Hello,
Here's the radio call for that classic game. You can just feel the history in this call.
Before I start this review I just want to make it clear that I love baseball. I follow many teams, but I especially follow and love the Dodgers and their amazing history. When I saw this book was about the Dodgers with a liberal helping of history- or is it the other way around- I knew I had to read it.
Short review it was worth every second I put into it. It's one of those books that once I finished I instantly started reading it again. I always love doing that because it feels in the blanks and I love the magic associated with a book that good.
I just barely finished reading "Red Chaser" today and I loved everything about it. I love the history and the Brooklyn Dodgers angle and how well they work together. The book starts with the Dodgers up 5.5 games of the New York Giants in the 1951 pennant race. The book follows from that point to The Shot Heard Around The World. Even though I knew how this pennant race ended I was still hanging by the edge of my seat.
Besides all the great Dodgers over the years, Richard Nixon, Bobby Kennedy, Edward R Murrow, Joseph McCarthy, Willie Mays, Joltin' Joe Dimaggio and Mickey Mantle also make appearances. That era of baseball really seemed to be on a higher level. Maybe it's because how media was back then and how much fewer options there were. You can feel all that in the above radio call. Since obviously there was no internet, TVs were much rarer than now and a 16 inch TV was considered a big TV. I love how the central character, Jake McHenry, follows the game from the radios of the houses and cars that he's walking by.
Because of this great book the next book I want to read is the classic Brooklyn Dodgers history "The Boys of Summer".
Obviously I love the baseball part, how was the rest of the book? The rest of the book was very good as well. "Red Chaser" alludes to another Jake McHenry novel to be released in 2011, but I can't find any evidence that book was actually released. The central story of the book is about a red headed vixen dubbed The Red Queen. She supposedly has a list of possible communist sympathizers that Joseph McCarthy wants to get his hands on. Yes, that Joseph McCarthy of theHouse Un-American Activities Committee.
Other major characters include Hiromi, Jake's potential love interest. Having a Japanese American be his love interest is an interesting choice. This was just six years after the end of World War 2. Also Hiromi and her family were put in Internment Camps during the war. We also have Jake's childhood friend, Nick, who works for McCarthy. He's the one that bings McCarthy and Jake together. It's that pairing that sets off the action in the book.
Other major factors in the book include the United Nations, the Korean War, World War 2 and the CIA. McHenry served during World War 2, it's where he learned many of the skills he used as a private investigator. He also made some valuable contacts that also helped with the case of The Red Queen.
Over all of these historic events Spoelstra weaves the last part of the Dodgers season in expertly. I'm not sure how he did it so well but it's such a great read. Those Dodgers team were such a hard luck story. They didn't win a World Series until 4 years later. Then in 1957 the Dodgers left behind Brooklyn for the sunnier climes of Los Angeles. The entire history of the Dodgers is bittersweet.
My grade for this book is an A. Of course the fact he worked in the Dodgers helped so much. If you love history, baseball or a combination thereof read this book.
themusicaddict
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