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 enlarge | Author: David Halberstam
Publisher: Hyperion
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
Buy New: $5.85
You Save: $7.10 (55%)
New (8) Used (12) from $4.64
Avg. Customer Rating:  79 reviews
Sales Rank: 352368
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 217
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.1 x 0.7
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.3570922
ASIN: B000RG1E2K
Publication Date: May 5, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Nicely done by Mr. Halberstam May 27, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is an intimate story of friendship between four ballplayers who were the stars of their team. It is a wonderful journey of friendship that passes through nearly 60 years. This provides some great insight especially for those of us who watch baseball now and can forget that these people are human beings with interesting lives and not just big money iconoclasts.
 Well Done Book About Baseball and Friendship May 15, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
"The Teammates" begins and ends with a trip taken in October 2001 by former Red Sox players Dominic DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky (along with local television personality Dick Flavin) to visit a dying Ted Williams. The three, along with Bobby Doerr who could not make the trip, were not only teammates but also friends for years. "The Teammates" is the story of the friendship between four entirely different men.
"The Teammates" is a wonderful and thoroughly engrossing book about baseball and friendship. Baseball was different back then and with the exception of Pesky, the only team the four played for was the Red Sox which helped cement their friendship. David Halberstam does a terrific job of catching the personality of each player. While it would have been easy to focus just on Ted Williams, he focuses equally on each player and readers get to know all four as individuals by the end of the book. Johnny "needle nose" Pesky, who still works for the Red Sox, became a Red Sox player because his family liked the Red Sox representative; old-fashioned and all American boy Bobby Doerr, was the closest to Williams; Dom DiMaggio, playing in the shadow of his brothers, struggled to make it to the big leagues; and of course Ted Williams, immensely talented and as hard on himself as he was on the people in his life. "The Teammates" is filled with anecdotes about the players including two memorable encounters between Williams and Pedro Ramos, a young pitcher for Washington and a fishing trip that Williams and Doerr took in the early 1960's that tested Doerr's patience and friendship. Williams was a complex, not always likable, person and Halberstam does a remarkable job of creating an even-handed profile of him. Some of the interesting information in the book includes how Tom Yawkey almost blew the deal that landed Ted Williams; how much pitching has changed these days (back then teams had more than one pitcher who won 20 - 25 games a year); and how Williams was called to serve in both World War II and Korea and how the dynamics of the Red Sox had changed by the time Williams got back from Korea. Halbertstam also touches on the Red Sox "curse" notably in the 1946 World Series in which DiMaggio got hurt and Pesky was considered the goat for years, which he quietly accepted. The book ends, as it began, with the surviving teammates as they are today.
"The Teammates" is a well done book about friendship.
They Killed My Father, Now They're Coming After Me May 10, 2007
12 out of 18 found this review helpful
"Marty Nolan, the former editorial page editor of the 'Boston Globe', once famously described the pain that came with being a Red Sox fan, "They killed my father, now they're coming after me". Johnny Pesky
Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio, and Johnny Pesky were all members of the famed 1940's Boston Red Sox. Their careers led the Red Sox to a pennant championship and ensured the men a place in sports history.
David Halberstam, had followed the members of the 1949 championship Boston Red Sox team for years, especially Williams, Doerr, DiMaggio, and Pesky. He met up with the fellas and learned about their friendship and their trip. He knew he wanted to write about it. David Halberstam gives us an inside look at how these four teammates became friends, and how that friendship thrived for more than 60 years.
The book opens with Johnny Pesky, Dom DiMaggio and , Dick Flavin a friend, on a 1300-mile car trip travelling to see the ailing Ted Williams in Florida. It's the last time they will see him. The journey is filled with nostalgia and memories, but seeing Ted is a shock. The most physically dominating of the four friends, Ted now weighs only 130 pounds and is hunched over in a wheelchair. Dom, without even thinking about it, starts to sing opera and old songs like "Me and My Shadow" to his friend.They had a short memorable time with Ted,and it was worth it. Every morning until the day Ted Williams died, Dom would call him with an update of the Sox.
"This book is filled with stories of their wonderful days with the Boston Red Sox, memories of plays and players, and the reaction of the remaining three to Ted Williams' death. The Teammates offers us a glimpse into the lives of these Red Sox men. and great insight into the nature of loyalty and friendship. The book tries not to dwell on the imposing power, problems, and slugging achievements of Ted Williams or reveal new sensational material or revelations. Halberstam focuses on the teammates' shared attributes: their desire to compete and succeed in baseball, their willingness to learn how to use physical/mental talents, how to provide for post-depression families yet display genuine appreciation and gratitude for each other's contributions and careers." David Johnson
For any Red Sox fan, baseball fan and David Halberstam fan this book is a must. A book of love of fellow man and baseball. It is a rare book that fills the reader with hope for the future of baseball.
Highly Recommended. prisrob 5-09-07
Great book on the power of long term friendship April 24, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
A great book on the power of lifetime friendships. While the focus of the book was Williams, it was great learn more about Dom Dimaggio, who lived in the shadow of his brother and Williams.
A 50-Year Friendship April 12, 2007
3 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is the story of four Red Sox teammates whose friendship lasted over 50 years. You'll also gain great insight into the four players' lives.
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