Published in February by AuthorHouse, this 152-page book takes a close look at hitting lineups from Major League Baseball teams of the 1960s. The book pays special attention to “The Beef” of each team’s line-up, that is, the combination of 3-4-5 hitters in the game and how those combinations affected each team’s overall success. In depth and entertaining, if you like baseball, you’ll get a kick out of this book.
Lockhart, a St. Louis native who now lives in Florida, is especially suited to tell this story. He saw hundreds of professional baseball games as a youngster in St. Louis and spent a number of summers as a peanut vendor at Busch Stadium. During that time, he saw some of the greatest players of all time, including Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente and Sandy Koufax.
Lockhart takes a close look at each team in both the National League and the American League and rates them according to his “Beef-O-Meter” based on the various 3-4-5 hitting combinations used between 1960-1964 and 1965-1969. It makes for fascinating reading, especially when he discusses how these line-up combinations affected opposing pitchers and each team’s overall winning percentage. You would think that the team with the best bats would have had the most success, but that wasn’t always the case.
The book also includes lots of historical information about each team, their players and managers. It discusses how each team faired during the 1960s and also discusses how important player trades affected their success and the success of other teams. Lockhart also poses a number of interesting “What If?” questions and discusses the exploits of borderline players who have either been picked for the Hall of Fame or have been snubbed by voters.
Lockhart also discusses the careers of players who would have likely been household names had their careers not been cut short by tragedy. Those players include Houston first baseman Walt Bond who died from leukemia at the age of 29 and former Chicago Cubs rookie of the year Ken Hubbs who died in a plane crash in Provo, Utah. He also touches on the effect that World War II had not only on Major League Baseball but also on the professional minor league system, a topic that’s seldom discussed. Lockhart wraps up the book by trying to answer a number of questions about baseball in the 1960s, including who had the best team during that decade, which league was the best and which 3-4-5 hitting combination was the best.
In the end, I enjoyed reading “The Beef,” and I would recommend it to all baseball fans in the reading audience, especially those who grew up watching the game in the 1960s. Copies of the book are available at most major bookstores and can also be purchased online through Barnes & Noble and Amazon. The book sells for around $15 a copy, and baseball fans will find it well worth the purchase price.
No comments:
Post a Comment