“8″ Center Field in New York (1951-1957)

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At the onset of the 1951 baseball season, the New York Yankees were the defending Major League Champions, having captured their second straight title. They were led by their future Hall of Fame center fielder, Joe DiMaggio. The Brooklyn Dodgers were developing one of the most formidable teams in baseball and were blessed with one Edwin “Duke” Snider, an All Star center fielder entering his prime.

The New York Giants, typically battling their Brooklyn rivals for National League supremacy, were touting a five tool rookie center fielder from Alabama, Willie Mays. Across the Harlem River, the apparent final year for DiMaggio was not expected to leave a tremendous void for the Yankee center field post, as long as another astounding rookie, Mickey Charles Mantle, could initially play right field and learn from the iconic DiMaggio; before moving over to assume the position.

Snider, Mays, and Mantle would respectively traverse the middle outfield position in the New York City Boroughs of Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Bronx, through the 1957 season.

In the fall of 1957, three thirteen year old friends have commenced their final year at St. Joan of Arc Grammar School in the Borough of Queens. Each is an avid baseball fan. Joey, the Brooklyn Dodger enthusiast, thinks that Duke Snider walks on water; Bob, lives to wield a stickball bat and exclaim “now batting for the Giants, the Say Hey Kid, Willie Mays;” and Lou has come to idolize Mickey Mantle, after being ingrained with Yankee pinstripe lore since his sixth birthday. The friends, in response to a homework assignment from Sister Marie Angela, decide to fulfill a book report obligation by teaming together to write about their favorite players.

“8” (the numerical identification of the center field position in baseball parlance), is a review of the glorious years of the center field position in New York City from 1951 through 1957; as seen through the book report prepared by Joey, Bob, and Lou. Can the good friends work as a team and complete the Report without continuously fighting about who is the best center fielder in New York……..Willie, Mickey, or the Duke?

Relive the glory years of 1950’s baseball in “8” and find out for yourself if it’s Willie, Mickey, or the Duke who should be dubbed New York’s best center fielder.

“8”
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ISBN 13 (TP): 978-1-4653-0722-4
ISBN 13 (HB): 978-1-4653-0723-1
ISBN 13 (eBook): 978-1-4653-0724-8