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1951: When Giants Played the Game

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THIS IS ABOUT BASEBALL IN 1951. AN EXCITING AND INTERESTING SEASON WHICH THIS BOOKS COVERS IN DETAIL. THE COMING OF WILLIE AND MICKEY, THE GOING OF JOE D, THE PENNANT RACES, AND OTHER GOINGS ON IS COVERED EXPERTLY BY AUTHOR KERRY KEANE. THIS A A REAL NICE SLICE OF BASBALL HISTORY. I RECOMMEND THIS FOR ALL BASEBALL FANS. JUST WISH IT WAS LONGER.

Baseball had a fabulous decade in the 1950's and the year 1951 provided a number of historic moments culminating in Bobby Thomson's dramatic "shot heard 'round the world." DiMaggio's last season and Mantle's first. Connie Mack no longer managing the Athletics, Albert "Happy" Chandler ousted as Commissioner and replaced by Ford "It's a league matter" Frick, Bill Veeck sending in midget pinch hitter Eddie Gaedel in St. Louis, Willie Mays arrives in the Polo Grounds under the guidance of "Lippy" Leo Durocher, the N.L. is 75 years old and the A.L. is 50, and an obscure rookie named Bob Nieman homers in his first two times at bat in the major leagues. It was a time of Yogi, Stan the Man, the Splendid Splinter, the Cuban Comet, Willie, Mickey, and the Duke, the Boys of Summer, and Topps and Bowman baseball cards. How lucky I was to be a kid growing up at a time when every boy was a baseball fan, and if he wasn't, he wasn't a boy. Author Kerry Keene has done an admirable job in reliving the year 1951 when baseball reigned undisputably as America's national game. Whether you are old enough to remember the year or if you want to learn the way it was, this book will bring you back to a time when baseball was king in America. It was a great time to be alive. I only wish the book was available in hardcover.