{"product_id":"1954-the-year-willie-mays-and-the-first-generation-of-black-superstars-changed-major-league-baseball-forever-paperback","title":"1954: The Year Willie Mays and the First Generation of Black Superstars Changed Major League Baseball Forever - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eBill Madden\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e1954--A triumphant season for black ballplayers and the country\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAward-winning \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author Bill Madden delivers the first major book to fully examine the 1954 baseball season, drawn largely from exclusive recent interviews with the major players themselves, including Willie Mays and Larry Doby as well as New York baseball legends from that era: Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford of the Yankees, Monte Irvin of the Giants, and Carl Erskine of the Dodgers. \u003ci\u003e1954\u003c\/i\u003e transports readers across the baseball landscape of the time as future superstars such as Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, and others entered the leagues and continued to integrate the sport. Weaving together the narrative of one of baseball's greatest seasons wit the racially charged events of that year--the same in which the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled that segregation of the races be outlawed in America's public schools--\u003ci\u003e1954 demonstrates how our national pastime was actually ahead of the curve in terms of the acceptance of black Americans, while the nation at large continued to struggle with tolerance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBill Madden\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of several books about the Yankees, including the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller \u003ci\u003eSteinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball\u003c\/i\u003e. For more than 30 years, he has covered the Yankees and Major League Baseball for the \u003ci\u003eNew York Daily News\u003c\/i\u003e. Madden is also the 2010 recipient of the Baseball Hall of Fame's J.G. Taylor Spink Award. He lives in New Jersey.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 320\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 x 8.9 x 5.9 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 10, 2015\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53733056119148,"sku":"9780306823695","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0989\/3019\/6844\/files\/9b8794b7503270ce331569edbe084285.webp?v=1778326135","url":"https:\/\/pattansenterprise.com\/products\/1954-the-year-willie-mays-and-the-first-generation-of-black-superstars-changed-major-league-baseball-forever-paperback","provider":"Pattansenterprise","version":"1.0","type":"link"}