cover image Miracle in Buffalo: How the Dream of Baseball Revived a City

Miracle in Buffalo: How the Dream of Baseball Revived a City

Anthony Violanti. St. Martin's Press, $17.95 (244pp) ISBN 978-0-312-04878-5

The premise of this book is dubious if not ridiculous. In a year when Buffalo's professional football team played in the Super Bowl, it is questionable to consider that the return of minor-league baseball has restored heart and soul to an economically ravaged city. Buffalo News feature writer Violanti traces the history of the diamond sport in his home town from 1877 to 1970, when the Bisons moved away, showing how the industrial base in western New York all but collapsed in the following decade and a half. He then chronicles the saga of the Rich family, which came to the rescue of Buffalo baseball, and he is decidedly sycophantic toward them. Readers throughout Erie County will probably love the book but it seems destined for oblivion elsewhere. Photos not seen by PW. (May)