1939: Baseball's Tipping Point
From SoSH
Author: Talmage Boston
Publisher: Bright Sky Press
Date Published: 2005
Summary: This book, written by Talmage Boston (with a highly-touted but uninformative foreword by John Grisham), consists of twelve chapters highlighting the events and people who shaped baseball history around the year 1939. The first few chapters outline the careers of superstars Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, and Bob Feller, umpire Bill Klem, managers Leo Durocher and Bill McKechnie, and broadcaster Red Barber, each of whom had a profound impact on baseball in the late 1930s. Other chapters focus on the advent of radio and television in baseball broadcasting, the movement toward integration, changes in management style, the beginnings of baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, and the formation of Little League Baseball. This book provides a great introduction to the baseball world of the 1930s and 40s, as well as an in-depth look at several baseball star players. It also celebrates baseball's growth and explains the profound impact that politics, economic and industrial growth, and salary structure had on the game. This is an easy book to read one chapter at a time, as each chapter focuses on a different aspect of the game, but taken together it gives an insider's view of life in 1939, either as a baseball owner, player, or fan of the game.
This is a must-read for anyone interested in baseball history, and casual fans will find themselves hooked on the storytelling talents of Talmage Boston. Highly recommended!
