Macho Row: The 1993 Phillies and Baseball's Unwritten Code by William C. Kashatus

Reviewed by: Macho Row: The 1993 Phillies and Baseball's Unwritten Code by William C. Kashatus Mitchell Nathanson William C. Kashatus. Macho Row: The 1993 Phillies and Baseball's Unwritten Code. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2017. 343 pp. Cloth, $27.95. At the start of the 1993 season, few fans gave the Philadelphia Phillies much consideration. They'd finished last in 1992 and things didn't look all that much better going forward. Surprisingly, though, the Phils were hot out of the gate and, even more unexpectedly, remained so throughout the entire season, capturing an unlikely Eastern Division title and then an even more unlikely National League pennant by dispatching the heavily favored Atlanta Braves. Collectively, the '93 Phils were misfits in baseball's modern age, throwbacks to an earlier era when, legend has it, players played for the love of the game rather than the dollars on their paychecks. And the leaders of this pack of misfits were a cadre of players—Darren Daulton, John Kruk, Lenny Dykstra, Pete Incaviglia, Mitch Williams and Dave Hollins—who lockered together in an area of the clubhouse known as "The Ghetto" or, as anointed by the local media, Macho Row. It is this assemblage that forms the backbone of William Kashatus's diary of the Phillies' improbable 1993 pennant run and ultimate collapse in the World Series. Phillies fans packing for a trip down memory lane would do well to take this book along with them on their journey, although [End Page 261] Kashatus has trouble with the details at times and doesn't quite show how baseball's unwritten Code played much of a role in the team's success. When it comes to the specifics of the Phillies' '93 season, Kashatus's feet are firmly planted. He has a keen eye for the events of that season and keeps the narrative humming along. When he ventures deeper into history, however, particularly in the book's early chapters, his eye seems to wander. Contrary to Kashatus's assertions, the Tigers did not win the World Series in 1985 (3) (they won it in '84), the Phils did not win five NL Eastern Division Titles and two pennants between 1976 and 1980 (21) (it was four and one), Manny Trillo and George Vukovich did not "continue to enjoy very productive years in Cleveland" after the 1982 Von Hayes trade (23) (Vukovich had one good year while Trillo was shipped out after appearing in only eighty-eight games for the Tribe), the Vet in the 1980s did not yet have blue seats (27) (its earth tone seats weren't swapped out for blue ones until the mid-90s), and the attorney for the owner's player relations committee was Lou Hoynes, not "Haynes" (13). None of these errors are major, some are picayune. But taken together in such quick succession they begin to add up and divert the reader from the narrative. Perhaps casual readers wouldn't notice these small errors and, to be sure, none of them undercut Kashatus's larger points. But his core audience—hardcore baseball fans—would and to them these errors, combined with the others like them not referenced here, are a distraction. The bigger issue has to do with the subtitle of the book: "The 1993 Phillies and Baseball's Unwritten Code." Kashatus has the first part down—he does a fine job taking the reader through the season. But he has difficulty showing how baseball's Code specifically influenced this particular ballclub as opposed to ballclubs in general. As Kashatus notes, the Code prohibits players from publicly airing their dirty laundry: "What is seen, heard or said in the clubhouse stays in the clubhouse" (108). Also, "[w]hen a pitcher throws at an opposing hitter, the Code demands retribution" (113). There are, of course, other tenets of the Code but these are the two Kashatus focuses on primarily. However, while he shows how the members of Macho Row enforced these tenets, he doesn't explain how this made the '93 Phillies different than any other club. Most ballplayers claim to adhere to the Code in general and to these two principles most ardently. If the...

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