClair.  Ostrowsky also secured interviews for this chapter from some well-known Canadiens and Kings players including Kirk Muller, Brian Bellows, Tony Granato, and Jimmy Carson.

Reading about Joe Montana’s move to the Chiefs seemed particularly relevant with Tom Brady recently leaving the New England Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Also, with the Bills franchise experiencing a revival, it is a fitting time to take a look back at the Buffalo team that dominated the AFC in the early Nineties.  I actually enjoyed the chapter about Buffalo’s miraculous come-from-behind victory over the Oilers most since it featured outstanding quotes from Bills players Don Beebe, Steve Christie, and Hall of Famer Andre Reed.

Some of the book's best quotes are drawn from David Ostrowsky's first-hand interviews with Bill Cartwright, Don Beebe, and Hall of Famer Andre Reed

I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to read about Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls winning their third straight championship or the Dallas Cowboys capturing their second of what would be three Super Bowls in a four-year span since the success of these dynasties has been well-documented.  Nevertheless, I am happy I did as I found both of these chapters interesting.  A couple of the highlights from these chapters include the many facets of Jordan’s complicated personality being explored by His Airness’ former teammates Bill Cartwright and Scott Williams as well as Super Bowl XXVIII hero James Washington’s account of his experiences in helping the Cowboys overcome the Bills.

While I enjoyed reading quotes from the Bills players about their stunning comeback victory in the AFC Wild Card Game, I can’t say I strongly favored one chapter above all of the others which speaks to the overall strength of the book.  The book also gave each franchise’s 1993 season more of an identity for me—as opposed to just remembering these teams as “the second of the back-to-back Blue Jays World Series winners” or “part of the Bulls or Cowboys dynasties of the 1990s.”  I recommend this book to any sports fan because with Ostrowsky’s first-hand interviews you are sure to learn something new about the memorable players and teams that are profiled and gain a new appreciation for pro sports in 1993.

----by John Tuberty


Follow me on Twitter @BloggerTubbs

Cards:  Paul Molitor, John Olerud, Roberto Alomar 1994 Topps Stadium Club, Patrick Roy 1990-91 Score, John LeClair 1992-93 Topps Stadium Club, Wayne Gretzky 1990-91 Score, Bill Cartwright 1992-93 Topps, Don Beebe 1993 Bowman, Andre Reed 1993 Bowman


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