Baseball's Pivotal Era, 1945-1951 [Hardcover]

William Marshall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 25, 1999

"With personal interviews of players and owners and with over two decades of research in newspapers and archives, Bill Marshall tells of the players, the pennant races, and the officials who shaped one of the most memorable eras in sports and American history. At the end of World War II, soldiers returning from overseas hungered to resume their love affair with baseball. Spectators still identified with players, whose salaries and off-season employment as postmen, plumbers, farmers, and insurance salesmen resembled their own. It was a time when kids played baseball on sandlots and in pastures, fans followed the game on the radio, and tickets were affordable. The outstanding play of Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Ted Williams, Bob Feller, Don Newcombe, Warren Spahn, and many others dominated the field. But perhaps no performance was more important than that of Jackie Robinson, whose entrance into the game broke the color barrier, won him the respect of millions of Americans, and helped set the stage for the civil rights movement. Baseball's Pivotal Era also records the attempt to organize the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Mexican League's success in luring players south of the border that led to a series of lawsuits that almost undermined baseball's reserve clause and antitrust exemption. The result was spring training pay, uniform contracts, minimum salary levels, player representation, and a pension plan--the very issues that would divide players and owners almost fifty years later. During these years, the game was led by A.B. ""Happy"" Chandler, a hand-shaking, speech-making, singing Kentucky politician. Most owners thought he would be easily manipulated, unlike baseball's first commissioner, the autocratic Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis. Instead, Chandler's style led one owner to complain that he was the ""player's commissioner, the fan's commissioner, the press and radio commissioner, everybody's commissioner but the men who pay him.""

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this captivating narrative of baseball's evolution from small-town sport to big business, Marshall touches all the bases. In 1944, baseball saw the death of Commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who had rescued baseball from the ignominy of the Black Sox scandal and ruled the game with an iron fist for 24 years. Landis was followed by a former U.S. senator from Kentucky, Albert C. "Happy" Chandler, whose term would be packed with controversy. First there was the question of the Mexican League, which lured players away from the major leagues with inflated, tax-free wages. Next came the organization of players into a union and the establishment of a players' pension system. Chandler then suspended Brooklyn Dodger manager Leo Durocher for his unsavory gambling connections. Finally and most importantly, Jackie Robinson shattered baseball's version of apartheid. When some of Robinson's teammates signed a petition stating their refusal to play with him, Marshall writes, the soon to be suspended Durocher responded with some immortal words that did not go down in American history: he said "they could wipe their ass with the petition." Marshall also looks at the various pennant races, teams and famous moments: the 1945 Chicago Cubs; the Philadelphia Phillies' "Whiz Kids" of 1950; Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World," which won the pennant for the 1951 New York Giants. Personality plays a prominent part in the book, including profiles of Cleveland owner Bill Veeck; "The Great Triumvirate" of DiMaggio, Musial and Williams; and Yankee manager Casey Stengel. Photos.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Marshall delivers a thoughtful and detailed picture of the crucial postwar years when baseball rallied to win. Pro baseball was largely bush league in the slumping years of WWII, and it emerged facing a lineup of new adversaries like labor unrest, competing leagues, and a nascent desegregation movement. One of the wars noncombat fatalities was Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis (brought in after the Black Sox gambling scandal), leaving the new baseball commissioner, Senator A.B. ``Happy'' Chandler, with the task of defending baseballs antitrust exemption. Too much of the book, like too much sports news, involves contractual and salary disputes and other such economic intrigues, while Marshall is at his best analyzing the people and strategies of the game. For example, when flamboyant Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck wanted to fire his manager Lou Boudreau, who often settled for one run at a time in situations where other managers would play for the big inning, he relented after a firestorm of fan anger. (In the good old days, fans mattered.) Marshall also has a good eye for significant quotes, like Branch Rickeys, There is not a single Negro player in this country who could qualify for the American or National League. Jackie Robinsons entrance is rightly seen as one of the most pivotal in this era, enlivened by the likes of Campanella, Berra, and DiMaggio. The pivotal hit in this period was the dramatic home run by Bobby Thompson to put the Giants in the World Series in 1951the year that saw the advent of a couple of kids named Mantle and Mays. Marshall, who is director of Special Collections and Archives at the University of Kentucky Libraries, concludes with the gloomy prospect that, with its aging fan base, baseball will never catch up to the popularity of football or basketball. Nonetheless, the Baby Boomers should keep baseball the sports readers national pastime with brave and broad books like this. (83 b&w photos) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 528 pages
• Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky; 1st ed edition (February 25, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813120411
• ISBN-13: 978-0813120416
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #641,016 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars William Marshall's "Baseball's Pivotal Era", January 3, 2000

By 

Michael H. Ebner (Lake Forest, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Baseball's Pivotal Era, 1945-1951 (Hardcover)

This book examines baseball during the term of A. B. (Happy) Chandler as commissioner. It is based on extensive oral history interviews, thorough archival research, and the author's keen sensibilities about baseball. I relished reading the book because it filled a significant gap in my knowledge of the game. Marshall is especially strong on the role of free agency and how this manifested itself in the Mexican league of the post-war era. His general knowledge of players, managers, and management is impressive. Finally, this book is well written, without academic jargon. "Baseball's Pivotal Era" merits reading by fans and scholars alike.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book about a great period in baseball., October 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Baseball's Pivotal Era, 1945-1951 (Hardcover)

I highly recommend, "Baseball's Pivotal Era, 1945-1951" for anyone interested in this exciting era.

I grew up in a baseball town with a class B Dodger farm club, during the Happy Chandler reign as Commissioner of Baseball. Since I was only 7 then, I didn't know much about all of the politics involved. This book really enlightened me about many historical facts of the game including integration and the Mexican League raids. As a kid I was unaware of so much going on behind the scenes.

I am retired now and have plenty of time to devote to reading about this passion of my youth, baseball, and of the many books I have read on the subject, this is one of the best.

As with any book that has lots of statistics, there are bound to be a few errors. Because of a sincere love of baseball, and a head stuffed with old baseball facts and stats, I have uncovered what I believe to be, several typos and/or discrepancies that I would happy to pass on, in case there is going to be an errata. Example: page 87, table 5, shows Brooklyn as NL Champion for 1946; actually the Cardinals were the champs that year. Probably nobody really cares, except the 1946 Cardinals, and me.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book on a Memorable Era, April 24, 2000

By 

C. W. Emblom "Bill Emblom" (Ishpeming, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Baseball's Pivotal Era, 1945-1951 (Hardcover)

I especially enjoyed this book because it fills the time period from my age of two to eight years of age. I became a fan with the end of the "pivotal era". The author notes correctly that progress made during this era stagnated with the arrival of Ford "It's a League Matter" Frick as commissioner after Happy Chandler didn't live up to letting the owners do as they please. Significant details such as the Mexican League, the crucial year of 1947 with the arrival of Jackie Robinson, the Indians' championship of 1948, the 1950 Philly Whiz Kids, and the details leading up to Thomson's homer in 1951 all make this a significant book both for the knowledgable fan and the newcomer interested in baseball history. I did find a few minor errors such as on page 271, the author refers to Bill Bevans of near no-hitter fame in the 1947 World Series as Hal Bevans. Also, former Tigers manager, Red Rolfe, is said to have been replaced as manager in 1951 by Charley Gehringer. Rolfe was replaced during the 1952 season by former Tigers' pitcher Fred Hutchinson. Finally, Jackie Robinson died at the age of 53, not 56 as the author states on page 437. I can certainly put up with these errors. There is a lot to cover in the game's history during these years, and the author did a great job of covering the time period when I was too young to appreciate what was going on in the game of baseball. It's too bad the time period following this era was presided over by a do-nothing commissioner when the game was crying for leadership. However, the owners got exactly what they wanted in Ford Frick.