Review: Death of a Racehorse (2025)

By Katie Bo Lillis

Live long enough, my fellow sports fan, and you'll realize the popularity of a particular sport is not guaranteed to last forever. The landscape in tastes shifts slowly, bordering on imperceptibly. But after several years, it's easy to look back and try to figure out what happened.   

Exhibit A for this particular discussion is horse racing as a spectator sport. It was a major player in the sports and leisure business for many decades, dating back to the 19th century. But it more or less has faded, due to a number of factors. As author Chuck Klosterman points out in his book on football, horses were a huge part of everyday life around 1900. But as American life became more urban and more motorized, the four-legged animals faded out of view in many cases. 

Then throw in the rise of other sports, mostly pro football but certainly basketball and hockey too. By the 1950s, horse racing was still in a niche, but a good-sized one. But then it lost its monopoly on gambling to other activities, such as casinos. The sport never did really embrace television properly, either. Eventually, newspapers stopped covering the tracks on a regular basis, and the days of television sportscasters showing the finish of a race on the 11 p.m. news ended quietly. The Triple Crown races are about the only exceptions left, unless you are around Saratoga in the Adirondacks in late summer.

In recent years, there's been a new issue that has come along. While it's always been tempting to cheat in some manner in horse racing, technology in scientific research has come a long way in this area. When we see horses in the starting gate, we don't know how many of them have received a little help in the form of drugs. The horses certainly aren't talking. It can make spectators - read "bettors" - wary of following the results if it might not be a fair fight. 

That's where we are today, and it's something of a starting point of Katie Bo Lillis' excellent book, "Death of a Racehorse."  

Ellis takes us through a tour of the industry that is thorough and convincing. Our guide in portions of the book is Bob Baffert, one of the most successful trainers in the racing business. He's very good at what he does, and he's an outsider to the ownership side of the business that sometimes feels like it's straight out of a 19th-century PBS program. Baffert's problem is that he has had some slip-ups along the way, and has been penalized for it. 

He's at the center of the first section of the book. That's followed by a recap of a major investigation that tried to reel in some "big fish" who were cheating in an attempt to have better living (in the form of wins) through racing. Then in part three, Lillis moves on to efforts to police the industry better, in part through a federal program. That's not easy in a world where laws can change from state to state and jurisdictional collisions are almost inevitable. 

The shrinking nature of the sport has meant less money to be earned. That in turn has increased the pressure on trainers to win races, even if it can be left unsaid. The race tracks need horses in good condition in order to fill out their cards and keep the customers coming. And if the customers stop, then there is less demand for horses in the form of breeding - the place where the owners can cash in on a big way. No wonder some chemists keep busy in the form of creating designer drugs that might have the effect of changing the odds. It's hard for the authorities to keep up with it all.   

Let's throw in one other issue. Horse racing can pop up in the news these days for an extra reason - a surprising death on the track, usually during a race. It seems there's a rash of them every so often, and that strikes a nerve - not without some justification - with those outsiders who consider horses more like pets than livestock. There's some anger when even a small percentage of the horses in a given race have an insides that resemble pharmacies. Someone has to raise the issue, since those animals don't have a voice in the discussion. 

Lillis covers national security issues for CNN, and she's obviously knows how to conduct an investigation. But she has always loved horses, and she's always been a fan of Thoroughbred racing. Here the author lays out the facts thoroughly and calmly. It's not a story that is covered in the mainstream media much any more, unless someone like Baffert receives a long suspension. Therefore, this will fill in a void for those seeking information about what has been going on a bit under the surface. 

No, "Death of a Racehorse" is by no means escapist reading. But it does take a good-sized look at relevant issues in the Sport of Kings. Those who are hoping that a level playing field will help horse racing regain a bit more relevance should be impressed by what's between the covers of the book.

Five stars

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Review: Football (2026)

By Chuck Klosterman

Say the name "Klosterman" to some avid readers, and the first name of "Chuck" no doubt will come up a few times. Chuck Klosterman has become something of a cultural commentator, a good gig if you can arrange it. He's written several books, starting with music-related subjects and broadening his range as he's gotten older. Klosterman even has some novels to his credit, and has written for several top media outlets. 

Say the name "Klosterman" to football fans, at least the older ones (guilty), and the reaction is a different one. Don Klosterman was a player in the 1950s, mostly remembered as a backup quarterback, who eventually moved into the front office. Don was the general manager of a few NFL teams, including one that won the Super Bowl in 1971 (Baltimore). 

Now, by coincidence, Chuck Klosterman is moving into Don's territory with a book called "Football." Talk about worlds colliding. I have no idea if the two Klostermans are even faintly related, but it's a bit fun to see their lives intersect this way.

This is a roundabout way of asking the central question about whether traditional football people like Don would pick up and enjoy this book from Chuck. And the answer is, yes - if they are willing to be a bit open-minded on the subject. For this hits some unique territory.

"Football" reads more like a collection of essays that have something to do with football. We're not headed on a straight line here. Some of the chapters have titles like "The Semantics of GOAT Herding," "This Is Still Your Father's Oldsmobile," "Nuclear Football" and "A Rose by Any Other Name Would Not Impact the Rose Bowl." Meanwhile, the first sentence of the book is "This is a book about football, written for people who don't exist." 

And away we go. After explaining that initial concept - no easy task - we soon get into issues that you probably haven't considered very often. For example, football is about the only sport that is extremely difficult to duplicate at lower levels of competition. For a legitimate football game, you need 22 players minimum, referees, equipment, etc. That's not going to happen very easily. A touch football game can break out on Thanksgiving morning in a neighborhood, but without the physical side of the game it's not a close approximation of the experience. I suppose hockey is close to that level of specialization. But a pickup basketball game is still basketball - just not played as skillfully. A 12-foot putt for birdie translates well to the hacker and the pro. And so on.

Soon we jump from the concept of "America's Team" (Dallas Cowboys) to football as close to a religion in Texas. From there it's on to determining the greatest football player at a given point in the sport's history (spoiler alert: quarterbacks eventually take over). Or perhaps you're more likely to be wrapped up in a discussion about race in football, translated into the question, "How many quarterbacks in the NFL in an ideal setting should be black?" Should it mirror the ratio of the population as a whole, or should it reflect the ratio of other positions in the game? Hmm.

Ever ponder why football in America has four downs, while Canada uses three? Klosterman has. He points out that in the game's formative years, the number of downs was essentially up for grabs. The U.S. version gave a boost to a grind-it-out approach to offense, while Canada's version led to a more wide-open game. Interestingly, a three-down rule came first. 

The price tag that comes with football also comes up here, which leads to a discussion of injuries - specifically concussions. Players now realize when they start playing an advanced level of football full-time that there is a risk of problems down the road with brain function. The rewards for success in the National Football League are enormous, as the pay is life-changing for generations. For many, that assumed risk is worth it for the chance at riches. Could that change? And will a majority of mothers eventually prevent their baby sons from trying to become football players? 

Klosterman saves the best discussion for last. The National Football League essentially has used college football as its minor-league feeder system for its talent. But college football is changing almost by the hour these days. He points out that several changes have come to the sport in the past handful of years, including the transfer portal and the NIL financial deals. These have been great for the athletes, who have been making money for others for that century, Will we get to the point where college football will be reduced to the big schools that can make it work financially? We'd lose something if that happened. But some schools have to be wondering if the football business should be a part of their primary function, which is education. There are no guarantees that we're headed on the right road. 

"Football" is on the messy side, as you may have guessed, and Klosterman hasn't seen a tangent that he's not willing to explore. But there's something nice about going for a ride with an active mind. The book isn't for all fans by any means, but the intellectually adventuresome members of the audience should find plenty to ponder here. 

In other words, Don might have liked it. 

Four stars

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Review: LIV and Let Die (2023)

By Alan Shipnuck

It's never too late to go back and take a look at origin stories in the world of sports, particularly when they are still relevant today. That certainly applies to the LIV golf league, which has been fighting for attention and publicity for the last four years. 

It took an odd combination of events for the LIV (Roman Numerals for 54, or 18-under par on the par-72 golf course) to begin play on some of the world's golf courses in 2022. It's still around, still trying to fight the more established golf leagues, like the PGA Tour of America, for talent and sponsors. Those first couple of years are nicely reviewed by golf writer Alan Shipnuck in "LIV and Let Die."

There has been talk forever about trying to come up with better ways to present professional golf to the public. The problem, to some extent, is that the players are essentially independent contractors with very different interests and incentives. A union, like the ones in team sports, isn't completely practical in that setting. The superstars don't really have much in common with the guys who are simply happy to make the cut this week. On the other hand, a pro tour is survival of the fittest in some ways. If you don't play well and at least make the weekend cut, you go home empty-handed - even if you are one of the players who attracts crowds. 

The plans for something new started to bubble in 2019, but Covid-19 pushed some of it back. Then in 2020, Saudi Arabia and its Public Investment Fund (a huge supply of cash created by oil sales) started talks about creating a new circuit. The Middle Eastern nation is long on dictatorial rules by short on human rights for its citizens, which has caught the attention of many. A golf league was one way to attract attention to its efforts to improve the public image of the country. Phil Mickelson called the technique "sportswashing," which is rather creative. 

Representatives starting throwing around big money at established players in order to lure them to LIV play. Big money, indeed. Dustin Johnson supposedly signed for a guarantee of $150 million to jump in the summer of 2022. Others, such as Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed, eventually joined that crew, as did Mickelson - even though he was more of a drawing card than a top competitor at that point in his career. 

LIV did eventually take off, even if the process was predictably bumpy. The lawyers got rich on this, of course, and the Saudis spared no expense - even by their standards - to make the idea work. Shipnuck is one of the most well-connected reporters on the golf circuit, and he has great fun reportedly on all of the back-and-forth conversation between people and their organizations. It doesn't sound like the hard feelings were healed during that time period. That led to some major changes in how the PGA Tour operated, including more money for the top players who hung around in the form of different schedules, guarantees and bonuses

Shipnuck - who wrote a fun biography of Michelson a while ago - has to stop at some point, and he does so in 2023 when the PGA Tour and LIV negotiated the starting framework to some sort of merger between the two sides. Since the book was published, not much progress has been made on bringing the two sides together. Let's face it - the PGA had a major advantage in this battle. Its weekly results reached the masses of golf fans out in the public. Some stars may be gone to LIV, but the "star-making machinery" that Joni Mitchell used in a far different context creates new heroes to come along with each golf season. It's difficult to follow the LIV tour in America without some effort, especially because of the time zone changes featured in a worldwide tour. Jon Rahm, not surprisingly, is the leading money winner on that tour in the last two years, but you might be hard-pressed to find someone who knew that fact for sure. 

This is not the usual golf book in some spots. For example, a chapter is devoted to the history of the Royal Family in Saudi Arabia, which doesn't come up much in books otherwise filled by bogeys and birdies. A few other spots offer some difficult reading. Happily, Shipnuck has a nice touch for navigating through the corridors of golf power to explain what the heck was going on. Considering that golfers aren't often quote machines for media members, the stories of some of these pros and their attitudes are sometimes eye-opening. And he doesn't waste too much time telling the story here, keeping things brisk.     

It's hard to say where this will wind up, and when. It's obviously in everyone's financial interest to work together to establish a structure that is relatively equitable for everyone. In the meantime, "LIV and Let Die" is a good place to go for the background on these squabbles. Possible readers, however, should know that it's more of a business book than golf book in some ways, so keep that in mind. 

Four stars

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Review: Death in the Strike Zone (2026)

By Thomas W. Gilbert

Author Thomas W. Gilbert isn't quite done with baseball and the 19th century. 

His first book on the subject was called "How Baseball Happened," and it was published in 2021. It told the story of the development of the game/sport in the 1800s. The book was a good reminder to forget about Albert Doubleday, if you hadn't already. Baseball wasn't invented; it simply evolved from other games. 

Now Gilbert is back with the story of one of the pieces of the puzzle. The subject of the book is pitcher James Creighton, and the book is called "Death in the Strike Zone." Yes, that sounds like a title that belongs in the pulp fiction section of the bookstore. 

Gilbert had an outsized role in the development of baseball in the sense that he only played a couple of years at the game's highest level. He's been called baseball's first star, even it turned out to be one of the shooting variety.

Creighton grew up in the New York City area, and quickly developed an ability to be a standout in baseball. At the age of 18, he was used as a relief pitcher by his team, the Niagaras. Remember that in 1859, pitchers were essentially used to place the ball in a position in which it could be hit by the batter. There were no "balls" called for pitches outside of what we might call the "strike zone." Gloves hadn't even been developed yet, so offenses dominated and the games lasted for hours. 

Pitching underhand, Creighton displayed a unique ability to throw pitches that couldn't be hit. He could throw hard, harder than the rest of the pitchers of the day, and he could make the ball dance a bit too. Essentially, Creighton created the fastball and curveball. Think of fast-pitch softball's pitching, and you get an idea of what the pitching was like. 

Creighton quickly moved up to some better teams in New York City, and by 1860 he joined the Excelsior of Brooklyn squad - one of the best teams around. Creighton eventually pitched the game's first recorded shutout (at least among top teams) and also rarely made an out at the plate. Shohei Ohtani would be proud. The Excelsiors had to take 1861 off from competition - the Civil War and all that - but play resumed in 1862. Creighton, now 21, was still very good. 

But his career was cut short in dramatic fashion. He suffered an injury during a game in October of 1862. He died four days later. Medical experts now guess that Creighton suffered a ruptured injuinal hernia. He became a heroic, legendary figure in death. His appearance on the field could attract fans in those days when the idea of customers paying to see baseball was just catching on. Creighton also seems to have been compensated for his play in one form or another, making him a part of the history of baseball's move toward professionalism.

During Creighton's time, a batter's only weapon was to not swing at the ball - since there was no penalty for that. That way, maybe the pitcher would get tired. But it's not a formula for entertainment. Eventually the sport came up with the concept of balls and strikes, the games became shorter and more watchable, and dollars followed.  

Gilbert tells the story as best he can, and obviously put in some serious time researching his life and times. But there's not that much information from primary sources out there. He has to rely mostly on government records like census data and piece parts of the puzzle together. Later in the 19th century, baseball figures were happy to talk about Creighton's skills - even if their stories could be exaggerated thanks to the fading memories caused by time. (One person claimed Creighton collapsed after hitting a home run in his final game - which is dramatic but untrue.) There's more information out there about some of Creighton's contemporaries that turns up here, but sometimes that feels like padding to fill out what is already a short book. (It checks in at under 200 pages.)

Gilbert is also rather indignant that Creighton hasn't been admitted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. That's an interesting question. Only a couple of people with connections to the sport's all-amateur days have been inducted in Cooperstown, and their baseball careers stretched into the pro era that essentially started with the National Association in 1871. In addition, Creighton only played for those two seasons, and some sort of longevity is prized by most Hall of Fame voters no matter what the profession. Creighton obviously was very influential in the game's development. Is that enough to reach the Hall? Maybe, but I'd need more convincing. 

Creighton is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. Gilbert writes that people still leave old baseballs by his grave. So the pitcher hasn't been forgotten yet, and "Death in the Strike Zone" will serve as at least another reminder of an important transitional figure in baseball history. The book is a lesson how how we got here when it comes to baseball, and that certainly has some value for big fans.

Three stars

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