As member of SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) I
had the pleasure of speaking to David Krell on the phone about baseball. I was attracted to his new book 1962:
Baseball in America in the Time of JFK.
I was 13 years old in 1962 and was a fan of the original New York Mets
and suffered through their futility in their inaugural year. Krell stated that originally his book was to
consider only the original New York Mets and Houston Colt .45s, but it was a
good thing that he expanded on that. Almost
all baseball books discuss only the sport, and not how it integrated into the
popular culture. Krell discusses movies, television, books, politics, and
current events as he takes his readers back in time. It certainly brought back memories for me as I
was a teenager that year. Younger
readers can benefit by learning about baseball and the popular culture of that
time. I enjoyed reading about the lesser-known
players on the original Mets. One reason
the book is unique is that he provides information about the original Houston
Colt .45s not readily available. I was
quite impressed by the research he did by interviews and original newspaper
accounts. I am happy that he
acknowledged the help he received from librarians as that was my former
profession. My only disappointment was
there was very little mention of the popular music of that era. I can read about the golden oldies in other
places.
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