1939: Baseball's Tipping Point
by Talmage Boston, Foreword by John Grisham
"Thought-provoking and entertaining, a rare mix. History should always be this good." — Dallas Morning News
"An intriguing account of one of the most fascinating years in baseball history. I learned something new on every page." — Tim Kurkjian, ESPN baseball commentator
"Some of my favorite things about baseball got started in 1939—Little League, the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, and televised baseball games. Talmage brings these stories back to life." — Nolan Ryan, Hall of Fame pitcher
Baseball, in all its rich and glorious past, never had a year of greater significance. Baseball’s centennial year—1939—was the game’s tipping point when certain, seemingly unrelated, events acted to create the tipping point that drove the epidemic of change on multiple fronts—transforming the game.
- Sports news was led by five baseball giants, true American heroes: Gehrig, DiMaggio, Williams, Feller and Paige.
- Lou Gehrig ended his 2,130-game streak and gave his “luckiest man” speech.
- Baseball Hall of Fame opened its doors.
- Major League games first televised.
- Joe DiMaggio posted his first MVP season for the 1939 Yankees.
- Ted Williams achieved instant stardom as the much-heralded rookie of the Boston Red Sox.
- 1939 Yankees won fourth consecutive World Series: dubbed the greatest team of all time.
- An obscure twenty-nine-year-old lumberyard clerk from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Carl Stotz, began a movement that would be baseball’s most important new development during its second 100 years: Little League Baseball was founded!
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