Rating: 
Summary: A Great Story From A Treasured Past
Review: Based on past efforts from David Halberstam regarding baseball books (Summer of '49 and October '64) I knew I was in for a treat with his latest effort regarding the lives of past Hub Hose Heroes Doerr, DiMaggio, Pesky, and Williams. Halberstam provides the reader with both the past and present lives of this foursome and shows us that the years haven't been entirely kind to these teammates and baseball icons. I found the author's explanation regarding Enos Slaughter's so-called "mad dash" to home in the 1946 World Series to be especially interesting. DiMaggio had to leave the game due to a leg injury and was replaced by Leon Culberson. From the dugout DiMaggio had signaled Culberson to move towards left center prior to the pitch, as Culberson took a few grudging steps towards left center. With Slaughter on first and Harry Walker batting, Slaughter took off with the pitch as Harry "The Hat" lined the ball to left center. Due to the terrible field conditions Culberson played the ball tentatively and then gave a lob throw towards shortstop John Pesky as Slaughter continued his epic flight around the bases. Pesky has often been blamed for holding the ball as Slaughter rounded third, but DiMaggio disputed this. Slaughter, himself, said he never would have tried to score if DiMaggio was in center field. Pesky never tried to point any fingers at any other teammates upon the advice he received from veteran pitcher Bill Posedel in his minor league years.
The author does a wonderful job in bringing out the various personalities of the four men through anecdotes from their past and present lives. If you are of this era yourself you will find this book a must to own whether you're a Red Sox fan or not. I don't remember Dominic DiMaggio and Bobby Doerr from their playing days, although I certainly am aware of them. My memories of John Pesky are as a Tiger and Williams, of course, continued playing through 1960. If you are interested in baseball history this book will be a most enjoyable read for you.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful book...
Review: Beautifully written, poignant and full of classic baseball moments and memories, this is a perfect book for everyone, baseball fans and non-fans alike. Halberstam is a great writer and does justice to his subjects. Highly recomended
Rating:
Summary: Friends first, teammates second
Review: Ted Williams, Dom Dimaggio, John Pesky, and Bobby Doerr. Four men born 19 months apart who spent most of their entire baseball careers together. Four friends who have been together and helped each other since their minor league days. "The Teammates" recounts the history of these four men and the trip that Dimaggio and Pesky took in late 2002 to go see Ted Williams in Florida, shortly before he died. Highly Recommended!
Rating:
Summary: A Small, Polished Gem Of A Book
Review: Few marathoners are equally adept at the 100-yard dash. But happily, David Halberstam has proven himself to be the literary world's exception to this rule. He may have built his reputation with such weighty works as "The Best and the Brightest" and "The Powers That Be," but he's proven himself equally adept at the kind of narrative, while smaller in scope, that can be equally illuminating of the human condition. At the heart of this book is the story of the six decades of freindship between four teammates on the Boston Red Sox--Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Dominic DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky. The narrative is framed around a journey by car DiMaggio and Pesky take from New England to Florida in the fall of 2001 for what they know will be their final visit with the dying Williams. (Doerr was unable to join them because of his wife's illness.) This trip provides the framework for Halberstam to introduce us to these four extraordinary men and the bonds that have linked them together.
I've read, and enjoyed, all of Mr. Halberstam's sports books. "Teammates," to me, though, is more closely akin to his most recent work, "Firehouse." In each case, he's telling the stories of men bound together for a common purpose and the relationships that are nurtured and cultivated in such settings. "Teammates" is a beautifly told story of the journeys of these four Red Sox heroes...from the dawn of their lives to the sunsets. Not to be missed!--William C. Hall
Rating:
Summary: Baseball and the BoSox
Review: My earliest memory of baseball dates back to 1941 when Ted Williams hit .406, the Great DiMag hit in 56 straight games, and Mickey Owen dropped a third strike. I was seven that year and although Babe Ruth was gone, I was soon to learn of the Curse of the Bambino, the paralyzing penance Boston fans would endure to this day for having traded the Babe to the hated Yankees after the 1919 season. For many years, the Red Sox proudly displayed in right field the numbers of four of their players who had made it to the Hall of Fame; Williams, (9) Joe Cronin, (4) Bobby Doerr (1) and Carl Yastrzemski (8) , in that order. Read as a date, 9-4-1-8 represented the eve of the start of the last World Series the Boston Red Sox won. Somebody in Boston management was made aware of the cruel irony of the placements of those numbers and the order has since been changed. Every time the Red Sox would get close to winning a pennant or a World Series or a play-off since that fateful year of 1918, they would courageously struggle but always come up short at the final out. The heroes of those efforts in the 1940's are still household names to fans who may root for another team but secretly harbor the hope that someday the Red Sox will win it all. Names like Bobby Doerr, Johnny Pesky, and Dominic DiMaggio. Anecdotes from these men fill the pages of this wonderful book as they prepare to see their good friend Ted Williams approaching the end of his life. The manner in which author David Halberstam allows us to experience the feelings these old men have for Williams and each other is sweet and tender. The words they express, wanting to tell Ted what they feel about him and what he meant to them and to our country, will make the most hardened amongst you reach for something to dab your eyes. Believe me, you are in the car traveling the 1,300 miles it took DiMaggio and Pesky (Doerr could not make the trip) to go from the scene of all their glories and disappointments in Boston to Ted's bedside in Florida. If you liked the ride Laura Hillenbrand took us on aboard Seabiscuit, you'll love the journey Halberstam has fashioned of these old men, still great friends after sixty years, saying goodbye to a man they loved very, very much.
Rating:
Summary: Moving account of undying friendships
Review: As a baseball fan, this book attracted me. But this book is so much more than a baseball book. It's a story about friends, strong relationships that endure through thick and thin, good times and bad. Filled with old stories and rememberances of decades past, of ball games long forgotten by the genereal public, David Halberstam sets himself apart as the master writer that he is. This short book will be treasured in my library for years to come along with Halberstam's other books I own (Summer of '49 and October 1964). A very refreshing story.
Rating:
Summary: A book to treasure
Review: This is such a refreshing read after the usual crop of egocentric rants by players who aren't even in the same league as this foursome. A baseball book that is thought-provoking. What a concept! The fact that there are two such books this spring is even more amazing. The Little Red (Sox) Book is as irreverent as The Teammates is reverent. I encourage baseball lovers to read both.
Rating:
Summary: The story of four champions!
Review: Ok, so they didn't win a World Series. These four friends are champions in every way. The friednship they forged and maintained through thick and thin is touching, and in today's greedy, "every man for himself" sports world, unique.(Incidentally, if you want to see Pesky, Doerr, DiMaggio and Teddy Ballgame get their just reward, read The Little Red Sox Book, Bill Lee's revisionist history of the Boston Red Sox).
Stu
Rating:
Summary: Moving Tribute to Friendship
Review: This is a moving book about friendship. As baseball legend Ted Williams' lay slowly dying at age 83 in the fall of 2001, his former teammates Johnny Pesky, Dom DiMaggio, and Bobby Doerr considered making the long drive to Florida for a final visit. The narrative focuses on that trip, and the enduring friendship between these four that continued for five decades after their playing days ended. Readers come to know these men, their backgrounds, flaws, strengths, families, health conditions, and post-baseball careers. Fans will enjoy their playing memoirs from the powerful Red Sox squads of the 1940's - teams that often fell just short at season's end. Adding spice to the narrative are Boston sportswriter Dick Flavin (who made the trip) and occasionally the author David Halberstam. This is another outstanding baseball book by Halberstam (SUMMER OF '49, OCTOBER 1964); let's hope he'll write more. THE TEAMMATES is a concise and moving tribute to friendship, baseball...and life.
Rating: 
Summary: Life-long Lessons!
Review: When we are young, most of us idolize certain sports heroes . . . usually because of their feats on the field rather than for their characters. Author David Halberstam had the great pleasure of getting to know some of his idols when he wrote the Summer of '49 about the Yankee-Red Sox pennant race in that year. He kept up with his new friends from the Red Sox including Ted Williams, Dom DiMaggio, Bobby Doerr and Johnny Pesky after the book came out. When he learned that in 2002 about the last trip that Dom, and Johnny had taken to see Ted, Mr. Halberstam knew that he had a story. This book relates that tale. The book recounts the backgrounds of all four players, details their friendships from the days when they were in the minor leagues through the end of their lives and provides lots of perspective on the Red Sox during the 1940s and 1950s when these remarkable players were on the team. The end of the book also has the lifetime stats for each player. One of the intriguing parts of the book is how hard Ted Williams was on himself and his friends. It is a remarkable tale of friendship to see how others would tolerate his abuse by rolling with the punches. Behind the friendships, you get many glimpses of great character . . . character that actually makes their athletic accomplishments seem paler by comparison. I strongly urge all Red Sox fans and parents who want their children to develop better characters to read this book, and share the story with their friends and family. I know of no better book about athletes that looks at the qualities of true greatness.
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