October 1964

Rating:
Summary: Giants on the Earth in those days. And Cardinals.
Review: In the ESPN.com vernacular of the present day, "October 1964" has recently been debunked (but lovingly) by columnist/author Rob Neyer. While the two giants who square off in David Halberstam's tale of an evolving America in 1964 are the suffocating white Establishment (the Yankees) and the young minority upstarts (the Cardinals), Neyer's contention is that this watershed really occurred one year earlier. That was, after all, the year the Yankees were memorably swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.

However, Halberstam's take on the demise of the Establishment Yankees is the more accurate one. The '63 World Series was won single-handedly by a couple of white guys, Koufax and Drysdale. Yes, the Dodgers did have five black regulars in the starting lineup, but apart from the second inning of the opening game, they just didn't hit, or make history the way Koufax did.

The 1964 World Series was won by the heroics of men that the Yankees didn't understand, by men who couldn't play for the Yankees, by virtue of who they were. The Yankees could accept being struck out 15 times by Sandy Koufax, but when they struck out 13 times against Bob Gibson -- on whom their sole scouting report was woefully inaccurate -- it was an outrage. Gibson wasn't supposed to have courage, or determination! Lou Brock wasn't supposed to get more hits in the Series than Mickey Mantle!

And yet, the '64 Yankees didn't go quietly in the Series, and in fact they scored more runs than St. Louis. Mantle had an incredible seven games. The Yanks had more walks and homers than the Cardinals, and their pitching (behind white youngers Jim Bouton and Mel Stottlemyre) basically matched St. Louis out for out. At least on paper. The Series turning point came when the Yanks' lone black pitcher, Al Downing, gave up a grand slam homer to a Southern good-ol'-boy, Ken Boyer.

This is why "October 1964" is a great book. It's no mystery as to who the heroes are -- the book frontpiece is a team photograph, and that team isn't the Yankees. However, the bad guys gave it a mighty effort. 40 years later, it's hard to remember how much the Yankees represented a world that simply had to end. As someone born well after '64, I didn't even know at first that spring training in Florida was segregated that late. The struggles of Gibson and Brock and Flood and Bill White were relatively new stories when Halberstam first told them. Since Halberstam's skill is in creating whole lives in three or four pages, these mini-biographies are the heart of the book, and not the more desultory game descriptions that reduce the World Series to a sequence of monochrome postcards.

The best anecdote in the book has little to do with the World Series. Yankee pitcher Ralph Terry, then a rookie, brashly introduces himself to a few old men watching a baseball game. "Well, Ralph," one of the men says. "my name is Cy Young. And these fellas over here next to me are Zack Wheat and Ty Cobb."

If you subscribe to the theory of baseball as social history, "October 1964" is a book you'd do well to have on your shelf, and one worth reading every few years.

Rating:
Summary: October 1964-More than it seems.
Review: It is rare indeed when a reader comes across a book that delivers more than what is expected. David Halberstam's October 1964 is a very fine example of this. The story that Halberstam weaves is, on the surface, a tale of men playing professional baseball in the mid sixties. The drama that takes place throughout the summer of 1964, culminating with that year's fall classic in October is, in itself, great reading for any baseball fan. The legends of Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Mickey Mantle, and Roger Maris seem to grow before the readers very eyes. But this is much more than a story of men playing baseball.

The year 1964 was a volatile time in the history of our country, and the ballplayers playing for the New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinal that year reflected much of the country's turmoil. Lou Brock and Curt Flood's incredible drive and determination to show white America that they were badly mistaken about the ability of black ballplayers, and Bob Gibson's incredible anger about what was occurring, are excellent examples of the changing race relations evident in the United States at this time. The New York Yankees slow process of integrating the organization illustrates that progress in this endevor was plodding at best. However, race relations were not the only changing forces at work in baseball at this time.

The modern media was just beginning to emerge during the early 1960's and Halberstam's treatment of how this new media clashed with the midwestern populist views of Roger Maris and was embraced(at times) by the gregarious Mickey Mantle is fascinating. Most of the players, if not all, during this time period did not yet understand that how they performed on the field was now only part of the story. Again, the study of Maris during his quest for 61 homers in 1961 is a great example of the coming storm of the celebrity driven media.

Being a history and education major in college myself, I find one of the best examples that the book has to offer of changing America was the clashing ideologies of the newer players and the older players and managers. Players such as Ray Sadecki, Phil Linz, and Joe Pepitone, were indeed alien to the old guard. Even an item such as Joe Pepitone's bringing a hairdryer in to the clubhouse seemed stunning to the older players. It was a changing world, and as has been quoted in the past, baseball reflected America.

In summation, Halberstam's book is a history book, a psychology book, a sociology book, and, of course, a baseball book. For people who actually remember what was going on in 1964 it is especially poignant, baseball fan or not. But for myself I now have a better understanding of why, as a boy, I once gazed upon the ball cards of Mantle and Boyer and Brock and Ford and held them in awe. They were men who were larger than life at a time when only the tough survived. After reading Halberstam's account of a long ago October my feeling of awe, admiration, and hero worship have increased tenfold

Rating:
Summary: October 1964-More than it seems.
Review: It is rare indeed when a reader comes across a book that delivers more than whatis expected. David Halberstam's October 1964 is a very fine example of this. The storythat Halberstam weaves is, on the surface, a tale of men playing professional baseball inthe mid sixties. The drama that takes place throughout the summer of 1964, culminatingwith that year's fall classic in October is, in itself, great reading for any baseball fan. Thelegends of Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Mickey Mantle, and Roger Maris seem to growbefore the readers very eyes. But this is much more than a story of men playing baseball.

The year 1964 was a volatile time in the history of our country, and the ballplayersplaying for the New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinal that year reflected much of thecountry's turmoil. Lou Brock and Curt Flood's incredible drive and determination to showwhite America that they were badly mistaken about the ability of black ballplayers, andBob Gibson's incredible anger about what was occurring, are excellent examples of thechanging race relations evident in the United States at this time. The New York Yankeesslow process of integrating the organization illustrates that progress in this endevor wasplodding at best. However, race relations were not the only changing forces at work inbaseball at this time.

The modern media was just beginning to emerge during the early 1960's andHalberstam's treatment of how this new media clashed with the midwestern populist viewsof Roger Maris and was embraced(at times) by the gregarious Mickey Mantle isfascinating. Most of the players, if not all, during this time period did not yet understandthat how they performed on the field was now only part of the story. Again, the study ofMaris during his quest for 61 homers in 1961 is a great example of the coming storm of thecelebrity driven media.

Being a history and education major in college myself, I find one of the bestexamples that the book has to offer of changing America was the clashing ideologies of thenewer players and the older players and managers. Players such as Ray Sadecki, PhilLinz, and Joe Pepitone, were indeed alien to the old guard. Even an item such as JoePepitone's bringing a hairdryer in to the clubhouse seemed stunning to the older players.It was a changing world, and as has been quoted in the past, baseball reflected America.

In summation, Halberstam's book is a history book, a psychology book, asociology book, and, of course, a baseball book. For people who actually remember whatwas going on in 1964 it is especially poignant, baseball fan or not. But for myself I nowhave a better understanding of why, as a boy, I once gazed upon the ball cards of Mantleand Boyer and Brock and Ford and held them in awe. They were men who were largerthan life at a time when only the tough survived. After reading Halberstam's account of along ago October my feeling of awe, admiration, and hero worship have increased tenfold

Rating:
Summary: Good, but it could have been much better.
Review: Mr. Halberstam is a very talented writer, who has achieved the status of being considered one of the best. Many people feel that when writers reach such status, that everything they write is great. This book is an example of how that is not the case. Have you ever heard the saying, 'ask him the time, and he will tell you how a watch is made?' Well, that's how I feel about this book. There is so much background information, deep, really deep back ground - that it takes away from the central characters of the book. Why, does Halberstam include Buck O'Neil's story in a book about the 1964 Cardinals and Yankees? If Halberstam had a good editor, and let the editor do his job, this huge amount of background could have been condensed, leaving more space to write about Cards and the Yanks. And what are people like Jake Gibbs doing in this book? This book also has factual errors that a good editor should have corrected. As an example, Halberstam twice refers to Lee May of the Milwaukee Braves, when he actually means Lee Maye, Maye NOT May. Lee May's major league career began with the Cincinnati Reds and he NEVER played for the Milwaukee or Atlanta Braves.

Rating:
Summary: A Return To The Days Of Yesteryear
Review: My cousin, Barb, recommended this book to me and this fall seemed like the right time to read it. The Yankees and the Cardinals seemed on the way to a World Series rematch and newspaper accounts of the 40th anniversary of the 1964 Series made a return to the days of yesteryear seem attractive. The Yankees missed the rematch but "October 1964" did not disappoint. This review is in the nature of a favor passed on.

This book can best be described as character studies of two baseball organizations. The `64 Yankees are portrayed as the last gasp of a dying dynasty, a dinosaur that had not adapted the changing baseball world. As black players deepened the talent pool, the Yankees catered to their middle class fan pass. As the Yankee pinstripes began to mean less than signing bonuses, the output of their once rich farm system became as parsimonious as their management. Patching together aging bodies and strained muscles, the Yankees managed to come from behind to win the pennant, but Whitey Ford's sore arm, Mickey Mantle's aching legs and Tony Kubek's back sapped the energy from the Yankee spirit.

The Cardinals, by contrast, were a collection of veterans and rising stars trying to find the winning combination, while management worked at cross purposes. Spurred by announcer Harry Carey, the impatient Gussie Busch, who knew even less about baseball than he did about failure, began the dismantling of a management on the threshold of victory. Branch Rickey, a fossilized fifth wheel, crowded out general manager Bing Devine shortly after the completion of perhaps the greatest trade in baseball history, that of Ernie Broglio for Lou Brock.

On the field, the collection of southern whites and rising blacks felt their way with trepidation under the gentle guidance of Johnny Keane. As a young fan, I reveled in Cardinal success. As a reader, I learned about my heroes. I knew Ken Boyer as the team leader whose signature graced my glove, but I had forgotten the derision heaped upon him by Harry Carey and the fans. I knew Dick Groat as a steady veteran in the All Star infield. I read that he was a disruption in the club house.

I had forgotten how new Mike Shannon was in 1964. I always liked the way the stadium announcer intoned "Curt Simmons" and the story of how he had pitched so well for the Phillies in 1950 before his induction into the army took him out of the World Series. His 1964 World Series appearance had seemed to be long overdue. This book reminded me about his steady performance which helped get the Cardinals into the Series. I had known Tim McCarver as the enthusiastic catcher. David Halberstam introduced me to the son of a Memphis policeman whose friendship with Bob Gibson was part of the glue which put this winner together.

Bob Gibson was incomparable on the mound, although Halberstam reminds the reader that the Gibson of 1964 was not the dominating machine of later in the decade. Bill White was the power hitting first baseman and Curt Flood the fast defensive star in center field. I remember how Lou Brock caught fire and sparked a moribund team. I had always regarded them as just other stars. I had no idea of all that these black men had gone through in the southern minor leagues and their own uncertainties as to their places in the game.

Although the story of the World Series comprises only about 10% of the book it, along with the stories of the pennant races clarify the memories which had grown hazy with time.

The epilogue is a combination of triumph and tragedy which reminds us that baseball is only a game from which even its gods must move on into a real world which is not always so kind. Yogi Berra would be fired and replaced by Johnny Keane, whose tenure in New York would be unsuccessful. Yogi would manage the Mets before returning to the Yankees. Ken Boyer would be traded and wind down his career with other teams before returning to manage the Cardinals. Roger Maris would escape New York to find happiness as a Cardinal before he and Boyer succumbed to cancer in their early 50s. Mickey Mantle's career and health would decline as a life of abuse took its toll. Curt Flood's career would end with his legal challenge to the reserve clause.

Tim McCarver and Mike Shannon would find places in the broadcast booths. Bobbie Richardson found a home as a college baseball coach while Dal Maxville became general manager of the Cardinals. Bob Gibson would variously coach pitching in the majors and operate a restaurant. Bill White would rise to president of the National League. When his legs gave out, Lou Brock would continue as a public figure in St. Louis. Jim Bouton and Bob Uecker would achieve fame by poking fun at the game they lived for.

Early in the story, Halberstam refers to the unsettled social environment of the 60s. He then subtly weaves the social background into his baseball story.

By now it should be clear that I like this book. My next e-mail will thank Barb for the recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Book -- About Baseball and People
Review: This book is a wonderful recollection and inside peek at the 1964 baseball season. The season became a turning point for two storied baseball franchises -- the last year before the Yankees went in the toilet for a decade -- and the first year the St. Louis Cardinals became one of the predominant teams of the 1960s.

The book was an exceptional look at the up and coming Cardinals. It told of how a multi-racial team with exceptional talent gelled. It told of how a group of common folks learned to live with each other, even amid a clubhouse in which Cardinal Team Icon Stan Musial was absent for the first time in 22 years. The stories of how Bob Gibson and Tim McCarver became a battery, or how Lou Brock, Curt Flood, Bill White, Dick Groat and Ken Boyer became a core component of a world championship is "can't put down" reading.

The Yankee dynasty reading was fascinating because it presented such a marked contrast between the "old" and "new" in major league baseball. "Damn the consequence, you'll do it our way," became a recurring theme. The lack of African-American ballplayers on the Yankees was told as an afterthought but was so incredibly noticable when compared to the Cardinals. There's a damn good reason why the Yankees went nowhere from the time CBS bought them until King George arrived -- people like Hank Aaron, Bob Gibson, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Roberto Clemente or even Dick Allen or the Alou brothers never appeared in Yankee pinstripes.

Halberstam is, as usual, a wonderful though bit verbose writer. His grasp of detail was fascinating and his understanding of basebally first rate.



Rating:
Summary: baseball fans, especially younger ones, read this book!
Review: This book started my fascination with 50's and 60's era of baseball. Halberstam does an excellent job covering the hundreds of people that made up the game during that time period. After reading this book, I had to go out and buy several biographies of some players that seemed so very interesting to me. Since I am a baseball fan that was born in 83 I wasn't around to experience those players, I just have to read about them.

Rating:
Summary: baseball fans, especially younger ones, read this book!
Review: This book started my fascination with 50's and 60's era of baseball. Halberstam does an excellent job covering the hundreds of people that made up the game during that time period. After reading this book, I had to go out and buy several biographies of some players that seemed so very interesting to me. Since I am a baseball fan that was born in 83 I wasn't around to experience those players, I just have to read about them.

Rating:
Summary: I Felt Like I Was There
Review: This is not just the story of October 1964 although that is the title of the book. It is in fact the story of the 1960s cultures surrounding baseball. Halberstam observes that the Giants of the 1960s were - on paper, at least - better than the Cardinals virtually every year. Yet the World Series tally for the 1960s was the Cardinals went to THREE World Series (winning two and losing one in seven games) and the Giants to ONE (losing in the last inning of the seventh game).

It was also the last World Series for Mickey Mantle. The book touches on the Philadelphia collapse of 1964 (blowing a 6.5 game lead with only 12 to play), the pennant race of Phillies, Reds, and Cardinals. But best of all it deals with what happened AFTER 1964.

It is a strange irony that the NY Yankees were a powerhouse from 1921 to 1964. The Yankees never went longer than three seasons w/o making the playoffs during that time span. But after the 1964 loss, the Yankees fell out of contention for 12 long years. CBS bought the team and ruined it until a guy named Steinbrenner bailed them out.

This was also a strange series for another reason. Within a couple of days of the end of the series, BOTH managers were out of work. Johnny Keane of the Cardinals was canned and Yogi Berra, a first-year manager of the Yanks was sent packing. And to top off that list of ironies, Keane was hired as the new Yankee manager. This was a victory for the workingman - or so it seemed.

And despite dominance that carried through managers Miller Huggins, Joe McCarthy (not the famous Red baiter), Bucky Harris, Casey Stengel, Ralph Houk, and even Berra - Keane took over a collapsed empire. By 1967, Keane was dead, the Yankees were in a coma, and the Cardinals were back in the World Series with a new manager, Red Schoendienst.

The setting of October 1964 is the platform for what would change baseball in the 1970s, the reserve clause. Curt Flood played for those 1960s Cardinals and later rejected a trade to the Phillies. The seeds of free agency, the designated hitter, and the demise of Mickey Mantle were in bloom in October 1964. Read the book and enjoy the trip.



Rating:
Summary: THE BEST BASEBALL BOOK I'VE EVER READ -- AND MORE!
Review: This wonderful book by David Halberstam follows the fortunes of the NY Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals in the fall of 1964, culminating in their meeting in the World Series. Reading about greats like Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Bob Gibson, Curt Flood, and Lou Brock will keep the baseball fan turning the pages through the night, but this is more than just a book about baseball. Halberstam sensitively explores the conflicts and struggles between White and Black American in the mid-1960s through the story of these two teams.