- Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series That Changed Baseball by Luke Epplin
The year 1948 would prove to be a very special baseball year for those living in and around Cleveland, Ohio. Though residents didn’t know it at the time, it would be the last World Series win for their hometown club. Cleveland has gone to the Series four times since but has always fallen short of winning—the last time to the Cubs in 2016. Consequently, the Cleveland franchise has gone the longest of any major league team without winning the Series. In addition to Cleveland’s win in 1948, under the ownership of Bill Veeck and his brilliant marketing skills, the team drew well over 2.6 million fans—an attendance record that lasted for years. It also was a breakout year for Larry Doby, the first player to integrate the American League in 1947 but who had struggled in his first season, and the debut of a forty-two-year-old rookie pitcher, Satchel Paige, who was also instrumental to the club’s success. And while his skills were on a downward slope, Bob Feller remained one of the game’s premier pitchers. Author Luke Epplin in Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series That Changed Baseball does a great job of tying together the roles these four men played in bringing about a historic baseball season. [End Page 137]
Our Team offers interesting tidbits on four Cleveland players: Bill Veeck, Larry Doby, Satchel Paige, and Bob Feller. There are many examples presented of how Feller and Paige had competed against each other in barnstorming engagements after the regular baseball season had ended. They were already well acquainted when Paige made his Major League Baseball debut. Epplin also conveys that Iowa’s first “field of dreams” was not made for the classic movie but rather had been built decades before in Van Meter, on the Feller farm, to showcase the young fastball pitcher against other teams. The author also brings attention to Doby’s isolation when he first joined the club in 1947, both on and off the field, which helps explain his first-season struggles. Epplin stresses that even after Paige became Doby’s roommate, Doby was still lonely, the two being so different in their personalities and lifestyles. The author also demonstrates how much Veeck suffered from his leg injury and amputation, even while he was devoting endless hours to building and promoting the ball club. Throughout the detailed narratives, Epplin’s story is both readable and engaging.
However, there are a few weak points in the book regarding some factually unsupported claims. Perhaps the largest is the author’s claim that Veeck, during World War II, had attempted to purchase the Phillies so he could field an all African American team. While Veeck did express interest in buying the club, there is no evidence that he ever made or even attempted to make an offer. Paul Dixon, who Epplin cites, spends many pages in his biography making the case for Veeck’s alleged plan but never presents any direct historical evidence that an actual effort was made. Rather, it is likely Veeck entertained the idea but never carried through on it. Essentially, signing Doby years later would serve as sufficient evidence of the owner’s sincerity to integrate baseball. Epplin does provide convincing evidence that Paige, with his 6-1 record and low ERA, was instrumental to the club’s success in 1948. Yet as thorough as Epplin is about Paige’s contribution, he offers no explanation for why Paige saw so little action in September as well as in the Series. For a team that was contending all the way through to a deciding playoff game against the Red Sox, Paige’s lack of action is a mystery that remains unaddressed. While both of these are weak points, they are minor distractions from a generally excellent book.
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