A LOOK BACK AT THE MAGICAL 1955 BROOKLYN TEAM

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	• Brooklyn Remembered: The 1955 Days of the Dodgers Maury Allen Sports Publishing LLC, 2007 - 213 pages average customer review:based on 5 reviews view larger image
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A VERY NICE READ

AUTHOR MAURY ALLEN TAKES US BACK TO 1955, THE YEAR THE BROOKLYN DODGERS FINALLY WON THE WORLD SERIES. HE INTERVIEWS THE 11 REMAINING PLAYERS AND BRINGS BACK SOME GREAT NOSTALGIA. SOME OF THE SURVING PLAYERS ARE KOUFAX, NEWCOMBE, SNIDER AND GAME SEVEN WINNER PODRES. THE STORIES ARE INTERESTING AND ENTERTAINING. I ENJOYED THIS AND RECOMMEND IT FOR ALL DODGER FANS AND FOR BASEBALL FANS WHO WANT TO LEARN ABOUT A SLICE OF BASEBALL HISTORY.

A LOOK BACK AT THE MAGICAL 1955 BROOKLYN TEAM

THE BOOK GIVES YOU INSIGHT INTO THE 1955 SEASON AND WHAT WINNING THE WORLD SERIES WAS LIKE, THROUGH THE MEMORIES OF THE SURVIVING ELEVEN MEMBERS OF THAT TEAM AND OTHER FOLKS WHO RECALL THE STRUGGLE AND EUPHORIA OF WINNING THE FALL CLASSIC AT LAST!BBOOKLYN DODGER FANS AND BASEBALL HISTORIANS WILL ENJOY THE STORY OF THAT MAGICAL SEASON!

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Good Read

For those of us still in the Brooklyn area and those who ventured far away, this book takes you back to the care-free days of the "Brooklyn Bombers." Go for it!

The 1955 Dodgers Revisited

Respected baseball writer Maury Allen has provided us with an update on the 11 surviving members of the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers' championship team on its 50th anniversary. The book is just over 200 pages long and Allen discusses his visits with the former players and the wives of some of the deceased players. I found several of the stories told in other books on Brooklyn's beloved team, but there were a few stories I hadn't heard before. One involved Gil Hodges who has received more votes than any other player who has not been elected to the Hall of Fame. Supposedly Veterans Committee member Ted Williams has been instrumental in keeping Hodges out not because of his playing ability, but because Hodges was more popular as a manager in Washington than Williams was. Dodgers' executive Buzzie Bavasi felt Jackie Robinson should not have retired as a player when he was traded to the Giants following the 1956 season. He felt Robinson could have become a possible assistant who could one day become the general manager of the Dodgers. That never would have happened with Walter O'Malley owning the team due to the tension that existed between O'Malley and Robinson. Although the 1955 team won Brooklyn's only championship the 1952 and 1953 teams were better than the '55 version. The team was on the way down agewise by 1955 while the 1952 and 1953 team (Roger Kahn's Boys of Summer gang) were in their prime. Author Allen also recounts an incident with manager Walter Alston over some unaccounted soft drinks that hadn't been paid for by the players. Allen wrote a column about what he felt was a petty issue, and Alston invited Allen into his office to discuss it. It resulted in Alston physically attacking Allen. Traveling secretary Lee Scott heard the ruckus and came to Allen's rescue. Several of the members of this team keep their championship ring in a safety deposit box to pass down to succeeding members of their family after they are gone. I find it too bad the ring can't be worn and enjoyed, but they feel the risk of robbery is too great. The book also includes a recap of each of the seven World Series games. No team had ever come back from being down two games to none and won a seven game World Series before. I did find one minor mistake. Allen mentioned that Pirates' slugger Ralph Kiner was traded to the Cubs in 1952 when the correct year is 1953. I'm old enough to remember this team and Kahn's 1953 team as well, and I was happy to read their will be a reunion party for the 1955 team in Brooklyn in the fall of this year, 2005.

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In "Brooklyn Remembered: The 1955 Days of the Dodgers, Allen has captured the emotion, the drama and the sweet reverie of what many baseball people and fans consider the greatest sports triumph ever, the 1955 Brooklyn Series win over the Yankees. It was the one and only Brooklyn championship for the team filled with Hall of Famers like Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella, Duke Snider, Sandy Koufax and even fringe lefty Tommy Lasorda. Two years after the title the team moved from Brooklyn's cozy Ebbets Field to laconic Los Angeles. All of the 11 surviving members of that historic baseball team contributed their poignant and personal recollections of that season that warmed the baseball world and sent millions of memorable moments across America, memories that last to this day in millions of homes across the country. Two game winner Johnny Podres, the handsome bachelor, recalls how he drove to the game from his aunt's home in nearby Staten Island a few days after his 23rd birthday and promised his aging teammates a World Series victory. He delivered with a 2-0 triumph. Historic baseball figure Jackie Robinson and supportive teammate pee Wee Reese, knowing their time for titles was short, reached their ultimate goal. Duke Snider, Carl Erskine, Clem Labine, Don Newcombe and all the rest of Dem Bums eased the pain of Brooklyn's millions with that emotional victory. Allen has talked to all of the Brooklyn 1955 survivors and to the women who carry the torch today for the fallen Dodgers, such as Rachel Robinson and Joan Hodges, for memories of that moment and the impact on their lives half a century later. Other significant figures, such as broadcaster Tom Brokaw, opera legend RobertMerrill, opponents Willie Mays, Whitey Ford and Stan (The Man) Musial recall their days as Brooklyn fans, opposing players or just Ebbets Field fanatics. This is the stirring, funny, romantic, touching, historic story of one team in one town in one time that has lasted across the decades. The Brooklyn Dodgers of 1955 were an epic collection of talented athletes and heroic men.

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