Customer Reviews

1947: When All Hell Broke Loose In Baseball (Da Capo Paperback)

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Red Barber somehow managed to turn one of the most interesting topics in baseball history - the pivitol 1947 season in which Jackie Robinson ended racial segregation in baseball - into a rather bland book. There are some good anecdotes, especially when Barber shares some inside stories about his experiences as a broadcaster. But when it comes to describing Robinson's experiences in 1947, Barber simply quotes lengthy passages from Robinson's autobiography, "I Never Had It Made." He does the same with Leo Durocher's "Nice Guys Finish Last." In fact, the best way to appreciate and understand the events of 1947 and the personalities involved, it would be better to read Robinson and Durocher's books and ignore Barber's.

The book is poorly written. Sentence fragments. Lots of them. For purposes of emphasis. Doesn't work. Sometimes Barber's rambling gets infuriating. At one point he mentions in passing a controversial decision the Commissioner of Baseball made regarding Cleveland pitcher Bob Feller. I knew nothing at all about this Bob Feller controversy, and my curiousity was piqued. Barber just kept rambling along, though, and Bob Feller was never mentioned again. There were many such instances where the text would have been improved by just a few sentences of background information. This book could really have been much better with a good editor.

If you have a strong interest in baseball history, particulary the history of the Brooklyn Dodgers or the New York Yankees, or in the teams' executives, Branch Rickey or Larry MacPhail, then this book is worth a read. You may learn one or two things that you didn't already know. When you start reading, though, keep your expectations low. You'll be less likely to be disappointed.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I think any baseball fan will. Having said that, the book has one slight problem that keeps it from being great. Red rambles occasionly, going off on tangents and later repeating himself, discussing the same event he wrote about several pages earlier. On the much larger up side; the book does more than just chronicle the 1947 baseball season. It is also an interesting biography of Branch Rickey, Larry MacPhail, and Jackie Robinson. Weaving their stories plus historical background of the Dodgers, Yankees, Cardinals and the authors own experiences as an early brodcaster far outweigh any problems in writing style. He also redeems himself in his decsription of the 1947 World Series; as dramatic a reading of baseball events as you could want. Overall---Very Good-just short of Great.

The late Red Barber captures both the glory and intrigue of the 1947 baseball season. He recounts in a breezy upbeat style the secret battle between Branch Rickey of the Dodgers and his protege Lee McPhail of the Yankees. He brings the notable characters of the season - Jackie Robinson, Barney Shotton, Joe DiMaggio etc. to life and ends the book with a wonderful retelling of the 1947 Dodger-Yankee World Series.

This book is much better than the average baseball book and well worth the money.

Former Brooklyn Dodgers announcer Red Barber (1908-1992) captures the feel of baseball with this tense account of the 1947 season. Focusing almost exclusively on the year's two pennant winners (Dodgers, Yankees), the author teaches quite a bit about those two talented and colorful New York franchises. The year 1947 saw Jackie Robinson break the color line (against some strident opposition), and large attendances in a prosperous year of post-war peace. Barber has a readable style and many memorable tales to tell. Readers learn about top players like Robinson, Pete Reiser, Joe DiMaggio, etc., managers like Burt Shotton, Leo Durocher and Bucky Harris, and executives like Branch Rickey and Larry McPhail. We also get a strong sense of baseball in that year before television, urban decline, franchise shifts, and expansion changed the game.

This book is far from flawless. Barber was no historian, he rambles at times, there is some imperfect grammar, and little mention of most other teams. Still, this popular ex-announcer has an easy style that makes for an interesting read.

Red Barber has lot of anecdotes on baseball. A lot. Barber sat on the front row when Jackie Robinson was put forward to be the first black man in baseball by Branch Rickey, he was the Dodgers' broadcaster at the time. He knows a lot. Het lets us know he knows a lot. But Red Barber is not a writer. And no historian, for that matter. It just seems that this book is a transcript of Barber speaking into a recording device. Stories pop up twice, there is no clear line of events and thus, despite Robinson being the greatest, however long overdue thing that happened to baseball, no buildup to this great occasion. Jackie Robinson is just a sideline in this book, that even has Robinson on the cover. A wasted opportunity, I think.