1954: The Year Willie Mays and the First Generation of Black Superstars Changed Major League Baseball Forever

By: Bill Madden

Narrated by: David Drummond

Jackie Robinson heroically broke the color barrier in 1947. But how—and, in practice, when—did the integration of the sport actually occur? Bill Madden shows that baseball’s famous black experiment” did not truly succeed until the coming of age of Willie Mays and the emergence of some star players—Larry Doby, Hank Aaron, and Ernie Banks—in 1954. And as a relevant backdrop off the field, it was in May of that year that the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled, in the case of Brown v. Board of Education, that segregation be outlawed in America’s public schools.

Featuring original interviews with key players and weaving together the narrative of one of baseball’s greatest seasons with the racially charged events of that year, 1954 demonstrates how our national pastime—with the notable exception of the Yankees, who represented white supremacy in the game—was actually ahead of the curve in terms of the acceptance of black Americans, while the nation at large continued to struggle with tolerance.

©2014 Bill Madden (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"David Drummond maintains a consistent and pleasing tone as sportswriter Bill Madden gives an overview of the 1954 season. Drummond's steady guiding voice is a good fit for Madden's story, which dovetails around the New York Giants and the Cleveland Indians, the two teams that wound up facing each other in the World Series that year. Drummond doesn't really imitate voices; instead he relies on shifts in tone for quotes. It's an era worth reading about, and the topics are well covered by a veteran sportswriter and a solid narrator." ( AudioFile)

A must for baseball fans

Extremely well done provided The right amount of detail without getting bogged down. Very much Enjoyed learning more about some of the greatest names and baseball And what they overcame.

Great for history buff

Great retrospective for what African Americans had to go through to make a dollar. History of the times was great. Maybe a little too much detail about each specific game but overall very good. Wish I saw willie mays and Larry Dobbs play.

Black Stars Changed Baseball Beyond Belief

The Year 1954 begins the rise of a whole new generation of Black All Stars winning MVP Awards and World Series titles like never expected.

Willie Mays is chosen NL MVP and leads his Giants to World Series victory. Other dominant Black players would make immediate All Star history winning league awards, including batting titles, and more MVP Awards and World Series titles, following the Rise of Mays.

They included perspectives from Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Roberto Clemente, Frank Robinson, Larry Doby, Maury Wills, and Elston Howard.

Acumen bugaboo

It’s a fairly interesting book but it seems to gloss over things. If you read other books regarding Durocher as a Dodger manager, he seems to treat his players like crap. Suddenly, he’s Mr. Nice Guy. I doubt it.
“Minnie” Minoso’s name is Orestes. At least that was corrected part way through the book. Vic Power’s real surname was Pellot. It became Power because the scout was unable to pronounce the surname correctly.
Finally, the narrator has issues with the pronunciation of “acumen.” And since the author inexplicably chose to use this word on multiple occasions, the narrator gets to screw up on multiple occasions.