cover image Streak: Joe Dimaggio and the Summer of '41

Streak: Joe Dimaggio and the Summer of '41

Michael Seidel. McGraw-Hill Companies, $0 (260pp) ISBN 978-0-07-055966-0

It is generally agreed among baseball experts that one of the most unusual records in the game is Yankee centerfielder DiMaggio's feat of achieving a hit in 56 consecutive contests in 1941. Here Columbia University professor Seidel recaptures the excitement of that streak and places it against the backdrop of the dramatic events in world history that were taking place at the same time: deputy Fuhrer Rudolph Hess's bizarre flight to England, the Nazi capture of Crete and Hitler's attack on Russia. Seidel recreates the era, from the price of bread and new subway rides to the arrival on the screen of The Maltese Falcon with Humphrey Bogart. But the principal focus is Joltin' Joe and his teammates and Seidel tells their story in memorable style. Photos not seen by PW. (May)