Review of "High Flying Birds"

 When I received a book review request from this publisher, the University of Missouri, it was actually for a different book (that I have yet to review - it is coming, I promise!) and I asked about this one since I like reading about baseball during the World War II era.  While I was hoping for a bit more about the war and its effect on this team, it is still a very good recap of the 1942 season for the St. Louis Cardinals.  Here is my review of "High Flying Birds"

Title/Author: “High-Flying Birds: The 1942 St. Louis Cardinals” by Jerome Mileur

Rating: 4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review: In 1942, the United States was entering World War II and that war proved to be a pivotal time for not only the country, but for its most popular sport at the time, baseball.  The biggest impact the war had on the game was the drafting of many players for military service.  While in 1942, this impacted the minor leagues more than the majors (they would feel it in later years), there were still teams that had to play either mostly younger or mostly older players.  The St. Louis Cardinals fell under the former category and their championship season is captured in great detail in this book by Jerome Mileur.

From a pure baseball viewpoint, a reader can’t get much more detail than they will get in this book.  Every series that the Cardinals played that year, from Opening Day to the World Series (won in 5 games over the New York Yankees) is covered in excellent recaps.  There is more attention paid to those games against the Brooklyn Dodgers, with whom the Cardinals fought all season to capture the National League pennant.

Maybe “fought” isn’t the best word to use to describe this as of course, there was real fighting between nations in the war, and Mileur has details on the progress of the war and the American communication with civilians back home in both the European and Pacific theatres.  While these are good and make good connections to baseball and the Cardinals, they are short compared to the game-by-game recaps of the 1942 season.  Also lacking, or at least was very minimal, were profiles of the players and the manager, Billy Southworth.  This doesn’t mean that there were none, but they were short and always had a connection to the current game Mileur was writing about. 

Some baseball historians, including Mileur, believe the 1942 Cardinals were the best team in the history of the franchise and he makes the case in the last section of the book.  Despite their youth and the large gap they had to make up in the last month of the season on the Dodgers, they ended the season with 106 victories and a win over the dominant team in baseball in the World Series.  Fans of the Cardinals, especially those who like their books filled with descriptions of the actions on the field, will enjoy this book.

I wish to thank University of Missouri Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Link: High-Flying Birds: The 1942 St. Louis Cardinals (Volume 1) (Sports and American Culture): Mileur, Jerome M.: 9780826218346: Amazon.com: Books