October 1964

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In the ESPN.com vernacular of the present day, "October 1964" has recently been debunked (but lovingly) by columnist/author Rob Neyer. While the two giants who square off in David Halberstam's tale of an evolving America in 1964 are the suffocating white Establishment (the Yankees) and the young minority upstarts (the Cardinals), Neyer's contention is that this watershed really occurred one year earlier. That was, after all, the year the Yankees were memorably swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.

However, Halberstam's take on the demise of the Establishment Yankees is the more accurate one. The '63 World Series was won single-handedly by a couple of white guys, Koufax and Drysdale. Yes, the Dodgers did have five black regulars in the starting lineup, but apart from the second inning of the opening game, they just didn't hit, or make history the way Koufax did.

The 1964 World Series was won by the heroics of men that the Yankees didn't understand, by men who couldn't play for the Yankees, by virtue of who they were. The Yankees could accept being struck out 15 times by Sandy Koufax, but when they struck out 13 times against Bob Gibson -- on whom their sole scouting report was woefully inaccurate -- it was an outrage. Gibson wasn't supposed to have courage, or determination! Lou Brock wasn't supposed to get more hits in the Series than Mickey Mantle!

And yet, the '64 Yankees didn't go quietly in the Series, and in fact they scored more runs than St. Louis. Mantle had an incredible seven games. The Yanks had more walks and homers than the Cardinals, and their pitching (behind white youngers Jim Bouton and Mel Stottlemyre) basically matched St. Louis out for out. At least on paper. The Series turning point came when the Yanks' lone black pitcher, Al Downing, gave up a grand slam homer to a Southern good-ol'-boy, Ken Boyer.

This is why "October 1964" is a great book. It's no mystery as to who the heroes are -- the book frontpiece is a team photograph, and that team isn't the Yankees. However, the bad guys gave it a mighty effort. 40 years later, it's hard to remember how much the Yankees represented a world that simply had to end. As someone born well after '64, I didn't even know at first that spring training in Florida was segregated that late. The struggles of Gibson and Brock and Flood and Bill White were relatively new stories when Halberstam first told them. Since Halberstam's skill is in creating whole lives in three or four pages, these mini-biographies are the heart of the book, and not the more desultory game descriptions that reduce the World Series to a sequence of monochrome postcards.

The best anecdote in the book has little to do with the World Series. Yankee pitcher Ralph Terry, then a rookie, brashly introduces himself to a few old men watching a baseball game. "Well, Ralph," one of the men says. "my name is Cy Young. And these fellas over here next to me are Zack Wheat and Ty Cobb."

If you subscribe to the theory of baseball as social history, "October 1964" is a book you'd do well to have on your shelf, and one worth reading every few years.

I recently reread David Halberstam's "October 1964," about the World Series between the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals. As other reviewers of this book on Amazon.com have noted, it is social history of a high order. Halberstam uses the World Series of 1964 as a foil to discuss race relations in the decade, both inside baseball and out, for the Yankees represented an approach to society reflective of a status quo that had much more to do with police brutality against civil rights workers in Selma than the Yankees would care to admit. Meantime, the Cardinals expressed much more of the changing climate in America.

As Halberstam points out, it looked as if all the ingredients of a great team were coming together for the Cardinals in the early 1960s. The team had all of the attributes of its successful teams of the past, excellent pitching, great defense, and speed. But there was something more that was critical to the Cardinals success in 1964, as Halberstam emphasizes, how the team bridged the racial divide in the United States to create a cohesive unit. Everyone who visited the Cardinals locker room recognized that something was different from other teams. The African American, White, and Latino players seemed to have an easier relationship than elsewhere. No question, many of the premier players for the Cardinals were African Americans in 1964--Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Curt Flood, and Bill White--and they certainly helped set the tenor of the clubhouse. But southerners like Ken Boyer and Tim McCarver were also committed to the successful integration of American life and brought that perspective to the team as well. This relative racial harmony was significant for the Cardinals and stood in striking contrast to the problems present with the Yankees and other major league teams.

One anecdote about the Cardinals offered in "October 1964" elucidates this issue. Curt Flood recounted a story in "October 1964" of going to Cardinals spring training camp in Florida in the latter 1950s and finding himself sent to an African American boarding house in another town, instead of staying in the same hotel where his white teammates were housed. A sensitive and thoughtful man, Flood was both hurt and angered by this situation and when the opportunity presented he said something. When the Cardinals owner, August A. Busch Jr., saw him at the training camp and struck up a conversation Flood let slip that the situation of the black players was not the best. Busch was genuinely surprised that Flood and the other black players were not staying at the main hotel with the "rest of the guys" and promised to do something about it. He went out and purchased a hotel in St. Petersburg where all the Cardinals could stay together with their families during spring training.

In later years, players from other teams recalled visiting that hotel to see members of the Cards and finding cookouts taking place with entire families, black and white, together. The fact that they lived together for several weeks during spring training may have broken down the barriers of prejudice more than any other action the Cardinals could have taken. The team was, without question, more successful in integrating its players than many other major league clubs. This contributed to the success of the team on the field and the attraction of the team off it.

Halberstam emphasizes that the match between the Cardinals and Yankees in 1964 had symbolic value far beyond the match-up on the field. The Cardinals were a well-integrated team with excellent African American players. The Yankees had failed to integrate until the mid-1950s and then only modestly so. Indeed, their first African American player was St. Louis native Elston Howard and he only came up to the Yankees in 1955. A superb player, the Yankees ballyhooed Howard's breaking of the color line on the team by saying that he was a true "gentleman," and thereby appropriate to wear Yankee pinstripes. One wit observed that this was so much nonsense, after all since when did baseball players have to be "gentlemen?" The Yanks in 1964 were also a franchise on the verge of collapse, with aging superstars and not much down on the farm to call up to the majors. Their best player, Mickey Mantle, was nearing the end of his Hall of Fame career, and his replacement in the outfield would be Bobby Mercer, a decent journeyman player but not someone who would carry on the tradition of Ruth-DiMaggio-Mantle.

The Cardinals victory in the World Series in 1964 symbolized for Halberstam the death of the old manner of baseball, and thereafter every championship team would have African American stars as a critical element to success. It is an excellent discussion of the subject, well-written and thought-provoking.

This is not just the story of October 1964 although that is the title of the book. It is in fact the story of the 1960s cultures surrounding baseball. Halberstam observes that the Giants of the 1960s were - on paper, at least - better than the Cardinals virtually every year. Yet the World Series tally for the 1960s was the Cardinals went to THREE World Series (winning two and losing one in seven games) and the Giants to ONE (losing in the last inning of the seventh game).

It was also the last World Series for Mickey Mantle. The book touches on the Philadelphia collapse of 1964 (blowing a 6.5 game lead with only 12 to play), the pennant race of Phillies, Reds, and Cardinals. But best of all it deals with what happened AFTER 1964.

It is a strange irony that the NY Yankees were a powerhouse from 1921 to 1964. The Yankees never went longer than three seasons w/o making the playoffs during that time span. But after the 1964 loss, the Yankees fell out of contention for 12 long years. CBS bought the team and ruined it until a guy named Steinbrenner bailed them out.

This was also a strange series for another reason. Within a couple of days of the end of the series, BOTH managers were out of work. Johnny Keane of the Cardinals was canned and Yogi Berra, a first-year manager of the Yanks was sent packing. And to top off that list of ironies, Keane was hired as the new Yankee manager. This was a victory for the workingman - or so it seemed.

And despite dominance that carried through managers Miller Huggins, Joe McCarthy (not the famous Red baiter), Bucky Harris, Casey Stengel, Ralph Houk, and even Berra - Keane took over a collapsed empire. By 1967, Keane was dead, the Yankees were in a coma, and the Cardinals were back in the World Series with a new manager, Red Schoendienst.

The setting of October 1964 is the platform for what would change baseball in the 1970s, the reserve clause. Curt Flood played for those 1960s Cardinals and later rejected a trade to the Phillies. The seeds of free agency, the designated hitter, and the demise of Mickey Mantle were in bloom in October 1964. Read the book and enjoy the trip.

The book's title - 'October 1964' - is in a way misleading, as it is more about how the teams *got* to the '64 World Series as opposed to the Series itself. In fact, Halberstam doesn't begin his coverage of the Series until page 316, and then it's seven quick chapters (one per game) and a fine epilogue to the completion at page 373.

Regardless, '64' is an outstanding piece of work. Written in Halberstam's inimitable style, the book hops back and forth between the Yankees season and the Cardinals season. For true Yankee and Cardinal fans, the amazingly detailed & finely researched chapters on Mickey Mantle (Chapter 7, get it?) and Bob Gibson are the absolute high points of the many richly detailed portraits that form the core of the book.

On Mantle in 1964: "That spring training was more an ordeal than ever for Mantle. He was only 32, a relatively young age for outfielders, but his body was an old 32. Convinced by his family history that Mantle men died before they were 40, he had never taken care of himself. He had played hard and caroused hard during the season, and he had both caroused and loafed when each season was finished, letting his body slip out of condition by not doing even minimal exercise."

On Gibson in 1964: "Later, in the seasons that followed, as he watched Gibson intimidate opposing hitters, Tom Tresh thought the Yankees had been relatively lucky in this series in the sense that they were new to Gibson. They were battling only his skills, no small thing in itself, instead of having to battle both that and his reputation, as teams would have to in the future. For after this World Series he would not be just Bob Gibson, he would be the great Bob Gibson, and his myth would loom bigger, and because of that, in the minds of hitters, his fastball would be faster, the slider would break sharper and wider, and the word about how he shaved hitters with a fastball would be more ominous."

Great stuff or what? And plenty more where that comes from. The portrait of Gibson alone - all of it incredibly strirring material about his hard work and perserverance in making it to the Cardinals - stretches to 24 pages.

This book is an absolute must-read for any true fan of baseball and its rich history.

The 1964 baseball season was a time of great change and re-alignment in baseball. David Halberstam's "October 1964" captures the entire story. Reading this book is like reading a Greek tragedy- the great hero Mickey Mantle battling a multitude of injuries in one final attempt to capture the glory of the world series, the decline and fall of the great Yankees dynasty, the brash young upstarts (the St. Louis Cardinals) whose style of aggressive baserunning, hard-nosed defense and take-no-prisoners pitching would define the way the game has been played. There are dozens of stories of hard-ache and triumph, and they are all here written in Halberstam's you-are-there prose. "October 1964" is a true treasure.

I just finished this book today, and it was AWESOME. In my opinion, this book was NOT biased or pro-St. Louis. It simply showed one team that wanted to remain mostly old-school and segregated, and another where youth played a big role and integration was welcomed and thrived. It showed in great detail the lives of all the major players involved in the Series, from the pitchers to the catchers to the managers. It gave a very detailed setting, and made me feel like I was there with the players. A FANTASTIC read for the avid baseball fan. If you want to read the ultimate story of head-to-head all-star competition (Mantle vs. Brock, Maris vs. White), this is it. From Bob Gibson to Lou Brock, Mickey Mantle to Elston Howard, this book covers all the stars of the '64 Yankees & Cardinals teams and chronicles their amazing season. Definitely an A+ on this book!

Mr. Halberstam is a very talented writer, who has achieved the status of being considered one of the best. Many people feel that when writers reach such status, that everything they write is great. This book is an example of how that is not the case. Have you ever heard the saying, 'ask him the time, and he will tell you how a watch is made?' Well, that's how I feel about this book. There is so much background information, deep, really deep back ground - that it takes away from the central characters of the book. Why, does Halberstam include Buck O'Neil's story in a book about the 1964 Cardinals and Yankees? If Halberstam had a good editor, and let the editor do his job, this huge amount of background could have been condensed, leaving more space to write about Cards and the Yanks. And what are people like Jake Gibbs doing in this book? This book also has factual errors that a good editor should have corrected. As an example, Halberstam twice refers to Lee May of the Milwaukee Braves, when he actually means Lee Maye, Maye NOT May. Lee May's major league career began with the Cincinnati Reds and he NEVER played for the Milwaukee or Atlanta Braves.

I enjoyed this book but not as much as Halberstam's great "Summer of '49." As that book did with the Yankees and Red Sox, "October 1964" takes you through the Yankees' and Cardinals' respective seasons, with regular focuses on individual players, scouts, managers and owners. The title, then, is a bit misleading, as you don't get to October and the World Series until near the end of the book. That's fine, except that whereas "Summer of '49" was about two teams fighting each other all season long for the AL pennant, "October 1964" follows two teams in two different leagues, who didn't face each other until the Series. Halberstam's evident intent is to present the two teams in contrast: the rigidly conservative, declining Yankees opposed to the young, hustling, racially integrated Cardinals. It almost works, but in the end it's like reading two separate books - a chapter or two about the Cardinals, then back to the Yankees, Cardinals, Yankees, etc., until the end, when they finally take the same playing field. That gives the book a bit of a disjointed feel and robs it of some of the intensity of "Summer of '49." Still, the portraits of the personalities involved are engaging, and the reader gets a good feel for the state of professional baseball circa 1964, making this a must-read for any lover of baseball history.

David Halberstam examines the 1964 World Series between New York and St. Louis with an eye towards the politically-charged 1960's. That year's Series occurred as the USA was about to encounter an escalation in Vietnam, street protests, and rising crime. The 1964 Yankees were the establishment team, a mostly white squad of aging stars (Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Whitey Ford) that just won their 14th pennant in 16 years. The "reformer" Cardinals were more integrated, with stars like Bob Gibson, Ken Boyer, Bill White, [...]Groat, Curt Flood and Tim McCarver. Both teams had won their respective pennants by a single game; the Cardinals most dramatically as Philadelphia lost 10 of 12 the last two weeks.

In recounting this tense seven-game series, Halberstam examines personalities and issues. We learn about spring training in still-segregated Florida, the relationship of battery mates Bob Gibson and Tim McCarver, the decline of the Yankees farm system, and how both team managers were soon gone from their teams after the Series ended. We also see that the victorious Cardinals returned to the World Series in 1967-1968, while the vanquished Yankees sank into mediocrity for most of a decade. St. Louis wasn't the first integrated team to beat the mighty Yankees - Cleveland (1954) and Brooklyn (1955) did earlier - but this time the affect was lasting.

This is a superb baseball narrative despite the author's pro-St. Louis bias. Readers might also enjoy Halberstam's baseball narratives about the Boston-New York rivalry, SUMMER OF 49 (despite a few factual errors) and TEAMATES, a moving look at Boston stars who remained close for half a century.

Halberstam goes into some great accounts here of the men involved in October 1964. It isn't just about the teams and the games they played. He really tells the stories of the men involved. I really enjoyed this book. My favorite people to learn about were Bob Gibson and Mickey Mantle. If you love baseball, you will love this book.

"OCTOBER 1964" by David Halberstam (1995)

Sometimes the best sports books are not really sports books, as is the case with David Halberstam's brilliant "October 1964", which tells the story of a changing America through the microcosm of two very different baseball teams.
Halberstam, one of the great living American writers, concentrates on events that occurred during tumultuous times. Halberstam examines the loser of the 1964 World Series, the New York Yankees, who represent the old America, and the winners, the St. Louis Cardinals, who represent the new.
The Yankees were the Republican Party, conservative, white, country club elite, old money, Wall Street, the status quo, featuring Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Whitey Ford. Their style of play was to not take chances, and they only had a couple black players.
The Cardinals mirrored Berkeley rabble rousers, and they played "National League baseball"--aggressive, stealing bases, stretching singles into doubles. Bob Gibson-black, college-educated, a man's man with something to prove, was their undisputed leader. Curt Flood was another thoughtful black athlete who harbored quiet resentment over his treatment by rednecks in Southern minor league towns. Tim McCarver came from a well-to-do white family in Memphis that employed black servants, his only frame of reference, until Gibson asked to take a sip from his coke. McCarver hesitatingly handed Gibby the can, Gibby took a big old honkin' Samuel L. Jackson sip, flashed the kid a giant smile, and handed the can back. McCarver's lesson: Sharing with black's is just like sharing with whites.
Halberstam details the metaphor of these two clubs, in which the Yankees would fall from their lofty perch, only to rise once they changed their ways in accordance with the world around them, mirroring the Reagan Revolution. The Cardinals would win three pennants in the `60s, Gibson ascending to Hall of Fame status, while McCarver grew up to be the modicum of tolerance. Flood became the symbol of the union movement with a fall-on-his-sword lawsuit challenging the reserve clause, opening the door to freedom and riches for numerous players.

October 1964 is an interesting, if somewhat rambling series of vignettes about famous baseball players and not-so-famous coaches and scouts. The book is held together only loosely by the fact that it focuses just on Yankees or Cardinals of a general time period. If you are looking for a larger story line or point to any of it, then look to either the editorial reviews or the back flap; the author provides none. The most mystifying piece is that coverage of the actual World Series begins on page 316 of a 360 page book. Even then it is only as the next topic the author stumbles upon, rather than as the culmination of any of the stories which preceeded it. As a baseball fan, I liked some of the insight into the players. I unfortunately also felt that the topic was worth much more.

A classic matchup: the establishment Yankees vs the underdog Cardinals, who field a younger, more diverse team. The St Louis team makes the Series by the slimmest of margins after overcoming what most thought to be an insurmountable September lead by the Phillies. Then (this was before the postseason playoffs that started in 1969) they were off to the Series to meet the mighty Yankees. The seven game series that resulted was one for the record books. The Cardinals prevailed, but not without a tremendous challenge from the Yanks. The series could just as easily have gone the other way. Halberstam sets up the season for both teams and then provides a wonderful narrative of this nailbiter Series. His minibiographical sketches of key players personalizes the story.

This is a book that baseball fans will truly enjoy.

My cousin, Barb, recommended this book to me and this fall seemed like the right time to read it. The Yankees and the Cardinals seemed on the way to a World Series rematch and newspaper accounts of the 40th anniversary of the 1964 Series made a return to the days of yesteryear seem attractive. The Yankees missed the rematch but "October 1964" did not disappoint. This review is in the nature of a favor passed on.

This book can best be described as character studies of two baseball organizations. The `64 Yankees are portrayed as the last gasp of a dying dynasty, a dinosaur that had not adapted the changing baseball world. As black players deepened the talent pool, the Yankees catered to their middle class fan pass. As the Yankee pinstripes began to mean less than signing bonuses, the output of their once rich farm system became as parsimonious as their management. Patching together aging bodies and strained muscles, the Yankees managed to come from behind to win the pennant, but Whitey Ford's sore arm, Mickey Mantle's aching legs and Tony Kubek's back sapped the energy from the Yankee spirit.

The Cardinals, by contrast, were a collection of veterans and rising stars trying to find the winning combination, while management worked at cross purposes. Spurred by announcer Harry Carey, the impatient Gussie Busch, who knew even less about baseball than he did about failure, began the dismantling of a management on the threshold of victory. Branch Rickey, a fossilized fifth wheel, crowded out general manager Bing Devine shortly after the completion of perhaps the greatest trade in baseball history, that of Ernie Broglio for Lou Brock.

On the field, the collection of southern whites and rising blacks felt their way with trepidation under the gentle guidance of Johnny Keane. As a young fan, I reveled in Cardinal success. As a reader, I learned about my heroes. I knew Ken Boyer as the team leader whose signature graced my glove, but I had forgotten the derision heaped upon him by Harry Carey and the fans. I knew Dick Groat as a steady veteran in the All Star infield. I read that he was a disruption in the club house.

I had forgotten how new Mike Shannon was in 1964. I always liked the way the stadium announcer intoned "Curt Simmons" and the story of how he had pitched so well for the Phillies in 1950 before his induction into the army took him out of the World Series. His 1964 World Series appearance had seemed to be long overdue. This book reminded me about his steady performance which helped get the Cardinals into the Series. I had known Tim McCarver as the enthusiastic catcher. David Halberstam introduced me to the son of a Memphis policeman whose friendship with Bob Gibson was part of the glue which put this winner together.

Bob Gibson was incomparable on the mound, although Halberstam reminds the reader that the Gibson of 1964 was not the dominating machine of later in the decade. Bill White was the power hitting first baseman and Curt Flood the fast defensive star in center field. I remember how Lou Brock caught fire and sparked a moribund team. I had always regarded them as just other stars. I had no idea of all that these black men had gone through in the southern minor leagues and their own uncertainties as to their places in the game.

Although the story of the World Series comprises only about 10% of the book it, along with the stories of the pennant races clarify the memories which had grown hazy with time.

The epilogue is a combination of triumph and tragedy which reminds us that baseball is only a game from which even its gods must move on into a real world which is not always so kind. Yogi Berra would be fired and replaced by Johnny Keane, whose tenure in New York would be unsuccessful. Yogi would manage the Mets before returning to the Yankees. Ken Boyer would be traded and wind down his career with other teams before returning to manage the Cardinals. Roger Maris would escape New York to find happiness as a Cardinal before he and Boyer succumbed to cancer in their early 50s. Mickey Mantle's career and health would decline as a life of abuse took its toll. Curt Flood's career would end with his legal challenge to the reserve clause.

Tim McCarver and Mike Shannon would find places in the broadcast booths. Bobbie Richardson found a home as a college baseball coach while Dal Maxville became general manager of the Cardinals. Bob Gibson would variously coach pitching in the majors and operate a restaurant. Bill White would rise to president of the National League. When his legs gave out, Lou Brock would continue as a public figure in St. Louis. Jim Bouton and Bob Uecker would achieve fame by poking fun at the game they lived for.

Early in the story, Halberstam refers to the unsettled social environment of the 60s. He then subtly weaves the social background into his baseball story.

By now it should be clear that I like this book. My next e-mail will thank Barb for the recommendation.

With his book "October 1964," author David Halberstam once again proves himself an exceptionally talented sportswriter, as well as a superb historian and journalist. Written in the same vein as "The Summer of '49," his 1989 book on baseball, "October 1964" tells the story of the last season of the great New York Yankee dynasty of the 1950s and 60s, the St. Louis Cardinals' 1964 championship season, and the climactic seven-game 1964 Yankees-Cardinals World Series.

This is much more than a straightforward account of a baseball season and World Series. Halberstam, a writer well known for books combining excellent history with insightful social commentary, ("The Best and the Brightest," "The Fifties," "The Children," among them,) delivers a well researched historical narrative and an incisive analysis of both the Yankees' and Cardinals' 1964 seasons and players, set against the backdrop of ongoing social ferment in the United States of the 1960s. The reader is introduced to a Yankees team of aging white superstars - Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Whitey Ford among them - a team living on past glories and hoping to keep its dynasty alive. The St. Louis Cardinals, by contrast, was a team made up of young and predominantly black players - Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, and Curt Flood (who would one day help change the face of baseball) - bringing new levels of speed and power to the game, and rising to dominance in the National League. Halberstam eloquently interweaves a narrative of each team's season with the story of the black players' struggle against prejudice, at the time the Civil Rights movement in the United States was gaining momentum. The culmination of this book is Halberstam's description of how the 1964 World Series was played, won and lost, and some of the surprising turns of events in the aftermath of the World Series.

"October 1964" is simply an excellent read - highly entertaining, fast paced, witty, anecdotal, and authoritative. Lovers of baseball, and those who know nothing about the game, will enjoy this book. Highly recommended!

It is rare indeed when a reader comes across a book that delivers more than what is expected. David Halberstam's October 1964 is a very fine example of this. The story that Halberstam weaves is, on the surface, a tale of men playing professional baseball in the mid sixties. The drama that takes place throughout the summer of 1964, culminating with that year's fall classic in October is, in itself, great reading for any baseball fan. The legends of Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Mickey Mantle, and Roger Maris seem to grow before the readers very eyes. But this is much more than a story of men playing baseball.

The year 1964 was a volatile time in the history of our country, and the ballplayers playing for the New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinal that year reflected much of the country's turmoil. Lou Brock and Curt Flood's incredible drive and determination to show white America that they were badly mistaken about the ability of black ballplayers, and Bob Gibson's incredible anger about what was occurring, are excellent examples of the changing race relations evident in the United States at this time. The New York Yankees slow process of integrating the organization illustrates that progress in this endevor was plodding at best. However, race relations were not the only changing forces at work in baseball at this time.

The modern media was just beginning to emerge during the early 1960's and Halberstam's treatment of how this new media clashed with the midwestern populist views of Roger Maris and was embraced(at times) by the gregarious Mickey Mantle is fascinating. Most of the players, if not all, during this time period did not yet understand that how they performed on the field was now only part of the story. Again, the study of Maris during his quest for 61 homers in 1961 is a great example of the coming storm of the celebrity driven media.

Being a history and education major in college myself, I find one of the best examples that the book has to offer of changing America was the clashing ideologies of the newer players and the older players and managers. Players such as Ray Sadecki, Phil Linz, and Joe Pepitone, were indeed alien to the old guard. Even an item such as Joe Pepitone's bringing a hairdryer in to the clubhouse seemed stunning to the older players. It was a changing world, and as has been quoted in the past, baseball reflected America.

In summation, Halberstam's book is a history book, a psychology book, a sociology book, and, of course, a baseball book. For people who actually remember what was going on in 1964 it is especially poignant, baseball fan or not. But for myself I now have a better understanding of why, as a boy, I once gazed upon the ball cards of Mantle and Boyer and Brock and Ford and held them in awe. They were men who were larger than life at a time when only the tough survived. After reading Halberstam's account of a long ago October my feeling of awe, admiration, and hero worship have increased tenfold

America's national pastime, the glorious game of baseball, has lost its lustre in these recent troubled years. But harken back to the 1960s -- when baseball was indisputably the king of sport. ---- Halberstam takes readers back to that time, specifically back to the riveting season of 1964. Recapture the aura of the "invincible" Yankee dynasty with the likes of Mantle, Maris, and Ford. Thrill to the Cardinal's late season surge fueled by energy from players like Flood, Brock, and Gibson. --- Yes this is a great baseball book, because it goes beyond mere descriptive verse and creates a feel for the unique personalities of the players. It gets even better, though, as Halberstam shows how these two Series-bound teams remarkably reflected the wider social transitions taking place in 1964. It is truly amazing how the clash between the status quo, predominantly white Yankees, and the upstart racially integrated (on and off the field) Cardinals provided a near-perfect mirror for the conflicts of the times. ---- Even for readers knowing the outcome of that Series, Halberstam builds a sense of momentousness which culminates with a thrilling game-by-game description of the fateful match-up. This book is as much about race relations, labor organization, and America toying with new definitions of personal freedom as it is about Gibson's wicked slider and Mantle's crunching homers. If today's baseball has left you feeling a mite disenchanted, here's a lively read to recapture the glory, and understand a distinct year in American history to boot! A home run hit deep, deep into the fabric of our nation!

It is said that sports is a microcosm of society and this is much more than a book about baseball. This book focuses on the World Series of that year to symbolize the end of the age of inocence.
The New York Yankees represent "The Establishment" . The St Louis Cardinals were the up and coming team. Representing the new direction that sports and society were about to take.
It reminds me a little of the '69 Super Bowl were Colts and Johnny Unitas represented the conservative NFL, whereas Joe Namath and the New York Jets represented the more rebellous up and coming AFL. Both championships were a clash of cultures.
Halberstam takes an indepth look at players and personel of both the Cardinals and the Yanks.

This book is a wonderful recollection and inside peek at the 1964 baseball season. The season became a turning point for two storied baseball franchises -- the last year before the Yankees went in the toilet for a decade -- and the first year the St. Louis Cardinals became one of the predominant teams of the 1960s.

The book was an exceptional look at the up and coming Cardinals. It told of how a multi-racial team with exceptional talent gelled. It told of how a group of common folks learned to live with each other, even amid a clubhouse in which Cardinal Team Icon Stan Musial was absent for the first time in 22 years. The stories of how Bob Gibson and Tim McCarver became a battery, or how Lou Brock, Curt Flood, Bill White, Dick Groat and Ken Boyer became a core component of a world championship is "can't put down" reading.

The Yankee dynasty reading was fascinating because it presented such a marked contrast between the "old" and "new" in major league baseball. "Damn the consequence, you'll do it our way," became a recurring theme. The lack of African-American ballplayers on the Yankees was told as an afterthought but was so incredibly noticable when compared to the Cardinals. There's a damn good reason why the Yankees went nowhere from the time CBS bought them until King George arrived -- people like Hank Aaron, Bob Gibson, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Roberto Clemente or even Dick Allen or the Alou brothers never appeared in Yankee pinstripes.

Halberstam is, as usual, a wonderful though bit verbose writer. His grasp of detail was fascinating and his understanding of basebally first rate.

David Halberstam is one of my all-time favorite writers, and this is one of his best books. The book deals with the 1964 World Series and offers a whole new insight to the classic series between the Cardinals and Yankees.

It's worth reading just for the stories about Bob Gibson, but there's so much more to the story. One of the biggest things the Cards had going for them was how well the team handled integration. This was only 17 years after Jackie Robinson broke in with the Dodgers and there were a few teams that had only integrated in the past few years. Halberstam says the National League integrated much more quickly and that was a big reason for the difference in the style of play between the two leagues.

He also shows how well the Cardinals dealt with the issue and how poorly the Yankees accomplished integrating their team. As a result, the Cards had a much closer team than the Yankees.

If you enjoy this book, you should check out Halberstam's other book about baseball (The Summer of '49). If you like these and are a basketball fan I would also recommend The Breaks of the Game (a look at one season for the Portland Trailblazers). If you enjoy any of these books and are interested in the media, be sure to check out The Powers That Be. If you like history, The Best and the Brightest is probably the best book ever written about Vietnam and the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, and The Children is an outstanding book about the fight to integrate the south during the 1960's.

David Halberstam uses the story of the 1964 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Yankees to explain the dynamics of the African-American struggle for civil rights in the U.S. And he does it in a way that isn't pedantic or preachy.

Halberstam's thesis in "October 1964" is that the Cardinals embody the virtue of integration, while the Yankees saw their dynasty collapse because they refused to embrace it.

By 1964, the National League was far more integrated than the rival American League, boasting not only the talented stars of the Cardinals (including such black players as pitcher Bob Gibson, centerfielder Curt Flood, leftfielder Lou Brock, and first baseman Bill White), but many others on its various teams. Just a partial list: Willie Mays and Willie McCovey of the San Francisco Giants; Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente of the Pittsburgh Pirates; Frank Robinson and Vada Pinson of the Cincinnati Reds, and Hank Aaron and Lee Maye of the Milwaukee Braves.

"October 1964" examines how the St. Louis players learned to transcend their ethnic backgrounds; the racial education of Tennessee-born Tim McCarver by Gibson, Flood and the others is one of the key elements of this part of the story.

All the intensity of a four-way fight for the NL crown is conveyed very well in the book, further proving that this is no mere polemic.

The Yankee portion of the story might be read as an extension of Jim Bouton's comments on this team in "Ball Four." As chronicled here, the Yankees emerge as a team on borrowed time, held together by veterans with the savvy and toughness of a perennial winner, but hampered by physical deterioration.

The team's rationalization for all but ignoring black talent is also thoroughly explained.

The narrative of the seven-game World Series itself is exciting, even to those familiar with each game.

Lastly, "October 1964" is a poignant look at a time when baseball had a simpler structure: 10-team leagues with no divisions and a reserve clause that greatly restricted player salaries and movement. There are things many fans would like to have back about that era, and some things we may be better off without.

What to do with the rest of the summer of the Boys of Summer take their ball and go home? Read this book...

I'm not, by any means, a rabid baseball fan, but Halberstam paints fascinating word portraits of many of the sport's most famous players. Not only are the biographies interesting, the story their collective desires to WIN (not make money) is inspirational. In 1964, baseball led the way in accepting minorities into the fabric of American culture. Despite off-the-field distractions, the Saint Louis Cardinals fought and clawed their way into the World Series.

Bob Gibson kept the team focused. He was just plain mean on the mound. Opposing batters feared him. And in the end, Gibson's reputation and his ability to "psyche out" his opponents may have given the Cards that little extra edge that made them Baseball's World Champions in October 1964.

I thought I was a knowledgeable baseball fan until I read this book. The depth and insight that the author provides is beyond comprehension. We find out why the National League was the superior league for many years. We also learn that the Yankees could have been far greater than they actually were (they could have signed Willie Mays and Hank Aaron to name a few greats) if not for their own predjudice.

We get a great insight to the personalities of baseball legends (Bob Gibson and Lou Brock were fascinating). On top of everything one of the most exciting World Series unfolds. The author's depictions are so vivid, I felt I was the catcher for Whitey Ford or Bob Gibson instead of just a reader of a book. On top of that, even knowing the outcome I felt the tension of a real game as the story was being told.

If you only read one baseball book, this one should be it!

As an author with my first novel in its initial release, I am often fascinated with nonfiction works that read as if they are great novels. David Halberstam's OCTOBER 1964 is one such book. I loved this book despite the fact that my taste in baseball teams swings most often to the likes of the Red Sox, the Cubs, and the Angels. While my personal teams figure out new ways every season not to bring home a World Series crown, the Yankees and the Cardinals of 1964 represent two of the great championship teams in baseball history. Each, also, repesents much more than merely a team or a city. In Mr. Halberstam's book, the Yankees represent the Establishment. They are used to winning. They are securely implanted in America's moneyed and white power structure. It is expected that they will win because they have won so often in the past. The Cardinals represent change. The stars of the Cards are black--Gibson, Brock, and Flood. They are the rebels. Later in his life, Curt Flood became the man who challenged the baseball's reserve clause in court. Flood lost his case and his career, but he revolutionized the game. David Halberstam, one of journalism's best and brightest, brilliantly weaves the history of these two very different sports teams into the time period in which they faced off against each other in the battle for the championship of the world. OCTOBER 1964 is a great book. We know in 1964 that the establishment was still hanging on securely in power but that the rebels were gaining strength fast. Yet we do know which team won the World Series. You can look it up.

Another fantastic piece of Americana delivered by David Halberstam. "October '64" is not merely a baseball book, it is a book which metaphorically uses baseball as a symbol of changing times in America. Halberstam portrays an uncertain nation still reeling in the anquish of the Kennedy Assassination and somewhat at unease with itself as the Civil Rights movement intensified. In October 1964, the St.Louis Cardinals -- a brash, young ball club led by African-American stars Bob Gibson, Curt Flood and Lou Brock -- defeated the baseball institution known as the New York Yankees in the World Series. Halberstam asserts that the Cardinals, a racially harmonious squad in which blacks and whites worked together to achieve the goal of a World Championship, represented the direction in which all of America, not just baseball, would have to head in order to achieve greatness. One would be hard pressed to disagree with the author's assertions as the Cardinals would appear in three World Series between '64-'68. Meanwhile the once-proud Yankees, whose front office was reluctant to change with the times, would see their dynasty crumble before decade's end. As always, Halberstam's research and delivery are nothing short of staggering. His literary recreation of a nation governed by Jim Crow laws is chilling. His portrayal of men who overcame so many obstacles to achieve baseball stardom is downright inspiring. If you liked "Summer of '41" or "The Fifties" chances are you'll be pleased with "October '64". Great Book !

Not quite as good as Summer of 1949, but still extremely good. Halberstam does an excellent job of capturing a place and a time. A must read for true baseball fanatics.

I did'nt understand this book and I could'nt even get through the 1st chapter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This book started my fascination with 50's and 60's era of baseball. Halberstam does an excellent job covering the hundreds of people that made up the game during that time period. After reading this book, I had to go out and buy several biographies of some players that seemed so very interesting to me. Since I am a baseball fan that was born in 83 I wasn't around to experience those players, I just have to read about them.

Halberstam as always writes beautifully here, but as in some of his other sports books the minor factual errors he makes leave one wondering what else hasn't adequately been checked.

For example, the anecdote supposedly occuring in Ralph Terry's rookie season wherein he is alleged to have crossed words with Cy Young. It's a great story, of course. The small problem is that Ralph Terry first appeared in a major league game in August, 1956, while Young died in November, 1955.

Could Terry have encountered Young earlier in life, before Terry's rookie season? Of course, but the fact is that it didn't happen as related...

Yes, this is another lovely baseball book from David Halberstam. While not as sweeping and poetic as 'Summer of 49', it is more...oh I don't know..."hard-boiled"?
Maybe baseball was different too...and he's reflecting that in his book. Baseball was more serious.
Take players like Maris and Mantle, or Gibson and Brock. These aging superstars and noble black ballplayers...their stories aren't so much whimsical (like in 1949) as seriocomic. The hardships Gibson and Brock went through can only be imagined by today's players. Mantle's brittle knees almost have their own personality here.
Yet the power of a Gibson pitch or a Mantle home run comes across perfectly in Halberstam's prose.
Also, he proves the theory that there is no other sport contest more inherently dramatic (in a literary sense) than a classic pennant race.
This is a pleasure to read.

Despite the 15-year gap between the two stories, it seems like OCTOBER 1964 picks up right where SUMMER OF '49 leaves off. Despite the suggestion of the title, OCTOBER, like it's predecessor, examines a lot of What Went Before -- the grind of the season, spring training, and the trends in baseball leading up to the might clash.

Here, those trends are the result of what began with the first book. Years of New York Yankee domination are beginning to wind down, and more importantly, the racial integration of the baseball leagues was beginning to provide advantages to those teams willing to adapt.

The players that Halberstam describes are the ones that created the baseball of today. These players brought free agency and a strong Players Association that experienced uninterrupted negotiating success until this last summer.

Essentially, what we have here has to be one of the most fascinating collection of baseball players ever. For the Yankees, you have Mantle and Maris, uncomfortable and declining slugging kings, along with wacky Jim Bouton (see BALL FOUR). The Cardinals have Curt Flood, Bob Uecker, and Bob Gibson, whose made his reputation against all of baseball in this one World Series.

This book suffers some of the same flaws as SUMMER OF '49. Just like its predecessor, it relies heavily on the potentially-flawed and biased memories of the participants, though, to my knowledge, this volume did not draw nearly so many attacks against its veracity. It doesn't have the rosters at the beginning of the book (tsk).

But what it doesn't have, fortunately, is the sense that something is missing. Here, it truly feels like baseball's best are playing the game, and nobody but the untalented are excluded. Well, except for Uecker.

If you are a baseball junkie, this is a captivating, must have book to add to your collection.

Excellent book! The character buildup and locker-room details make this one of the best baseball books written. Though not as "romantic" as Roger Angell's "The Summer Game", it goes in depth with all the personalities (however minor) that had a part in the incredible late-season surge of the Cardinals (and late season faltering of the Phillies) as well as the last great Yankee team. As if that's not enough, the Epilouge follows-up with what happened to all the key personnel to make this book a must have for the baseball buff or a great read for the casual fan...highly recommended.

In 1964 the Yankees and the Cardinals matched up in the World Series as two contrasting teams. The Yankees were a decaying dynasty; this was the end of their incredible sixteen year run from 1949-1964, and the stars they had always counted on, like Whitey Ford and Mickey Mantle, were battling injuries on the downside of their careers. The Cardinals, meanwhile, countered the Yankees aging arrogance with a youthful hunger that couldn't be denied. A racially diverse group of young players like Bob Gibson, Tim McCarver, Ken Boyer, Curt Flood, Lou Brock, and Bill White were too much for New York, and baseball entered a new era. Halberstam focuses mainly on the personal stories of the men involved, as well as the social climate of the times and how the two teams responded to it. The Yankees were reluctant to integrate, their management confident that they could continue to win with white players. The Cardinals were probably the most integrated team in baseball, but there was almost no internal conflict. Their clubhouse leader, in fact, was a black man, Bob Gibson. This book is a classic.

David Halberstam is undoubtedly one of the great journalists of the past few decades. As the New York Times correspondent in Vietnam in the early 60's, he was one of the most influential media voices on the War and The Best and the Brightest was one of the first really important books on what had gone wrong. The success of the book freed him from the grind of daily newspaper work, but in the succeeding years he has produced books on The Times, the auto industry and various sports, almost all of which are characterized by reportage of the highest quality. I particularly liked The Reckoning, wherein he recounts the fall of the American and the rise of the Japanese auto industries and Breaks of the Game, in which he details one year in the life of the Portland Trail Blazers and which I maintain is the only good basketball book ever written. And, of course, he wrote the terrific Summer of '49, about the rivalry between the Red Sox of Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio's Yankees.

In October 1964 he returns to baseball, this time to the World Series showdown between the Yankees and the Cardinals, and combines the detailed reporting for which he is known, with a theme similar to that of The Reckoning. For what truly interests him about that year, a seemingly ordinary enough season in most respects, is the aspect of race and how the different teams dealt with it. He explores the manner in which the Cardinals, through their commitment to finding and developing black players, were leading a revolution in the game of baseball, building their team around superior speed and athleticism and the burning desire to succeed. He contrasts them with the Yankees, an increasingly fossilized institution, refusing to use black players, attempting to quash free spirits and unable to replace declining stars like Mantle and Ford.

Now if, like me, you grew up listening to Bill White and Phil Rizzuto and Tim McCarver broadcast baseball games, many of the stories in here will be familiar. In fact, I became conscious for perhaps the first time of the difference between a great reporter and great writer as I was reading this book. I really noticed that large swaths of the book are simple regurgitation of interviews and the judgments about the game that are being related are not even his own, they are the interviewees. If Mel Stottlemyre told him that the key to pitching was throwing breaking balls and keeping the ball down, then that's Halberstam's belief. I don't know whether he actually doesn't know all that much about the game or simply chose to believe the professionals, but I found a lot of the opinion that he offers to be unconsidered. His editorial voice wafts very faintly through the book, emerging only on the racial and labor issues (Curt Flood of the Cardinals would be the first man to challenge baseball's restrictive contracts, paving the way for free agency). Much of the rest reads like a reporter conveying the players' impressions after a game. There are also some really annoying repetitions in the book, redundancies which any editor should have caught, assuming editors still exist.

But on balance I liked the book. His essential "changing of the guard" premise is absolutely correct. Black players completely dominated the 60's and 70's, not merely for athletic reasons but also because they were simply hungrier and had more to gain (for much the same reason, Irish then Jews and Italians enjoyed their hey day earlier in the century and Latin American players are in the ascendancy now). The more aggressive signing of black talent also led to a long period of dominance by the National League after years of Yankee invincibility. This racial theme gives the book a greater social resonance than most sports fare which, combined with the baseball lore, would seem to make the book an ideal vehicle to teach young adults about the civil rights struggles in a format they'd find interesting and entertaining.

GRADE: B

I grew up in the St. Louis area and am naturally a Cardinal fan (gee, does the sun come up in the east and set in the west!) so I greatly enjoyed this book. I also grew up with the idea that the Yankees were less than human, although after reading this book, they are okay, although they still remain the best team money can buy, to this day, which is not okay.

Most of the book covers the players and how they became major league ball players, through their ordeals in the minor leagues, and in the cases of all the black players, racism and the difficulties arising from that. Also covered in depth are the owners, managers, scouts, and pennant races, all building up to that amazing World Series held between the Yankees and the Cardinals in October 1964.

This book goes into amazing detail, and is very thorough, the next best thing to having seats to that World Series. I am too young to really remember that Series, but I do remember seeing Lou Brock at Busch Stadium stealing bases in '73 and '74, and Bob Gibson pitching in 1974, his last year, one of the best ever hurlers in the game, and these are treasured memories for me. But you don't have to be a Yankee or Cardinal fan to enjoy this book, it should be fascinating reading for any baseball fan, and it really highlights how the game has changed over the years.

Halberstam's book is a fun read, part history lesson, part box score, and part baseball hero worship. The accounts of race relations in the sport, the maintenance and collapse of the Yankees dynasty, scouting, and the minor leagues are windows into baseball's past and its legacy to America. The stories of Mickey Mantle's decline, Bob Gibson's intensity, and Lou Brock's focus are compelling and personal. The pennant race and world series are told in clinical detail, but are surprisingly devoid of passion given the long sweet windup of the early chapters. The book is a must for baseball fans, but optional for all others. It runs along slow and easy, like a Sunday double-header, with elongated prose and steady pace. It could be a hundred pages shorter and appeal to a broader audience, but perhaps the book is like baseball itself, that the man once said is only as boring as the person watching it.

Bill Veeck once observed that you can "savor" a baseball game in a way that you cannot with games in other big-time sports. Halberstam has written an epic gem to be savored here with October 1964. This book features dozens of excellent, well-crafted moments that you'll stop and think about for a long time to come. His graceful profiles of greats like Mantle, Gibson, Maris, Brock, and Flood might prove to be the best yet. Halberstam has the incredible ability to draw forth the full power of a figure or a moment-- even if already well-known --in a way that sheds new light and rejuvenates a sense of awe, without exaggeration or scandalous overtones. Halberstam could write about any baseball season in history and make it a profound read.

So many people have said so much so I'll keep it brief. I enjoyed this book very much. I think Halberstam is one of the best writers around on American history and topics related to it. He is good, but not great solely as a sports writer. His skill is for delineating social issues and this moment in baseball history is clearly significant as it highlights the success that came with the unique talents of the Cardinals' African American stars. It was a changing of the guard within the game. And a time ripe with meaning for the whole country. These Cardinal players were the inheritors of Jackie Robinson's proud legacy. Halberstam captures these times with style and thouroughness.

Was I brief? It's a good book--highly recommended for fans of baseball, sociology or anyplace where those two intersect in fascinating fashion.

This is one of the best baseball books that I have ever read. Even though I was not born during this season, I was able to get into the players' stories. The social history that it also provides is what makes it an important book. In fifth grade in every suburban school, you learn that Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, and are led to believe that it was happily ever after. Not so. Just ask Elston Howard, who could not get a house in the same towns in which the other Yankees lived. Also, as a Yankee fan, I thought it was a bad thing that the Yankees lost this series and did not return there for a decade. Reading this book makes you realize that it was a monumental event for the diverse Cardinals to defeat what at the time was the greatest, and perhaps most racist, dynasty in sports.

This wonderful book by David Halberstam follows the fortunes of the NY Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals in the fall of 1964, culminating in their meeting in the World Series. Reading about greats like Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Bob Gibson, Curt Flood, and Lou Brock will keep the baseball fan turning the pages through the night, but this is more than just a book about baseball. Halberstam sensitively explores the conflicts and struggles between White and Black American in the mid-1960s through the story of these two teams.

One of the saddest aspects of David Halberstam's passing in 2007 is that we will no longer have the joy and privilege of reading his wonderful works on sports, especially baseball. October 1964 ranks only behind his work on the 1949 baseball season as a seminal work on the art and passion of baseball. In each case he chose the New York Yankees and a team with die hard loyal fans (Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals) and portrayed not only how the respective pennant races went that season but what these teams meant to their respective communities and what the sport contributed to American culture.

Halberstam has always used baseball as trailblazer in the delicate art of racial integration and does so very effectively here. The differences between the progressive views of the Cardinals and the "old style" racial views of the Yankees serves as an outstanding microcosm of why the National League surpassed the American League and dominated them through the 1960's, 1970's and 1980s.

All in all this is an amazing work of one of the most critical times in American history and how sports very quietly lead the way to a more successful integration of overall American society.

Halberstam delivers another masterpiece book on baseball, a follow up to his other must read "Summer of '49". Ostensibly, this story is about a classic 1964 World Series between the Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals. However, Halberstam scope if far broader than just a classic NL pennant race and a memorable 7 game World Series. For this WS was a watershed moment in baseball history. While not on the level as Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier 17 years earlier, it stands just a few rungs below in importance.

This WS was the last for the famed Yankee franchise before the advent of another seminal period in baseball, free agency. The Yankees had dominated baseball from the time they acquired Babe Ruth until 1964. Featuring some of the most memorable names in baseball history -- Ruth, Gehrig, Dimaggio, Mantle and others - the Yankees were the team that most players wanted to play for, in spite of their penny pinching ownership and management. However, the decline of the Yankees that seemingly accelerated with the end of this WS really began when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947.

Yankee management remained steadfast in its opposition to integrating their lineup -- fearing they would alienate their "middle class white customers". The Dodger's signing of Robinson was a catalyst for other teams in the National League to increase the pace of signing African-American players -- not out of altruistic reasons, but to stay competitive. These African-American players represented the best talent and if NL teams didn't follow the Dodger's path, they risked falling farther behind competitively. However, the situation in the American League was far different. The two heavyweight franchises, the Yankees and the Red Sox, remained two of the last two teams to sign black players. During this time, it is no surprise that the balance of power shifted from the AL to the NL which became a who's who of Hall of Famers --- Aaron, Mays, Clemente, Banks, Gibson, Brock, Morgan and others. In fact, The Yankees could have extended their dynasty if not for the prejudice of management, passing on Hall of Fame talent Ernie Banks and Willie Mays.

During the 1964 season, it was evident that the great Yankees of this era were fading - Ford, Mantle and Maris - and the farm system just didn't have the talent to replenish. Meanwhile, the Cardinals traded for Lou Brock the previous year, had a top flight first baseman in Bill White, a phenomenal center fielder in Curt Flood and an ascendant pitcher in Bob Gibson. The Cardinals started off 1964 slowly but benefited from the collapse of the Phillies and an amazing second half of pitching by Gibson, Sadecki and others - winning the NL pennant on the last day of the season.

In the 64 WS, we saw glimpses of the Yankee legacy, strong pitching and power, however, it was also marred by erratic defense and the physical breakdown of players like Ford and Mantle. In no small part, the Cardinals put pressure on the Yankees with their aggressive brand of baseball, led by the speed of Brock and Flood. The series went to seven games and Cardinal manager Johnny Keane started Bob Gibson on two days rest --- an almost unthinkable occurrence a few short years ago, a black pitcher starting the most important game of America's pastime. Gibson battled through the fatigue without his best stuff, ultimately going the distance to defeat the Yankees. After the game, when reporters asked Keane why he left in Gibson in the ninth when it was apparent how fatigued he was (giving up two solo HRs), he gave what may have been the ultimate compliment that a manager could have paid any player - "I had a commitment to his heart".

This book is a must read for any serious baseball fan. As a Yankee fan, I read much of this with dismay at the arrogance and ignorance of Yankee management at that time. I also read it with admiration and awe at players like Bob Gibson and Lou Brock - what they still had to endure during a very racially divided America - and performing at the top of their profession in spite of all the barriers thrown their way. Once again Halberstam delivers another classic.

Because it's not all about sports. The baseball is almost incidental other than creating a far more interesting context for the social history and commentary. And that's a good thing because Halberstam pretty much fails in each of his books to really create the "magic" of the sports subjects he chronicles. If I compare Halberstam to another high intellect sports fan of note, George Will, I perceive that Will does a better job of writing in an intellectual and informative manner while also conveying the beauty and passion of sport, maybe because he keeps most of his sports writing to columns. Maybe I just expect too much when I see Halberstam's name as the author of a book, but with all the baseball and other sports books out there, I don't recommend the Halberstam books.

This is a very solid follow up to David Halberstram's previous baseball history "The Summer of '49." Unlike that bestselling book which reviewed the most exciting of the pennant race between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox during the Forties, "October, 1964" chronicles the changing of the guard. 1964 was the final season of the postwar New York dynasty. As Halberstram indicates, the season was a watershed year for baseball. Old alignments faded away and new constellations began to sparkle and shine.

The corporate Yankees were the winners of a remarkable fifteen American League pennants and and eleven World Series titles between 1947 and 1964. New York teams were largely composed of white ballplayers. New York featured numerous sluggers, such as Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Under manager Yogi Berra, who was under fire for most of his first season as the skipper, the Yankees managed to edge the Chicago White Sox by a single game to capture the pennant in 1964. Their World Series opponent was the St. Louis Cardinals.

St. Louis may have been the first fully integrated team in that it featured numerous minority players, including Curt Flood, Bob Gibson, Bill White, Julian Javier and Mike Cuellar, among others. The season for St. Louis shifted dramatically when the team traded for Lou Brock. After being mismanaged and underutilized by the Chicago Cubs, Brock had a breakout second half with the Cardinals. Manager Johnny Keane was rumored to be in jeopardy of dismissal for most of the season (Leo Durocher was supposed to have been his likely successor), but Brock's acquisition spurred a winning streak and the team rallied and took the pennant.

The Cardinals beat the Yankees in seven games and Berra was fired as manager. New York hired Keane as his replacement. The Yankees entered into a prolonged slump as their aging stars retired. The replacements were nowhere near as good as their predecessors. The Cardinals, however, continued to prosper under their new manager, Red Schoendist. St. Louis emphasized speed on the basepaths and power pitching in addition to timely hitting. The Cardinals began adding outstanding Latin American players to their playing roster. In effect, the St. Louis team pointed to the wave of the future in major league baseball.

Halberstam brilliantly sets the state for the 1964 World Series. He describes in detail each key players history and how they came to be a part of each team respectively. At the same time, he portrays how attitudes towards race in baseball, and in America in general, were changing and how it was changing the game. Absolutely wonderful.

David Halberstam does a magnificent job recounting the year, season, and playoffs of 1964. From the Philles' remarkable collapse to the thrilling 7-game series, he leaves no stone unturned. The only thing that keeps this book from being a five is the overfocus on Mickey Mantle. Too many other great, underappreciated players, like Bobby Richardson and Bill White, are snuffed out because of the Mantle focus. Otherwise, the book is fantastic.

I am convinced that if David Halberstam had dedicated his career to the subject, he would be known as the best baseball writer of all time. As it is he has written two of the best single-season accounts around, "Summer of '49" and "October 1964".

Halberstam writes up the Cardinals-Yankees clash as a symbol of the changing times in early 1960s baseball. The new game, represented by the Cardinals, is marked by speed on the field and by a more educated, independent class of player off the field. The new game, of course, is driven by the influx of the great black players into the National League. Pridefully and foolishly, the Yankees have refused to adapt to integration, believing that their greatness in the past will carry their dominance into the future.

The excellence of the book comes through in Halberstam's ability to develop the personalities of the principals while setting up the final showdown of old vs. new, Yankees vs. Cardinals. The biographical sketches alone make the book well worth reading. I especially enjoyed the portrait of the complicated star Bob Gibson. Several interesting sublots also evolve, including the hiring and firing of Yogi Berra, and the jaw-dropping baseball-stupidity of owner Gussie Busch, who drove out the general manager and field manager of a championship team.

This is my favorite kind of baseball writing, it looks beyond the statistics and contemporary newspaper articles to show the characters of some of the men who changed baseball. I hope Halberstam has a few more baseball books in him.

David Halberstam once again captures the professional baseball world, in many cases the world that has been forgotten or isn't glamorous to write about. The book is a wonderful snapshot of changing times, which affected the seemingly insular world of baseball as it did the rest of the nation. It is also the story of the end of a dynasty, and shows some of the causes of the Yankees imminent fall from being kings of the major league hill. While some have commented that the book is for the baseball fan only, and this has some merit, I would argue that the book could just as easily spur the nascent fan's interest in the game far more than simply reading another book about how the game has degenerated. Indeed, reading this work shows us that ballplayers always had motives that were part love of the game and part (if not in some cases primarily) economic. One follows the book as one follows a season, allowing even those who don't follow the game the chance to experience the daily ebbs and flows of the baseball fan throughout the course of one season.

It's not bad actually...and i know i would never pick it up if my teacher haven't assign it to us in class..but i guess the baseball fans should read it..because they would love it...for the people who have no favor in baseball(like me) and are just surfing this for the book review instead of reading it...i guess there's no luck..but hey that's life...:)

While many baseball experts recognized the "seams" in the Yankee team of 1964, most Americans saw this team as a continuation of a mighty dynasty. A young upstart Cardinal team emphasized speed over power and featured a full complement of new black superstars: Gibson, Brock, White and Flood. A fascinating read for baseball fans and for insight into the racially troubled 60's.

nearly as good as Summer of '4

I really, really, really, really liked this book. There are no words to describe this book. You have to read it. If you are a true baseball fan you will be missing a well written book that describes the events of the summer of 1964 regarding the Yankees and the Cardinals. Even if you are not a Yankee fan (who could be) or a Cardinal fan, you will love this book.

THIS IS THE WORST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ. IT IS UTTERLY TERRIBLE IN MANY WAYS. IT HAS TOO MUCH DESCRIPTION AND IS INCREDIBLY BORING. THE PARAGRAPHS ARE TOO LONG, AND WHEN I HAVE JUST GOTTEN INTO A CHAPTER THE TOPIC SUDDENLY SWITCHES WITHOUT WARNING. MY RECOMMENDATION: STAY AWAY-- THIS BOOK IS BADLY WRITTEN AND INCREDIBLY BORING.

This is not your typical sports book. It is a story about the characters, wills, and struggles of a group of men who happened to be involved in one of the greatest seasons of baseball ever. Halberstam definitely does his research for this book, a point that is made obvious not only in the book's acknowledgements, but also in the text of the novel itself. This is a history, but it is told almost as if it were fiction. Some of the stories actually sound too good to be true!

This book will give you a good laugh too. And it will make you think, definitely about more than just baseball. If you do like baseball, then this book is absolutely for you. Put it in your cart right now!

Halberstam develops character unlike any other, and his storytelling technique is enchanting. You will develop a new appreciation for men like Gibson, Brock, White, Uecker, Mantle, Whitey Ford, Ernie Banks, Berra, Maris, The Boyer Boys, Curt Flood, and even Tim McCarver. By the end of the book you know all of these heroes as if you played on the same team with them. It will also make you appreciate just a little bit more what Sosa and McGwire have gone up against in the 1998 season! Plus, Halberstam incorporates some of the lesser-known influences who had quite an impact on the game (and on history), none more deserving than the African American baseball patriarchs like Buck O'Neill. What great men.

And if you like this book, you had better read Summer of 49. Very similar in style to October 1964, within a different era of American history.

I enjoyed this book. Halberstam is a master at weaving a story--you won't get bogged down by game description, you also get colorful stories about the players involved. At times, though, Halberstam's race preaching can be condescending to the players (black and white) he refers to.

The book described the two teams who competed in the 1964 World Series, and how they each arrived there. It brought to life the personel struggles of they players, and especially the drive behind two of my favorite baseball players, Mickey Mantle the homerun hitter for the NY Yankees, and Bob Gibson, the World Series MVP. It was beautifully written, and a book you just couldn't stop reading.