Listen free for 30 days
-
Season of '42
- Joe D, Teddy Ballgame, and Baseball's Fight to Survive a Turbulent First Year of War
- Narrated by: Robert C. Brewster
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Season of '42
Buy Now for £22.89
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
Editor reviews
At the height of WWII in 1942, the prospects looked grim for American troops overseas, so many viewed sports as a trivial and unnecessary distraction. Veteran sportswriter Jack Cavanaugh's Season of '42 views this trying time in American history through the prism of baseball, and illustrates the effect President Roosevelt's bold decision to play on in 1942 had on the players, the fans, and the country as a whole.
Robert C. Brewster's dignified, engaging performance imbues Cavanaugh's text with the weight and gravity it deserves, and makes this a must-listen for baseball fans and history buffs alike.
Summary
Before hundreds of major leaguers went off to war, they enjoyed one final season in the sun.
Big league baseball would seem to have been a hard sell in 1942. World War II was not going well for the United States in the Pacific and not much better in Europe. Moreover, the country was in drastically short supply of ships, planes, submarines, torpedoes, and other war materials, and Uncle Sam needed men, millions of them, including those from 21 through 35 years of age who had been ordered to register for the draft, the age range of most big league baseball players.
But after a “green light” from President Roosevelt, major league baseball played on in 1942 as it would throughout the war. It turned out to be an extraordinary season, too, spiced by a brash, young, and swift St. Louis Cardinal team that stunned the baseball world by winning the World Series. The 1942 season would be overshadowed by war, though, with many people wondering whether it was really all right for 400 seemingly healthy and athletic men to play a child’s game and earn far more money than the thousands of young Americans whose lives were at risk as they fought the Germans and Japanese abroad.
In Season of ’42, veteran sportswriter Jack Cavanaugh takes a look at this historic baseball season, how it was shaped and affected by the war and what, ultimately, it meant to America.
More from the same
Author
What listeners say about Season of '42
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- S. Ryan
- 23-10-19
Great story, narration is like fingernails on a chalkboard!
The narrator sounds like he is reading a news bulletin from the 1940’s. He reads like someone in your face who is trying to make a point and I start leaning back to preserve my personal space. He mispronounces several words, not just named, and over has a very grating performance. I am an hour into this and not sure how much further I can make it. This needs to be heard to be believed.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall1 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story1 out of 5 stars
- Greg Brown
- 18-06-23
WWII overshadows 1942 baseball season
I tried to understand how author was using WWII as a backdrop to the 1942 season, but he went way to far. I had to stop midway through when a chapter was devoted to U boat commanders' treatment of survivors of sunken freighters. Many pronouncement errors and the general sleepy performance did not help. Not sure how many times stories like Stan Musial's meteoric rise to the majors was repeated. Slipping into the futures of players probably should have been in the last chapter. I was so disappointed that the backdrop became the focus of a baseball story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- R. C. Brewer
- 08-10-22
Narration mediocre.
Ok history. Narration so-so. Several mispronunciations. Narrator's voice hard to listen to at times. It seemed there were at least two narrators and they finished each others thoughts or sentences (even though there is only one credited). Annoying but not as much as mispronunciations of words like "contribute", "Spahn" and "Enos".
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall1 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story1 out of 5 stars
- Joseph T. Hobson
- 18-08-21
Horrible!
Horrible. Was this a vanity thing? Do not tell me the crank box that read this thing is s professional.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall1 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story1 out of 5 stars
- steve finkelstein
- 11-08-21
Awful narrator strikes again
As Mr. Good from North Carolina points out, the narrator speaks as if each sentence is a headline. It kind of masks his numerous mispronunciations.
How much does a narrator get paid per book? Hopefully not a lot because there seems to be more awful narrators than competent narrators. If I were the author, I would get the audio version re-recorded. This is just pure crap.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Craig Good
- 03-12-20
Narrator is not for me
I couldn’t continue listening, the narrator sounded like he was a headline announcer on every sentence. Not really sure if it was a good story or not.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!