Strength Down the Middle - The Story of the 1959 Chicago White Sox [Hardcover]

Larry Kalas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 1999

The book details the game-by-game story of the Chicago White Sox thrilling run to the American League flag in 1959. The story captures insights and recollections of the men who played the games in 1959. The story is told through the eyes of the author as he grew up in the Mount Greenwood neighborhood on Chicago's south side in the 1950s. World events as well as the activities of a boy who loved baseball are woven into the fabric of the book. The bonding process that came together with grandfather, father and son with baseball as the catalyst was almost a universal experience for children growing up in that era and is delightfully depicted in this 250 page, photo packed baseball story.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Larry Kalas was born and raised in the south side Chicago neighborhood of Mount Greenwood. He graduated from Morgan Park High School in 1967 and received a BBA (1971) and a MPA (1972) from Texas Christian University. Following a four-year tour of duty as an officer in the U S Air Force, Kalas has been involved in the oil & gas and real estate business his entire professional carreer. He served as CEO of Arch Petroleum Inc. a public oil & gas production company until Arch's merger with POGO Producing Company (NYSE: PPP)in August of 1998. Kalas currently is living in Fort Worth, Texas with his wife Debbie and daughters Meredith and Kendall.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: Mereken Land and Production Company; Limited edition (November 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967510902
• ISBN-13: 978-0967510903
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,731,211 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars He told my story! A trip down memory lane., May 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Strength Down the Middle - The Story of the 1959 Chicago White Sox (Hardcover)

I grew up in South Texas in the 50's and 60's and related to the author's personal reflections throughout the entire book. I recall the White Sox and their pennant run while admitting to being a die hard Yankee fan not unlike most boys of those times without our own team to cheer for. I played many a sandlot game with my neighborhood buddies using the same broken and mended bats and decaying baseballs. I could recall my mother calling me in for dinner from our street playing fields as I read Larry's fond memories of the mongrel dog and his brother's game-winning home run. The baseball trading episodes left me wondering where my own boyhood treasures rest today. What a respite from my day ending pressures that I bring home from the office today. The day to day account of games also brought back memories of my early introduction to major league baseball by Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reece. I envy the author's fond recollection of sleep time radio broadcasts of his heros exploits; my experiences were relegated to Saturday afternoon television. The author nonrtheless took me back with him to where I thought I was in the room with him on those joyful radio celebrations. This book is a wonderful recall to days of joy and fun for boys and girls lucky to grow up in good family neighborhoods with caring parents and many friends. Thank you Mr. Kalas; I will read the book again soon to take me back again to a time lost for a middle-aged man with deep rooted baseball dreams.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Sorry, But I Was Disappointed, September 21, 2002

By 

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

This review is from: Strength Down the Middle - The Story of the 1959 Chicago White Sox (Hardcover)

Author Kalas has provided the reader with pretty much a game by game summary of the 1959 Chicago White Sox season. I went through the book in two sittings. The book contains too much game summaries with no real in depth information. Occasionally, he provides some nostalgic information from that period of time. I was in high school when the Pale Hose won their first flag in forty years so I am well aware of this time period and the players that were on each team's roster. The author concludes the book with a biographical summary of each player and mentions if they are now deceased. I guess I expected more. If you want to read a book on the 1959 White Sox I would suggest "'59: Summer of the Sox."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good glimpse of a very special year for the Sox., June 28, 2004

By 

David C. Roller (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Strength Down the Middle - The Story of the 1959 Chicago White Sox (Hardcover)

Summer 2004 Reading List - Mini Review

I really enjoyed this book for many of the same reasons other reviewers were disappointed with it. I really like Larry Kalas's perspective on the 1959 series. Not having been born soon enough to experience the the ecstasy of a city in celebration of an AL Pennant, I feel like I lived that experience vicariously through this fine narrative.

An enjoyable feature of Strength Down the Middle is the way the story segued from the exploits on the field to the showmanship of Bill Veeck to the childhood of the author to the major headlines of the season in the world of sports and beyond. Reading it in many ways, evokes the feelings of opening a time capsule 45 years after the 1959 season unfolded.

I do not feel that this book is particularly well titled. This volume is a very personal history and should wear a title that communicates the nature of the narrative. I believe the tweaking of the subtitle could achieve this. Remembrances of the 1959 Chicago White Sox would have better suited the material contained within.