In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Reviewed by:
  • Something to Prove: The Great Satchel Paige vs. Rookie Joe DiMaggio by Robert Skead
  • Elizabeth Bush
Skead, Robert . Something to Prove: The Great Satchel Paige vs. Rookie Joe DiMaggio; illus. by Floyd Cooper. Carolrhoda, 2013. 34p. ISBN 978-0-7613-6619-5 $16.95 Ad 7-10 yrs.

The 1936 Yankees weren't about to sign an untested rookie named Joe DiMaggio without some solid demonstration of his abilities under pressure. They also weren't about to hire black players, but the Yankees manager wasn't above asking Satchel Paige to help him test their young prospect. An exhibition game in Oakland California was the scene of the showdown between the seasoned Paige and his "gang of semipro pickup players" and the untried DiMaggio, backed by "a barnstorming team with an impressive lineup of major-league stars." Skead describes the extra-inning game in workmanlike prose, recounting DiMaggio's strikeouts, a bad call against the black players, and the final DiMaggio hit that brought in the wining run. This is overall a fairly tame outing, not up to the mark of recent fabulous baseball picture books as Jonah Winter's takes on Sandy Koufax and Willie Mays (You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?!, BCCB 2/09 and You Never Heard of Willie Mays?!, BCCB 2/13); although Floyd Cooper's grainy, atmospheric illustrations get the job done, the compositions themselves are fairly unimaginative. Still, put the names Paige and DiMaggio into the same title and you're going to shake up some interest, and Yankees fans will certainly consider this required reading. [End Page 393]

...

pdf

Share