Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Electric October: Seven World Series Games, Six Lives, Five Minutes of Fame That Lasted Forever
    Electric October: Seven World Series Games, Six Lives, Five Minutes of Fame That Lasted Forever
    Electric October: Seven World Series Games, Six Lives, Five Minutes of Fame That Lasted Forever
    Audiobook9 hours

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

    Written by Kevin Cook

    Narrated by Joe Barrett

    4/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateAug 15, 2017
    ISBN9781541476400
    Author

    Kevin Cook

    Kevin Cook’s previous book, Tommy’s Honour, was shortlisted for the William Hill Prize, and although it didn’t win, the Daily Telegraph called it ‘the stand-out book on a strong short list’. He writes for numerous magazines and has appeared on ESPN and CNN. He lives in New York.

    More audiobooks from Kevin Cook

    Related to Electric October

    Related audiobooks

    Sports & Recreation For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Best of 2019 BASEBALL BOOKS

      Nov 22, 2019

      Best of 2019 BASEBALL BOOKS
      10 min read

    • Article

      Minor League All-star Team

      Oct 13, 2021

      Minor League All-star Team
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Cobra

      Jan 21, 2022

      The Cobra
      4 min read

    • Article

      Top International Prospects For 2022

      Jan 7, 2022

      For the second year in a row, Major League Baseball postponed the start date of the international signing period by six months. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the signing period opened each year on July 2. The 2021-22 signing period opens on Jan.

      17 min read

    • Article

      A Q&A with Mike Schmidt:

      Jan 17, 2020

      Fan: Mike, even though you’re one of the Top 10 players in baseball history, I think you were underappreciated in Philadelphia, probably because you made it look so easy. I know it wasn’t easy and that you worked hard. Is that how you see it? Schmidt

      4 min read

    • Article

      In Memoriam

      Feb 13, 2023

      In Memoriam
      3 min read

    • Article

      Three-for-all!

      Mar 8, 2022

      Three-for-all!
      27 min read

    • Article

      One Perfect Day

      May 11, 2022

      One Perfect Day
      2 min read

    • Article

      Super Scout

      Dec 2, 2021

      Super Scout
      6 min read

    • Article

      Preseason All-america Team

      Feb 13, 2024

      Moore was a standout pure hitter coming out of high school in the 2022 class and had a freshman All-America season with a .311/.386/.564 slash line, which included15 home runs and 20 doubles. His swing is unorthodox with an extremely open stance, but

      4 min read

    • Article

      Top 10 Sd

      Jan 4, 2023

      Hit: 60 Power: 55 Speed: 50 Fielding: 55 Arm: 55 BA Grade: 60 Risk: High Born: April 19, 2003. B-T: L-R. HT: 6-3. WT: 195. Drafted: HS—Severna Park, MD, 2021 (1st round). Signed by: Danny Sader. TRACK RECORD: Merrill didn’t attend many of the top hig

      13 min read

    • Article

      Updated Talent Rankings

      Sep 6, 2022

      Updated Talent Rankings
      5 min read

    • Article

      ‘A Story That Didn’t Used To Be Told’: The Rise And Fall Of Baseball’s Negro Leagues

      Jul 5, 2023

      Sam Pollard inherited his love for baseball from his father, a fan of the St Louis Cardinals – Black America’s team in the 1960s. Growing up in New York just made it a long-distance affair. “They had some phenomenal players,” Pollard recalls to the G

      4 min read

    • Article

      Giant Missteps

      May 11, 2018

      In the 1960s, the San Francisco Giants were poised to become the best team in baseball. Not only did their roster sport such fan favorites as Willie McCovey and Willie Mays, but the team had positioned itself to take advantage of the new wave of tale

      9 min read

    • Article

      Remembering The Negro Leagues On 100th Anniversary

      Mar 27, 2020

      I saw my first Major League Baseball game in 1954 when my father took me to see our hometown Brooklyn Dodgers play the Milwaukee Braves at Ebbets Field. As long-time fans know, both teams had great players. For me, there was one player in particular

      9 min read

    • Article

      ‘K: A History Of Baseball In Ten Pitches’ Is 100% In The Zone

      May 2, 2019

      Tyler Kepner loves baseball, and his book will make you love it too. His history of the game uses stories of career-making pitches as the narrative structure.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Son Of The Great George Sisler

      May 22, 2020

      Son Of The Great George Sisler
      6 min read

    • Article

      9 Sports Books That Offer Something For Every Fan

      Jan 31, 2019

      Whether an exhaustive new profile of Babe Ruth, the reflections of basketball great Bob Cousy, or a retrospective of the heyday of women’s bike racing, there’s plenty to choose from in this grab bag of books.

      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Electric October

    4/5

    28 ratings10 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      I am a sucker for baseball books, so this one was right up my alley. I loved it! Cook tells so much more than the story of the 1947 World Series. He tells the story of some of the men who played a part in it complete with their back-stories, the effects on their lives later, and the effects on their families. Cook takes all of these stories and seamlessly weaves them together into a narrative that would be interesting even if you aren't a baseball fan. It's a great book.
    • 4/5
      "Electric October" is a delightful account of the 1947 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers as seen by six of its participants. The former are represented by manager Bucky Harris, infielder George Sternweiss and pitcher Bill Bevins, the latter by manager Burt Shotton, outfielder AL Gionfriddo and infielder Cookie Lavagetto. Author Kevin Cook offers a brief biography of each person with which we can see a long-ago America, an America of the late nineteenth- and early-twentieth century: kids growing up in small towns with dads who worked six (or seven) days a week, kids who had to drop out of school to work to help the family survive, kids whose only escape was playing baseball. Kids who beat all the odds and made it to the Big Leagues. Harris and Shotton and Lavagetto were (or became) baseball lifers, spending decades in the game as player, coach, manager, or executive, at all levels of the game. The others had the proverbial "cup of coffee," with two-three-four seasons at most at the highest level. But long tenure or short, all six men can truly be deemed as "lifers," the game never far from their heart and soul. Washington Post sportswriter Tom Boswell once memorably penned something to the effect that, at around age eight or nine, the game grabs of you and never lets go. As it did with these six. And their trials through life, from Pennsylvania to California, from broken homes and enduring tough times (imagine growing up in the Depression which was immediately followed by a world war), these six found themselves together in two of baseball's most fabled green cathedrals (Yankee Stadium and Ebbets Field) in baseball's greatest moment, the World Series. Mr Cook has written a very readable book, similar in vein to Halberstam's "October 1964" and Kahn's "Boys of Summer" but without attempting to wrench soul-searing drama from every moment. There is no lack of poignant moments, to be sure, but this work is not soap opera or docu-drama; rather, it is simply an excellent story, well told, of six guys who loved baseball, and who found themselves together for nine days one early October, seven decades ago. May that our descendants, seven decades from now, treat us as honestly and respectfully, and with such affection.
    • 4/5
      I read this book in two sittings. It is a gem of a book if you are interested in baseball history. Author Kevin Cook chose the very memorable 1947 World Series with six of the influential members who achieved fame, however fleeting, in this fall classic. Bill Bevens, Al Gionfriddo, Cookie Lavagetto, Snuffy Stirnweiss, Burt Shotten, and Bucky Harris are the featured individuals. Author Cook introduces each of the notables during their growing up years and the difficult childhood they experienced. The Christmas present of one of them was to take one shot out of a B B gun. We also learn how Bill Bevens received his nickname of "Bill." The fan in Ebbets Field who serenaded his favorite player, Cookie Lavagetto. Bucky Harris and Burt Shotton leaders of their respective teams and their players thoughts of each of them. Shotton had to suddenly step into the Dodgers job when Durocher was suspended and be a calming influence with the coming of Jackie Robinson onto the team. The regret of one of the featured players was that he signed the petition against Robinson playing on the Dodgers.The book also includes a summary of each of the seven games of the 1947 World Series. I often find this to be difficult to get through in books but in this case the author made it interesting to me. We also get to know how different team members got along with one another. We are treated (?) to the bombastic roaring redhead, Larry MacPhail's drunken exit during the Yankees' celebration following their Series win.The book concludes with a review of each of the featured individuals and their life following the 1947 Series. Some went on to longer careers in baseball as managers or coaches while others found the going to be difficult to remain in the game. The book contains sixteen pages of photos several of which I have not seen previously. If you enjoy baseball history this book belongs in your library.
    • 4/5
      Electric October, the story of the 1947 World Series between the Yankees and the Dodgers provides a very human backdrop to the unfolding drama. Kevin Cook selected six individuals – ranging from role players, bench sitters and a former wunderkind manager to tell the story before, during, and after the seven-game series. Their stories are quite a contrast from those you might think of as the stars of the game – Joe DiMaggio and Jackie Robinson and the fact that this was the first World Series televised, although with an audience that primarily was limited to East Coast bars and taverns. Cook does a good job of interweaving the stories into a coherent accounting of the games. Although their fame was limited (only one made it to the baseball Hall of Fame and that was only after intense lobbying with the Veterans’ Committee), the six lives highlighted in the book are both fascinating and heartbreaking – pitching eight and two thirds inning of no-hit baseball and losing the game – make for a great way to live this history again.
    • 4/5
      Electric October is a book about baseball, and specifically the 1947 World Series. But more than that, it goes beyond the game to examine what happened to the participants in this most exciting series. Yankees Bill Bevens and Snuffy Stirnweiss, Dodgers Al Gionfriddo and Cookie Lavagetto, and the managers Bucky Harris and Burt Shotton, all played key roles in the seven gripping games. To some of us baseball fans, we do know those names (like Stirnweiss for winning the batting championship or Lavagetto for being the first manager of the Twins), but mostly this was their brief moment of glory, making this one of the most exciting Series. What happened to these six characters in the following years rounds out the full story detailed in this book. This is perhaps not a book for everyone, but for devoted fans of the game it will keep you absorbed throughout.
    • 4/5
      Kevin Cook does a good job of sharing the backstory behind the 1947 World Series. After introducing the focal participants, he summarizes the games by highlighting the actions of these lesser known players who contributed to each team's success. You won't find a lot here about Robinson or DiMaggio--enough has been written about them. Electric October isn't exactly a page-turner, but it's a good read for anyone who is a fan of the game.
    • 3/5
      An engaging profile of six (6) lesser known participants in the 1947 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers, a seven (7) game classic. Cook's account focuses on the lives and contributions of players: Stuffy Stirnweiss, Cookie Lavagetto, Bill Bevens and Al Gionfriddo; as well as managers: Bucky Harris and Burt Shotton. As engaging, and perhaps deserving of its own full account, was Cook's account of the 1924 World Series, which Harris' won as the 27 year old player manager of the Washington Senators. The book is expertly researched and contains details of the time that really bring the book to life. While engaging, Electric October does not quite meet Halberstam expectations. The book clunks along in spots and could perhaps benefit with more fluid organization. Overall, a worthwhile read.
    • 5/5
      Kevin Cook's Electric October: Seven World Series Games, Six Lives, Five Minutes of Fame That Lasted Forever is a wonderfully crafted baseball book, written in a smooth, breezy style, that chronicles the lives and careers six key men in the epic 1947 Dodgers vs. Yankees World Series: Snuffy Stirnweiss, Bill Bevens, Cookie Lavagetto, Al Gionfriddo, Bucky Harris, and Burt Shotton. Cook weaves together the threads of their early lives and careers into the fabric of that remarkable seven-game Series, and then traces their trails out into the ups and downs of their later years. The author's description of game action is highly engaging, and he displays a deft hand sketching their human side away from the diamond.My only minor quibble is that in the midst of the World Series game action, Cook occasionally cites players' WAR (wins above replacement), one of the newer baseball metrics designed to gauge a player's overall value. While some may find the WAR stat useful in this historical context (I don't, primarily because I don't fully understand its calculation nor accept its validity), its placement in the book jarringly took me out of that simpler time and place 70 years ago, albeit momentarily, that he had otherwise recreated so vividly with his seemingly effortless storytelling ability.
    • 4/5
      Well told story of the 1947 World Series between the Dodgers and Yankees, seen through the eyes of six of the participants. Bucky Harris, Snuffy Stirnweiss and Bill Bevens' Yanks defeated Burt Shotton, Al Gionfriddo and Cookie Lavagetto's Dodgers four games to three in what at the time was widely considered the greatest World Series ever. The book relates the experiences of these six men and how seven days in October affected them for the rest of their lives.I've now read six books of this type that relate all the details of a single season or cluster of seasons; Crazy '08, Baseball in '41, Summer of '49, October of 1964 and Dynastic, Bombastic and Fantastic, written by such notables as Robert Creamer and David Halberstam, and this latest is every bit as good as those were. I'd never heard of Kevin Cook before, but I'll gladly read any other baseball books he cares to write.
    • 4/5
      An enjoyable baseball book focusing on 6 less famous participants in the 1947 World Series, their background, the seven series games, and their lives afterwards. Juggling 6 lives occasionally created a bit of confusion but it presented a good picture of the reality of baseball lives, the ups and downs, negotiating fame and a family through it all.