1962, David Krell
1962, David Krell
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

1962
Baseball and America in the Time of JFK

Author: David Krell

Narrator: Chloe Cannon

Unabridged: 11 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 11/09/2021


Synopsis

In the watershed year of 1962, events and people came together to reshape baseball like never before. The season saw five no-hitters, a rare National League playoff between the Giants and the Dodgers, and a thrilling seven-game World Series where the Yankees won their twentieth title.

Baseball was expanding with the Houston Colt .45s and the New York Mets, who tried to fill the National League void in New York. Despite their record, the '62 Mets revived National League baseball in a city thirsty for an alternative to the Yankees.

Earlier that year in Los Angeles, Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley launched Dodger Stadium, a state-of-the-art ballpark in Chavez Ravine and a new icon for the city.

Beyond baseball, 1962 was also a momentous year in American history: Mary Early became the first Black graduate of the University of Georgia, First Lady Jackie Kennedy revealed the secrets of the White House in a television special, John Glenn became the first astronaut to orbit Earth, and JFK stared down Russia during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Weaving the 1962 baseball season within the social fabric of this era, David Krell delivers a fascinating book as epochal as its subject.

About David Krell

David Krell is the author of Our Bums: The Brooklyn Dodgers in History, Memory, and Popular Culture and 1962: Baseball and America in the Time of JFK.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Mike on March 17, 2021

I really wanted to like this book, but unfortunately the layout of it was a hot mess. Over the years, the University of Nebraska Press has become well-known for publishing a variety of baseball centric books. I have always had a pretty positive experience until I came across 1962. The premise of the......more

Goodreads review by Dee on May 01, 2021

This book brought back memories for me. 1962 was the year that I initially became more than passably interested in baseball, and I memorized the lineups of both world Series teams (S.F. Giants and the N.Y. Yankees). I cheered for the Giants because I lived in the community where Chuck Hiller grew up......more

Goodreads review by Ed on December 14, 2021

A strange book though still entertaining. It’s about 1962, the year, but with an overlay of the 1962 baseball season. Some problems with that approach: 1) 1962 was an okay year for baseball, but lacks the inherent drama of 1961 or the like, 2) the baseball stuff is extremely detailed, reeling off li......more

Goodreads review by Don on March 03, 2025

I debated on whether to give this book 3 stars because of some of the flaws, but I decided on four stars because it really has a lot of interesting material. As you can tell from the title, it’s really not about baseball, which is what I was hoping. The proofreading definitely leaves Something to be......more

Goodreads review by Mark on March 25, 2021

This was an odd one for me. I'm a big baseball fan and I love JFK so I was looking forward to this one based on the cover and description. However, I don't think this book was all that much about baseball or JFK, and was really mostly just about 1962. I guess if you take the full title just at face......more