Electric October: Seven World Series Games, Six Lives, Five Minutes of Fame That Lasted Forever

Kevin Cook

Aug 2017 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Joe Barrett

About this audiobook

The 1947 World Series was "the most exciting ever" in the words of Joe DiMaggio, with a decade's worth of drama packed into seven games between the mighty New York Yankees and underdog Brooklyn Dodgers. It was Jackie Robinson's first Series, a postwar spectacle featuring Frank Sinatra, Ernest Hemingway, and President Harry Truman in supporting roles. It was also the first televised World Series-sportswriters called it "Electric October." But for all the star power on display, the outcome hinged on role players: Bill Bevens, a journeyman who knocked on the door of pitching immortality; Al Gionfriddo and Cookie Lavagetto, bench players at the center of the Series' iconic moments; Snuffy Stirnweiss, a wartime batting champion who never got any respect; and managers Bucky Harris and Burt Shotton, each an unlikely choice to run his team. Kevin Cook brings the '47 Series to life, introducing us to men whose past offered no hint they were destined for extraordinary things. For some, the Series was a memory to hold onto. For others, it would haunt them to the end of their days. And for us, Cook offers new insights-at once heartbreaking and uplifting-into what fame and glory truly mean.

About the author

Kevin Cook is the author of the award-winning Tommy's Honor (the basis for the feature film), Titanic Thompson, Kitty Genovese, and The Dad Report: Fathers, Sons, and Baseball Families. He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Joe Barrett has been a working stage, screen, and recording booth actor since 1974 and an award-winning and eight-time Audie Award-nominated audiobook narrator since 1999. He also practiced law for five years-but don't hold that against him. Joe is married to actress Andrea Wright, and together they have four children.