Summer of '49 by David Halberstam Narrator: Jamie Renell
Published by Tantor Audio on October 25, 2022 (first published January 1, 1989)
Source: Audible Plus
Genres: Sports, History
Length: 10 hrs 44 mins
Pages: 354
Format: Audiobook
Purchase at Bookshop.org or Audible
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With incredible skill, passion, and insight, Pulitzer Prize–winningauthor David Halberstam returns us to a glorious time when the dreams of a now almost forgotten America rested on the crack of a bat.
The year was 1949, and a war-weary nation turned from the battlefields to the ball fields in search of new heroes. It was a summer that marked the beginning of a sports rivalry unequaled in the annals of athletic competition. The awesome New York Yankees and the indomitable Boston Red Sox were fighting for supremacy of baseball's American League, and an aging Joe DiMaggio and a brash, headstrong hitting phenomenon named Ted Williams led their respective teams in a classic pennant duel of almost mythic proportions—one that would be decided in an explosive head-to-head confrontation on the last day of the season.
I love going to baseball games. I’m a Pirates fan, though, which means I can sit back and have fun but don’t really expect too much. Not like the people watching the Red Sox and Yankees in 1949. Summer of ‘49 is in theory about the 1949 pennant race between the Yankees and the Red Sox. We know the Yankees ended up beating the Red Sox and going on to bee the Dodgers in the World Series, but really the book is about the people – the players, managers, press. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of numbers – hits, games back, percentages, salaries, it’s what baseball boils down to after all, but the fun part is hearing about the people – who they are, where they came from. We get stories of how they interact with each other and how they view the game. Some are people I’ve heard of, but most weren’t.
This is definitely a nostalgic book, looking back at when baseball truly was America’s sport. Halberstam touches on how difficult it was for the first black players and the struggles between players and management, but doesn’t dwell on them. We’re looking at legends here. I also learned that even 70 years ago people were complaining about the umpires.
Quite honestly, I won’t remember much about the stories here in 6 months, aside from bits about Ted Williams, DiMaggio, and Berra, but it was a fun read. And now I need to pick up some baseball tickets. I bet I can get some cheap ones – the Pirates are 23 and 40.
About David Halberstam
David Halberstam (April 10, 1934 – April 23, 2007) was an American writer, journalist, and historian, known for his work on the Vietnam War, politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, Korean War, and later, sports journalism. He won a Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1964.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Come to Boston – I’ll bring you to see the Red Sox! I have tickets for next Friday when the Yankees make their first visit of the year and my teenage nephew hasn’t bothered to RSVP. You can have his ticket . . .
I have always meant to read something by David Halberstam, who was quite the local author/hero, and this sounds delightful.