Electric October: Review

When you write a book with the title ‘Electric October: Seven World Series games, six lives, five minutes of fame that lasted for ever’… you better give the reader a lengthy introductions to those six players so you know them though and through once those five minutes come up.

It’s exactly what author Kevin Cook does. This is the story, not of baseball greats like DiMaggio or Koufax, but smaller heroes who need more introduction.
Who were they, where did they come from and how did they get where they were in 1947? This is not as much a Dodgers book as a look into the Dodgers Yankees rivalry that, in 1947, was only in it’s infancy.

It's fun to read how most of the main characters, Bill Bevens, Bucky Harris, Snuffy Stirnweiss, Al Gionfriddo, Burt Shotton and Cookie Lavagetto met somewhere along the way.

Cook knows how to describe the mood during the '47 World Series. Red Barber, Gladys Goodding and even the Sym-Phony Band make an appearance. Brooklynites were sure this was next year in a World Series that was the first one ever televised live on parts of the East Coast and the first after the breaking of the color barrier.

When all is said and done, that October in 1947, the author takes the time to let the reader know what happened to the guys after the hits, throws and catches they made during that 7-games series.
A great read, highly recommended for Dodger- and Yankees fans.