Now I’m going to sound like a spoiled child, but my father-in-law called up his daughter (my wife) the other day and said, “I found something your husband might be interested in. Can you come over sometime this week and check it out? If he wants it, it’s his. If not, that’s OK, I can return it.”
Now, I had seen ads for it in some of the more recent Tigers magazines but never imagined I would ever see one, let alone have one to call my own. It’s a huge tome (191 pages but it’s hard-bound and is chalk-full of goodies) and weighs a lot, and the cost matches its weight. And in my opinion, its value exceeds the cost and weight combined. Not to mention it was a gift from a generous in-law… that itself is touching and precious!
Anyways, here it is.
Inside are 191 pages filled with history – detailed summaries of each major era of the team’s 80-year history, pictures of key players, and more. The book is divided into 12 chapters:
- Pre-natal Movements (1924-1935)
- A Fierce Tiger is Born: Back-to-Back Championships Led by the Bats (1936-1940)
- The Battle During the War (1941-1945)
- The Dynamite Lineup (1946-1949)
- From Rebuilding to the Joys of Victory (1950-1964)
- The Daily Struggles Behind V9 (1965-1978)
- Tumultuous Days (1979-1984)
- The Long-Awaited Nippon Ichi (1985)
- Battling Through a Lengthy Slump (1986-2001)
- The Howl of the Revived Fierce Tiger (2002-2011)
- The Present and Onward (2012-2015)
- The Tigers’ True Worth and Mission
That takes care of the “History” part of the title. What about the “Treasures”? Well, that would include 47 different artifacts from team history that have been replicated and included in envelopes interspersed throughout the book. Examples include tickets stubs, autographs, invitations to team events, and more. Check the picture below for a “sampling.”
I have yet to actually look carefully at anything in the book, as I just got it yesterday, but I have been itching to devour every word and increase my knowledge and appreciation of this storied franchise. Truly, I am a spoiled son-in-law. I hope to make a video showing the book’s contents in more detail in the near future, but please give me awhile to familiarize myself with its contents first! I’ll post the video when I finish it!