Summer of ’49, a book by David Halberstam, is about a war-weary nation that turned from the battlefields to the ball fields in search of new heroes. Baseball was the king of American sports. The book marked the beginning of a sports rivalry unequaled in athletic competition, one we now take for granted.
The Yankees and the Red Sox were fighting for the lead in the American League, with the winner going to the World Series. Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams led their teams to the greatest pennant race in baseball history, which would be decided on the last day of the season. Has there ever been a greater competition in sports history?
The Summer of ’49 According to Halberstam
The Summer of ’49 is about the historic pennant race in the American League between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. In many ways, the battle in September of 1949 between the Boston Red Sox and The New York Yankees created the rivalry between the two teams. The book is written chronologically and begins in spring training with the two teams. It concludes with a detailed assessment of the season’s final series between the two teams.
It does not make sense to recount the detailed blow-by-blow in the Summer of ’49, but it is important to review how the book’s two protagonists are portrayed. The protagonist of the Yankees is Joe DiMaggio. He is presented as aging and injured, which he was. The protagonist from the Red Sox was Ted Williams, who is portrayed as brash and young, which he was.
Baseball was the pre-eminent sport in the United States in the Summer of ’49, and the pennant race between New York and Boston captured the imaginations of the American populace. The pennant race between the two teams culminated in the season’s final series.
The New York Yankees
The Yankees, after beating the Red Sox in the final game of the season, finished 97-57. They had the same record as the Brooklyn Dodgers, whom they would play in the World Series, and one game better than Boston. The New York team that year included several great players, such as DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto, Allie Reynolds, and Ed Lopat. They were managed by Casey Stengel.
The Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox that year were also very good. They deserved a fate better than they received. Their season ended after losing the series to the Yankees, but they, too, had several great players, foremost among them Williams, the team’s superstar. Also on that Boston team was Joe DiMaggio’s brother, Dom, Johnny Pesky, whom the right field foul pole at Fenway Park is named after. Also, Bobby Doerr, who hit .309 in 1949, and the pitchers Mel Parnell and Ellis Kinder, both of whom won 20 games in 1949.
The 1949 World Series
The New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox and played in the World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. In some ways, the World Series was anticlimactic after the clash of superpowers in the American League, as detailed in the book. New York defeated Brooklyn four games to one. The Bronx Bombers won 1-0 in Game 1, and the Dodgers won 1-0 in Game 2. The Yankees won games 3, 4-3, and 4, 6-4. Game 5 saw New York win 10-6 and take the series.
Conclusion
The Summer of ’49 is a great book, a classic. That said, someone should write a book about the summer of 1941 when Ted Williams hit .401 (the last player ever to do so) and when Joe Dimaggio had his famed 56-game hitting streak. Both of these records have yet to be equaled. They probably never will. At any rate, because the Summer of ’49 is such a classic, you should own it.
