As the entire world struggled to put its affairs back in order in the aftermath global conflict, few events in the U.S. were so eagerly awaited as baseball's sring training. Drawing on interviews with many of the players who wrote the season's history, Turner offers readers the story of baseball's return after World War II. 45 photos & drawings.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
In 1946, with World War II finally over, major league baseball returned full force. In When the Boys Came Back, Frederick Turner follows the events of the season, beginning with spring training and ending with the World Series match-up that saw the St. Louis Cardinals top the Boston Red Sox in seven games after Enos Slaughter's famed "mad dash" from first to home. The book tells not only of the triumphant return from the armed forces to baseball by great players including Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio, but also of the less-than-successful attempts to play ball again by former stars like Cecil Travis, who returned from the war with an injury he couldn't overcome.
From Library Journal
The postwar baseball season began as Stan Musial, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Slaughter, and others returned from service?some with diminished skills. How would they do? The answer came in two hotly fought pennant races that ended as Slaughter dashed home from first base to give the Cardinals the World Series. The Major Leagues were perplexed by a siren call to players from the Mexican League and the threat of a players' union. But Jackie Robinson's breaking of the color barrier was the epochal event. Turner (A Border of Blue, LJ 1/93) offers a rousing tale, a fit companion to Robert W. Creamer's Baseball in '41 (LJ 2/15/91).?Morey Berger, St. Joseph's Hospital Medical Lib., Tucson, Ariz.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
a sweet-swinging thematic review of b'ball in '46,
This review is from: When the Boys Came Back: Baseball and 1946 (Hardcover)
Although Mr. Turner can become excessively involved in the day-to-day minutiae of the 1946 baseball season, he does a most credible and entertaining job of not only describing what the national pasttime was like a half-century ago, he fully develops three central themes essential to an understanding of the evolution of baseball since 1946. I found his treatment of African-Americans in the sport, the nascent development of a players' union, and the import of the Mexican League to be excellent. The greatest strength of his book, however, are the vignettes of players whose lives were changed, some positively, others cruelly by their war experiences. These men, especially those who did "not make it," were crafted with great poignancy. I love baseball and found myself compelled by this volume.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
