Black and Blue: The Golden Arm, the Robinson Boys, and the 1966 World Series That Stunned America [Hardcover]

Tom Adelman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 3, 2006

An unforgettable account of the epic Baseball World Series between the celebrated Los Angeles Dodgers and the perennial underdog Baltimore Orioles. Nobody expected the Orioles to have a chance; after all by 1966, the Dodgers had replaced the Yankees as the dominant team in baseball, winning two of the previous three World Series. Few outside of Baltimore gave the Orioles more than a fighting chance to win. What transpired over four games astonished and mesmerised a nation in turmoil. Baltimore's young pitchers shredded the veteran Dodgers lineup, setting Major League records along the way. Nobody had ever seen dominant pitching like this before: in the entire Series the Dodgers scored only two runs and collected a mere 17 hits. Their team batting average was a lowly 0.142 and - incredibly - for the last 33 innings of the Series they were held completely scoreless.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Superior space adventure' LOCUS 'Ingenious enough to call to mind Iain M. Banks' SFX 'To master [space opera] and still bring to life characters with recognizable emotions and aspirations is a challenge few writers care to take on. Westerfeld succeeds admirably. NEW YORK TIMES "...this is SF as it should be: savvy, space-smart and fascinating, filled with dazzling concepts and a genuine sense of wonder." THE AUSTRALIAN "Scott Westerfeld sets a stage half the size of the universe, yet tells a very intimate and personal tale. His scope ranges from the politics of a galactic empire to the essence of what it means to be human. One of the best space operas I have read in a long time." Kevin J. Anderson, Sunday Times bestselling author of "The Saga of Seven Suns"

About the Author

Tom Adelman has written several novels and works of musical criticism as well as his previous book on baseball, THE LONG BALL. He and his family live in Princeton, New Jersey.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (April 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316069019
• ISBN-13: 978-0316069014
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #453,724 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ignore the thin-skinned critics from Baltimore. I'm from there and this book is great., June 3, 2006

By 

russdog (Gulf Shores, AL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black and Blue: The Golden Arm, the Robinson Boys, and the 1966 World Series That Stunned America (Hardcover)

I just finished it. And I think it is great. I grew up in Baltimore, and I was not-quite 14 when the '66 Series was played. It was (and is) the biggest sports-moment of my life. This book did a wonderful job of bringing it back to life.

If you weren't there, it's hard to appreciate how much of an upset the Orioles' sweep was. The Birds had never won squat before, and this was at the very height of all-time Dodger success. This was LA's 3rd WS in 4 years. They had won both of their appearances in the previous 3 WS, including a 4-game sweep of the Yankees. They had Koufax and Drysdale. Koufax had just had a stretch of 4 seasons that was the best 4-year-stretch that any pitcher ever had, before or since. In addition, the achievements of the Dodgers felt even bigger, simply because we never got to see them. Very few games were on TV, and there was no inter-league play. So the Dodgers were not just huge, they were huge of mythic proportions at the time. Before the Series, I hoped the Birds would not embarrass themselves. I hoped they could go 7 before they lost. I'm not a wimpy fan, but that's how it was. This is somewhat like the O's-Mets in '69, but in reverse. But the '66 O's weren't a fluke, they were the start of one dynasty... and the end of the Dodger dynasty. Neither Koufax nor Drysdale ever made the post-season again.

The best inning in Oriole history was the first inning of the first game in LA. F-Robby hit a 2-run dinger that barely cleared the fence. Then Brooks followed with a solo shot that their LF'er just watched as it disappeared over his head into the seats. Just like that, everything changed. Everything changed for the Series. Everything changed for the Orioles. And a whole lot changed for Baltimore. If you care about noteworthy World Series, read this book.

I think some Maryland folks have been far too thin-skinned about the author. Yes, he screwed up by referring to Baltimore as Maryland's capital. While that's just dumb, it was even dumber that he didn't have anyone from Baltimore proof-read the thing. He also made another more-subtle and obscure error. When talking about Spiro Agnew, he referred to him twice as "a Baltimore County executive". (In fact, Agnew was "the Baltimore County Executive", which was his job title. That error is more understandable. Baltimore is unusual in that the City is not part of the County). But so what? The author erred, but he not about anything regarding either baseball or the City. A few readers evidently are angry at the author for his comments about race-relations in Baltimore at the time. What he said was true. He didn't say anything incorrect on that score. Just ask Frank Robinson about it. He'll tell you about not being allowed to live anywhere except in "certain neighborhoods". There's no point in getting self-righteous or angry about it. It's just a part of how racial matters were in Baltimore area then, just as in many other places.

Some reviewers also have made a big deal about the author's treatment of Vin Scully vs. Chuck Thompson. I loved listening to Chuck Thompson, and I understand those who want to see him receive due credit. But Vin Scully *is* great. He does something remarkable by calling the game by himself. He does a wonderful job of talking to the audience. Even now, sometimes at night, I'll listen to a Dodger game despite the fact that I don't care about the Dodgers at all. I do it just to listen to Vin Scully. The guy is a treasure. To those who resent his treatment in the book, I suggest that you listen to him sometime with an open mind. The author didn't say anything critical of Chuck Thompson. The worst you can say is that he didn't emphasize what a great announcer Chuck was too.

The only aspect of the book I didn't enjoy was the tone of the quotes from Wally Bunker. The author gave the impression that Bunker was unhappy with the City and thought the O's were lucky to win. I don't know what Wally Bunker thought. I know it was fun watching him try to get 20 W's in his flash-in-the-pan '64 rookie year. I don't know if had a critical attitude towards the City and the team. I don't care much, because Bunker doesn't matter much in the story of the '66 season except for Game 3, when he pitched the best game of his life despite a sore arm. Another oddity is that the author referred to Frank Robinson as "Robby". Perhaps that's what his teammates called him in the clubhouse, I have no way to know. But among fans, you couldn't refer to "Robby" because we had two of them. It was common to refer to "F-Robby" or "B-Robby".

But these are small things. If you care about the Orioles or about important World Seres, and you want the '66 Series to become real to you, I suggest you ignore the people who make an issue about which city is the capital of Maryland. Instead, go ahead and read this book. Despite its minor flaws, it is very good indeed.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A dramatic book about a dramatic Series, April 13, 2006

By 

H. E. Haque "an avid reader" (Yardley, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black and Blue: The Golden Arm, the Robinson Boys, and the 1966 World Series That Stunned America (Hardcover)

This is a great baseball book about two very different teams and how they beat the odds to win their respective leagues. It celebrates the national pastime, the bullpen characters, the managerial strategies, and especially two stellar athletes - Frank Robinson and Sandy Koufax - who had the best years of their careers before facing off in the post-season. Perhaps more importantly, this is also a work of social history, placing baseball in a cultural context, looking in depth at America's tumultuous environment during the mid-sixties.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars social history and '66 baseball great writing, August 7, 2006

By 

jon (carlisle, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black and Blue: The Golden Arm, the Robinson Boys, and the 1966 World Series That Stunned America (Hardcover)

Very well structured tale of the '66 Dodgers and O's capturing the flavor of the times by weaving social history throughout seasons. Excellent inside story complete with plenty of footnotes references. This author is a complete historian.

Very pleased with the book. Could have used statistics in the index completing the teams seasons and series boxscores.