Baseball at War: World War II and the Fall of the Color Line (American Game Series) [Library Binding]

Thomas W. Gilbert (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1997 | Age Level: 11 and up | Series: American Game Series

Discusses some of the highlights in the game of professional baseball during the 1940s, including Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak, the series between the Yankees and the Dodgers, the effects of World War II on the game, and career of Jackie Robinson.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6 Up. Gilbert describes, in a very readable style, the rise and fall of teams' fortunes, great pennant races, and the major characters involved along with the controversies they endured. During the war years, retired team members and teenagers supplemented major-league rosters made up of men unfit for military service. After the war, the author explains, players began questioning baseball's reserve clause, and the rival Mexican League's signing of major leaguers helped start the labor strife that still troubles the game. A chapter is devoted to the postwar attitudes toward discrimination and the fall of baseball's color line. The analysis of Branch Rickey's signing of Jackie Robinson is remarkably balanced and questions whether Rickey fought for integration in order to right a wrong or simply to provide the Brooklyn Dodgers with the best possible supply of quality players. In all, Gilbert excels at telling the game's story without dwelling on lengthy play-by-play passages, statistics, and won-lost records. Instead, he focuses on broader themes and important events, such as Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak, Ted Williams's .400 season, and the debate over which player was more valuable. Black-and-white archival photos are sprinkled throughout. While several recent titles, including Gilbert's own Baseball and the Color Line (Watts, 1995), focus on integration of the sport, none offers this much detail about baseball during the 1940s.?Jeffrey A. French, Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 7^-10. Rather than sticking strictly to baseball during World War II, Gilbert covers a variety of topics related to the war years. Opening with a chapter on Joe DiMaggio's winning streak of 1941, he includes sections on shortages of materials and manpower, a chapter on the "subway series" between the Yankees and the Dodgers, and two chapters about Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson's breaking through the boundaries of racial segregation. Gilbert writes in the style of the sports journalist, with language that is occasionally rough, and his analysis mixes freely with the facts for a lively, if opinionated, take on the subject. Readers looking for a pure baseball history or for information on the women's league (which merits only one paragraph) will need to look elsewhere, but baseball fans will enjoy this look back through some of the sport's glory years. Susan Dove Lempke

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 11 and up
  
• Library Binding: 144 pages
• Publisher: Franklin Watts (April 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531113302
• ISBN-13: 978-0531113301
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,193,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good book for kids about the old times in baseball, May 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Baseball at War: World War II and the Fall of the Color Line (American Game Series) (Library Binding)

I really liked this book about the old times in baseball. It had all the details but it was a good story too. I used it for a book report and I said Thomas Gilbert writes like a hulking yet nimble-footed whiffle ball player because we were doing similies and metaphors too and it moved fast but gave all the information about the old black players. It was interesting to learn about Jacky Robinson and all them.