Book: October 1964 by David Halberstam
Reviewed by: Joe T.
October 1964, David Halberstam’s ode to the battle between the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals, is an amazing portrait of America in flux. 1964’s baseball season was the first to follow the assassination of JFK, the first to follow MLK’s March on Washington. In every way and every place, society was changing and the era of liberation known as “The Sixties” was on its way. Baseball was no exception. The Yankees, the dominant team in the sport since the 1949 season, was still resolutely segregated, Elston Howard was the lone African American on the team and had been for almost ten years. The St. Louis Cardinals, on the other hand, were one of the most integrated teams in the land, boasting such stars as Lou Brock, Bill White, Bob Gibson, and Curt Flood. The 1964 season was destined to be the battle of conflicting visions of America played out on the scale of the diamond.
This is a fantastic read, delving into the personalities that brought change to the sport and to the country at large. One doesn’t need to be a sports fan to enjoy the drama that Halberstam, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and historian, wrings out of this momentous season that just may be ground zero for the modern era of baseball. A few years after his coming off of the success of this season, Curt Flood would crash the system by no longer letting himself be treated as chattel of the team owners.
After reading October 1964, one should go back and read Halberstam’s book The Summer of ‘49 which traces the baseball season that saw the creation of the Yankees era that came crashing down with the ‘64 season. You should also read Dan Epstein’s Big Hair and Plastic Grass, which tells the story of the decade the sixties FINALLY happened to baseball. Beginning with Curt Flood’s strike which ushered in player’s rights and the free trade agreement, it shows the world what happens when you let players grow out their hair, style their mustaches, and (in one case) pitch a no-hitter whilst tripping on the LSD.
So, anyway, it’s springtime and that means it’s baseball time. Sit in the sun, get some beer, and read one of these great books on the game. You won’t be disappointed.
BookPeople 
I just happened to run across this review. As a long-time writer about sports, I’d like to note that Elston Howard was not the only Black player on the Yankees in 1964 — Al Downing from Trenton, NJ, was a regular pitcher, Hector Lopez from Panama had been with them for years, and Pedro Gonzalez was marginal. The Yankees’ record on Black players was poor to that point, it is true. Also, the Yankees did not start dominating in 1949….That began with Babe Ruth in 1921 and soon afterward Lou Gehrig.
David Halberstam was a great reporter who passed way too young.