The Seasons Ten Memorable Years in Baseball, and in America

by Gilbert, Bill

• ISBN13: 9780806524191
• ISBN10: 0806524197
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-03-01
• Publisher: Citadel Pr

Summary

It was the summer of 1975. In one of the best baseball games ever played, Carlton Fisk had just hit a home run to win game six of the World Series for the Boston Red Sox. At the same time, and a half a world away, North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon and finally ended the Vietnam War. It was a summer in which America's favorite past time and America's history were inextricably linked. There are more summers like that of 1975. In The Seasons, bestselling author Bill Gilbert explores them and the heart and mind of a nation's people.

Featuring reflections from Dom DiMaggio, Duke Snider, Bob Feller, Ted Williams, Brooks Robinson and more, The Seasons tells the incredible story of how America's favorite sport merged forever with America's social history; its greatest achievements, as well as some of its darkest hours. From the 1940s to the present, these unforgettable years include:
-- 1951 -- During Bobby Thomson's "shot heard round the world, " others are ringing out in Korea
-- 1961 -- Roger Mari and Mickey Mantle chase Babe Ruth's record as overnigh

Table of Contents

Foreword: In Brooklyn and Everywhere by Larry King	xi
Introduction: Baseball and America-History's Partners	xiii
Some Thank-yous	xv
PART ONE: 1945	1	(50)
1. The Forgotten Pennant Race	3	(8)
2. "They're Either Too Young or Too Old"	11	(9)
3. A Beginning and an End	20	(6)
4. The Cast of Characters	26	(8)
5. "The Best Thing You Could Do"	34	(17)
PART TWO: 1948	51	(42)
6. The Good Years	53	(13)
7. The Drama and Babe Ruth	66	(12)
8. Final Scores	78	(15)
PART THREE: 1951	93	(30)
9. "The Giants Is Dead"	95	(11)
10. Quietly Going Mad	106	(17)
PART FOUR: 1961	123	(38)
11. Three New Frontiers	125	(12)
12. Another International Crisis	137	(10)
13. "I Can't Handle This. .."	147	(9)
14. When Mirrors Weren't Enough	156	(5)
PART FIVE: 1969	161	(28)
15. Those Mets?	163	(10)
16. Centennials and the Impossible Dream	173	(16)
PART SIX: 1975	189	(22)
17. "The American People Were Not Rejoicing"	191	(10)
18. The Greatest World Series Ever Played?	201	(10)
PART SEVEN: 1980	211	(24)
19. Crises	213	(14)
20. Center Stage	227	(8)
PART EIGHT: 1995	235	(28)
21. Baseball's Second Savior	237	(8)
22. "The Streak"	245	(9)
23. Two of a Kind	254	(9)
PART NINE: 1998	263	(40)
24. Expecting the Unexpected	265	(9)
25. "Like a Fairy Tale"	274	(9)
26. "Para Ti, Mami!"	283	(11)
27. "Get Up, Baby! Get Up! Get Up!"	294	(9)
PART TEN: 2001	303	(46)
28. First Confusion, Then War	305	(11)
29. Farewells	316	(7)
30. Shelters, Shadows, and Cheers	323	(12)
31. History's Partners, Again	335	(14)
Bibliography	349	(2)
Index	351