Our Team

The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series that Changed Baseball

By: Luke Epplin

Narrated by: Leon Nixon

Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

The riveting story of four men - Larry Doby, Bill Veeck, Bob Feller, and Satchel Paige - whose improbable union on the Cleveland Indians in the late 1940s would shape the immediate postwar era of Major League Baseball and beyond.

In July 1947, not even three months after Jackie Robinson debuted on the Brooklyn Dodgers, snapping the color line that had segregated Major League Baseball, Larry Doby would follow in his footsteps on the Cleveland Indians. Though Doby, as the second Black player in the majors, would struggle during his first summer in Cleveland, his subsequent turnaround in 1948 from benchwarmer to superstar sparked one of the wildest and most meaningful seasons in baseball history.

In intimate, absorbing detail, Luke Epplin's Our Team traces the story of the integration of the Cleveland Indians and their quest for a World Series title through four key participants: Bill Veeck, an eccentric and visionary owner adept at exploding fireworks on and off the field; Larry Doby, a soft-spoken, hard-hitting pioneer whose major-league breakthrough shattered stereotypes that so much of white America held about Black ballplayers; Bob Feller, a pitching prodigy from the Iowa cornfields who set the template for the athlete as businessman; and Satchel Paige, a legendary pitcher from the Negro Leagues whose belated entry into the majors whipped baseball fans across the country into a frenzy.

Together, as the backbone of a team that epitomized the postwar American spirit in all its hopes and contradictions, these four men would captivate the nation by storming to the World Series - all the while rewriting the rules of what was possible in sports.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

"Epplin’s epic saga is simultaneously a riveting drama and a searing portrait of the racism that plagued baseball for decades. This sharp and well-documented history will be a hit with baseball lovers and general interest readers alike." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

©2021 Luke Epplin (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Needs a “baseball” narrator

I found the voice of the narrator made the story very hard to follow. There were way too many dramatic inflections given to words that are not so dramatic in the course of baseball story-telling. This made it hard to follow the storyline, given the statistical picture sometimes painted. I would much prefer hearing from a broadcaster or player…someone who lives and communicates baseball. I heard Luke Epplin himself speak, and he would have been excellent! I will buy the printed book and read it myself.

Remarkable baseball book

I'm a longtime fan of the Cleveland Indians but this book took it to a new level with inside stories about the 48 team and how important it was for the indians, for baseball, and the nation as a whole. Cleveland paid a big part in integration that year and later in 1975 at the 1st African American manager as well. Bill vec is a legendary Figure in his own right as well. What an amazing book.

Fantastic listen

Great book. Loved learning about the history of the time and the baseball portions were great also. Nice job of weaving the tales of the four main characters together. Highly recommend.

My favorite book on sports ever

Luke Epplin wrote a book on more than just a baseball season, or baseball or sports. It's a brilliant weaving of the intersecting lives of four individuals whose experiences and personalities were both different and similar. Leon Nixon narrates with a heart and soul that expresses excitement, pathos and happiness in all in the right places.

Who will like this book?

Cleveland Indians fans for sure.
Fans of baseball history.
Those that want to know about baseball’s integration.
I really enjoyed it. It's well researched and well written.

If You Love Baseball...

This is the book for you. A terrific telling of the 1948 Cleveland Indians and the integration of the American League. Larry Doby and Bill Veeck made history together.

Instant Classic

A must read for any baseball fan old and new. And frankly, a must read for anyone who bristles at African-American sports figures who kneel for the National Anthem. Today’s players probably don’t face near the injustice of a Larry Doby, but this book sheds crucial light on an historic racism in America that many whites still don’t understand. Blacks today get stopped for having a blinker out and wind up with their hands on the hoods if their cars while the car is searched. That’s why athletes today kneel. This book reminds us of how bad it was for black athletes then and why fans today need to know why there’s still an understandable chip on many black shoulders.

Entertaining history

Very entertaining baseball history with well researched facts and excellent narration. I highly recommend this book.

Fantastic Book

Epplin does a fantastic job of presenting the world around this team, and the 4 main subjects of the story.

Rock Solid

any piece of history read that leaves you wanting more is what you want in a book like this. Kudos to Mr. Epplin and the production team