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Summer of '49 (Perennial Classics) | 
 enlarge | Author: David Halberstam
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $5.69
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Avg. Customer Rating:  46 reviews
Sales Rank: 666187
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st Perennial Classics ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 4.9 x 1.1
ASIN: B0006VYG5I
Publication Date: March 1, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new - Most copies have a publishers overstock mark (Publisher close-outs usually have a small ink mark or stamp at the base of the book, but are otherwise brand new.)
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Amazon.com
With the airwaves saturated with so much sporting choice, it's hard to imagine how, not that long ago, baseball so completely dominated the landscape and captured imaginations. Given the 1949 season that veteran journalist David Halberstam meticulously recreates, maybe it's not so hard after all. It was a season of great public and personal drama for the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, with the conflict finally resolving itself in a Yankee pennant following a head-to-head showdown on the final day of the season. Each team was led by a star of the highest magnitude: Joe DiMaggio spurred the Yankees despite missing half the season with a foot injury; Ted Williams virtually carried the Sox on his back, missing an unprecedented third Triple Crown by mere decimal points on his batting average. Halberstam focuses much of his narrative on the trials of these two individual sporting giants, adding fine supporting performances by Yogi Berra, Ellis Kinder, Dom DiMaggio, even restaurateur Toots Shoor. Both on and off the field, Halberstam beautifully captures the ethos of a more innocent game that no longer exists, played by heroes far more driven by their pride than by their salaries.
Book Description
David Halberstam's New York Times bestselling classic chronicle of baseball's most magnificent season, as seen through the battle royale between Joe DiMaggio's Yankees and Ted Williams's Red Sox for the heart of a nation. With incredible skill, passion, and insight, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Halberstam returns us to the miraculous summer of '49 ... and to a glorious time when the dreams of a now almost forgotten America rested on the crack of a bat.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 41 more reviews...
 No Real Magic March 19, 2008
Halberstam was a brilliant man whose writing only occasionally reflected that brilliance. His sports books are weak; this is probably the strongest one, but that is not saying much.
 The Good Old Days January 21, 2008
When I read this book I felt like I was a kid again. I grew up in the sixties and was not a fan of either the Yankees or the Red Sox. But, I loved baseball, enjoyed reading about the players from the past and loved it when my dad and others told me stories about baseball from the "old days". David Halberstam tells us the story of the dramatic 1949 pennant race between the Yankees and the Red Sox. He tells us not only about Teddy Ballgame and Joltin' Joe but also about the other great ballplayers on those teams. I really enjoyed learning about the contributions that were made by Reynolds, Raschi, Henrich, Kinder, Parnell and Birdie Tebbetts. Halberstam seems to know everything about the 1949 race and it appears that he was able to interview many of the players involved in the race. Halberstam is of course a great story teller and he is incredibly good at weaving cultural issues from that era into the book. Some of the items that Halberstam reveals in the book were shocking to me. This is a story from a by-gone era and you'll be surprised at a number of the business decisions that were made by the Red Sox and the Yankees and the impact of those decisions. It took me months to read the book because every couple of pages I found myself reflecting on something Halberstam wrote. For me, this was not a book to rush through. It was a book to savor. If you are over 50 you might really enjoy this book. If you are a Yankee fan, you'll love this book. And finally, if you love baseball and love to read about the old days, you'll love this book.
The Title Game January 15, 2008
The late David Halberstam wrote erudite books on a wide variety of subjects. Thankfully, one of his interests was baseball. He has produced several scholarly recreations of some of the most fascinating pennant races in baseball history. In "The Summer of '49," the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees were engaged in an epic struggle for the American League title that literally went into extra innings. For Boston, it was the second consecutive season that the team tied for first place at season's end. The Cleveland Indians upset the Red Sox in 1948 and spoiled Boston's opportunity to host a city series (the Boston Braves had won the NL flag). Unlike the National League, which featured a three game playoff series format to break ties, the American League had a one game sudden death tiebreaker.
There plenty of information on the Boston/New York rivalry included in the book, but I was particularly interested in the developments that changing the game, not necessarily for the better. Television broadcasts were responsible for boosting fan interest in the baseball games and temporarily filling restaurants and taverns since few households owned their own television sets; within a few years, the same establishments were empty as people chose to remain at home watching television programs and the pace of the games was altered to permit more commercials to air. Announcers like Mel Allen became immediate local celebrities.
The 1949 season marked the arrival of Casey Stengel as the manager of the Yankees and witnessed Joe Dimaggio spending a significant amount of time on the disabled list. The Red Sox were managed by former Yankee skipper Joe McCarthy and seemed to rely upon two overworked pitchers, Mel Parnell and Ellis Kinder, almost exclusively. Both teams featured numerous All Stars, including Ted Williams, Tommy Heinrich, Phil Rizzutto and many more. Most importantly, the players in this era cared about winning.
 Error Notification August 23, 2007
I did notice two errors in the photo section. Main one was a picture of Tommy Henrich scoring after a home run off Don Newcombe. The caption below brings attention to Newcombe walking off the field after the hit. The error is the player walking off is not Newcombe, but 1B Gil Hodges. How do I know that? I knew all the Dodger numbers in those days and the player walking off is # 14 - Hodges. Newcombe was # 36 and not in the picture. The picture above this one transcribes two names, Hodges and Duke Snider I think. Minor stuff. Great book
Rattle Your Saber(metrics)? August 17, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Don't get a statistic wrong; don't you dare make a mistake. Okay, Bill James correctly points out some mistakes that Mr. Halberstam makes in this book. None of the mistakes are important to the story, nor do any of them detract from the book in any way. I can't hold that criticism against this book.
This is an excellent baseball book. David Halberstam masterfully brings to life a baseball season and pennant race that otherwise I could never enjoy. He makes you part of the history of the era in the US, as well as in the game of baseball. He introduces you to all the important players in the game and some of the other assorted characters around the game. It is a well written book, easy to read and enjoy by any baseball fan!
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