While I was out galavanting, I got the chance to read a couple of books. Granted, they were not Dostoevsky, but compared to what I have been reading lately (i.e., nothing)…
Anyway, the first book was Summer of ’49 by David Halberstam. I can’t believe I never read this one when it came out. It concerns the incredible 1949 pennant race, between the Red Sox and Yankees, that came down to the last game of the season.
Halberstam writes like a true fan of both teams, letting us experience all the nuances of the season, and introducing me to characters that I really didn’t know. Besides the usual suspects–DiMaggio, Berra, Rizzutto, Williams, Pesky, Doerr–he presents compelling portraits of the other players that made the season so great: Reynolds, Kinder, Lopat, Henrich, Keller, Page, Raschi, Parnell, Tebbetts, and “the other DiMaggio” Dom.
The other book, read at the demand of my darling daughter, was the first installment of A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. In spite of the author’s warnings, this is a lovely little book about the three Baudelaire orphans–Violet, Klaus and Sunny–and their struggles with the scheming Count Olaf (the children’s guardian after the death of their wealthy parents). I shall have to continue this series.
Ahh the Red Sox threw the game. As great as the players like Williams were, the one thing they never accomplished was winning a pennant, Of course that really takes several players, not just 2 or 3.
Sure they did! They were in the 1946 World Series against the Cardinals…with the same result as the 1967 Series against the Cardinals–lost in seven games.