The Teammates by David Halberstam

The reference staff at the Downers Grove Public Library recently discussed sports books at one of its weekly department meeting. For its continuing staff nonfiction genre discussions, Bonnie read and reported on The Teammates by the late David Halberstam. Knowing my love of good baseball books, she then recommended it to me. She said that I would like it, and she was right.

After Ted Williams died in 2002, Halberstam sought out the former Boston Red Sox outfielders' closest friends. Among the former Red Sox players that the author visited were Dominic DiMaggio, Bobby Doerr, and Johnny Pesky, men with whom Williams had been friends for over sixty years. Using these interviews and research for his 1989 book Summer of '49, Halberstam wrote this portrait of the quartet, telling about their origins, careers, and families. Readers will notice how strongly the author admired the four men and see how DiMaggio, Doerr, and Pesky lent stability to the emotionally explosive Williams.

The Teammates is a book about lasting friendship, and baseball is simply the setting. Vintage photographs and career statistics were added for sports fans, but loving sports is not a requirement to enjoy this book, which is widely available in public libraries.

Halberstam, David. The Teammates. New York: Hyperion, 2003. ISBN 140130057x