Some old school baseball purists would say that baseball has never been the same since free agency was introduced.  1975 was the last year before the players were freed.  The Last Real Season is the baseball diary of Mike Shropshire, a beat writer for the Texas Rangers.  It is about a time when players could be themselves without having it cost them a million dollar contract.  After all, no one had a million dollar contract.

The Last Real Season is a funny, irreverent look at the inside of baseball in the manner of Ball Four.  Shropshire is brutally honest in his storytelling and that adds to the humor.  Most baseball books about this era are usually about the Boston/Cincinnati World Series.  While everyone would agree that the 75 Series was a classic, it wasn’t all that happened in 1975.  The Last Real Season is an excellent read for the hard core baseball historian.  Shropshire brings up names that I hadn’t thought about in 30 years and I found myself reading for a while and then losing myself in my memories for a while.  I’m not sure if The Last Real Season is for every baseball fan, but I do know that it is a great choice for the fan that misses “the good old days.”

Reviewed by Brad Sauve