High-Flying Birds; The 1942 St. Louis Cardinals

Lonce Sandy-Bailey (Author's photograph) Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2009. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. xi, [3], 274 pages. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Minor trimming at top of half-title page. This is one of the Sports and American Culture Series that was edited by the renown Bruce Clayton. Jerry Mileur was born in Murphysboro, IL in 1934. He developed a love of politics, baseball, and puns, and was devoted to his home state and its history. He went to college and graduate school at his beloved Southern Illinois University. He earned his bachelor’s degree in speech communication in 1955 and a doctorate in government in 1971. He joined the Political Science faculty of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1967 where his teaching and research focused on U.S. political parties and elections. He taught at UMass for 37 years during which time he advised a large number of doctoral students, was chair of the Department of Political Science, was awarded the UMass Amherst Chancellor’s Medal, and founded the Jackie Robinson Initiative which marked the 50th anniversary of baseball’s integration. He was an accomplished author and editor. Some knew Jerry for his love of baseball. He was the long-time owner of the Harrisburg Senators until 1994. Others will remember Jerry for his dedication to the St. Louis Cardinals, a love that was kindled by his much-loved grandfather August Willi. Jerry published two books on the Cardinals and his third volume was completed just a few days before his death. Others will think about his collections of political memorabilia and extensive frog collection which he kept at his home in Hadley affectionately named “Frogs Folly.”. 1942: Americans suddenly found themselves at war but were not about to be distracted from the National Pastime. The Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees were looking to continue their World Series rivalry from the 1941 season, and a youthful team from St. Louis was determined to stop them. With only one player older than thirty, the St. Louis Cardinals were the youngest team to win the National League pennant and World Series. Built on good pitching and tremendous speed on the base paths and in the field, the team featured rookie Stan Musial, future Hall of Famer Enos Slaughter, and ace pitcher Mort Cooper, the National League’s Most Valuable Player of 1942. With their winningest season ever, posting 106 victories, the 1942 Redbirds have been called the greatest Cardinal team of all time.
Jerome Mileur was just a kid from downstate Illinois, but he well remembers his view of one game from the left-field grandstand—and the thrill of attending the second game of the World Series. In this book, he brings a sure and loving grasp of his subject to reconstructing one of the most remarkable pennant drives in modern baseball history, with the Cards winning forty-three of their last fifty-one games and clinching first place on the last day of the season. Mileur provides a game-by-game account of the season with play-by-play action, not only capturing all the thrills on the Cards’ way to the top but also conveying the physical and mental demands that the players endured. Counted out by nearly everyone but themselves in August, the Redbirds caught fire in the season’s final weeks to pass the seemingly unbeatable Dodgers. And by winning four games out of five to defeat the New York Yankees for the championship, they handed Joe DiMaggio his only World Series defeat. More than a recapitulation of a thrilling season, Mileur’s book is a reminder of how major-league baseball in 1942 differed in so many ways from today’s game—one startling example is Mileur’s account of how the absence of outfield warning tracks contributed to a devastating injury to Brooklyn’s star outfielder, Pete Reiser. The tenor of the times is reflected as well in the juxtaposition of the baseball season with the United States’ first year in the Second World War. The 1942 Cardinals were not only a remarkable team unto themselves but also the beginning of a new baseball dynasty—1942’s pennant was the first of three in a row for the Cards, as well as the first of three World Series victories in a space of five seasons. This account of that tremendous season is a page-turner for anyone who loves the game and a must-read for baseball and other sports fans.
Condition: Very good / Very good.

Keywords: Baseball, Saint Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Cardinals, World Series, Stan Musial, Enos Slaughter, Mort Cooper, New York Yankees, Brooklyn Dodgers, Leo Durocher, Larry MacPhail, Branch Rickey, Pennant, Billy Southworth, Spring Training

ISBN: 9780826218346

[Book #85459]

Price: $45.00

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