Black giants among the boys of summer: Hank Aaron's 715th home run, Richie Allen of the '64 Phillies, and the pride of the Negro League

Black Issues Book Review, July-August, 2004 by Art Rust, Jr.

Hank Aaron and the Home Run That Changed America by Tom Stanton William Morrow, April 2004 $23.95 ISBN 0-060-57976-5

On April 23, 1954, Hank Aaron hit his first major league homer off Vic Raschi of the St. Louis Cardinals. On Monday, April 8, 1974, Aaron passed George Herman "Babe" Ruth as the leading home run hitter in baseball history when he hit number 715 before 53, 775 fans on hand in Atlanta Stadium, plus a nationally televised audience. I was in front of my TV then, and tears of joy streamed from my eyes as I witnessed what I knew to be my ultimate thrilling sports moment!

Stanton's book begins with Jackie Robin son's 1972 Riverside Church funeral in New York City. Robinson was Hank Aaron's idol. For more than 20 years, Aaron and Robinson compared notes on their shared racial adversity. Aaron is quoted as saying, "I will never forget that he told me to keep talking about what makes me unhappy-otherwise people will think you're satisfied with the situation." How Aaron's achievements changed the country has been recounted in other books, but Stanton's account paints a right-on, definitive story of what I Hank experienced after tying, then breaking Babe Ruth's record.

The death threats, the fact that Aaron considered leaving baseball, his health problems and other racial issues are brought to light. Stanton also explores Willie Mays's jealousy, Dusty Baker's appreciation, the importance of Aaron's African American backing, and how Aaron continues to support the hiring of more minority managers in baseball.

September Swoon: Richie Allen the '64 Phillies, and Racial Integration by William C. Kashatus Penn State University Press, March 2004 $29.95 ISBN 0-271-02333-3

Richie Allen was anything but the white man's idea of the black athlete. Still I have never seen anybody mash a baseball harder than Richie Allen--with apologies to Jimmy Foxx and Ted Williams. Historian Kashatus has penned a book that covers the famous 1964 Phillies bittersweet season. The author manages to astutely tie Philadelphia's general racial conflicts, its "shameful past," to the history of their baseball franchise. He brings us to the spring of 1963 when Richard Anthony Allen was brought up from their farm system located in Little Rock. Allen was the first black baseball player in Arkansas history. General manager John Quinn and team manager Gene Mauch understood that integrating the Phillies was the one way to guarantee future success on the field and at the gate. Mauch says, "I wouldn't be surprised if Richie Allen one day hits the ball to both right and left field on the same pitch. He could split the ball right in half." During the week of September 21, 1964, as the World Series tickets were being printed, Allen went on to become Rookie of the Year.

Kashatus' informative, factual book is impressive in its telling of the various experiences of Richie Allen, including his Arkansas days, his beginning in the Negro Leagues and his history-making Phillies era, insightfully placed in the context of W.E.B. Du Bois's groundbreaking analysis of the so-called Negro problem in The Philadelphia Negro. Kashatus also acknowledges both Allen's superstardom and his difficult demeanor--that Allen, during his playing years, simply danced to a different drummer.

Negro League Baseball: The Rise and Ruin of a Black Institution by Neil Lanctot University of Pennsylvania Press, May 2004 $34.95, ISBN 0-812-23807-9

Here is a fantastic, well-researched work--the rare acme of perfection on the subject. Lanctot discusses black baseball as one of a number of "race" enterprises created in response to segregation. While most black businesses were shaky and struggling flora year to year, black baseball teams and leagues represented a significant institution for decades.

Art Rust Jr. is a veteran journalist and sports historian.