Mr. Book just finished Southern League: A True Story Of Baseball, Civil Rights, And The Deep South’s Most Compelling Pennant Race, by Larry Colton.

This book was published in 2013.

This book is about the 1964 Birmingham Barons, from the Southern League. They were the Double-A affiliate of the A’s. The author was a member of that team and he focuses on four of his teammates. Two were black, John “Blue Moon” Odom and Tommie Reynolds, along with two who were white: Paul Lindblad and Hoss Bowling, along with manager Haywood Sullivan. Yes, the races of the players are relevant, as this book focuses on both the pennant race and how the players “intertwined (or didn’t) with the turmoil that was Birmingham, the epicenter of the civil rights movement in 1964.”

The book did a very good job covering the player’s lives, their careers and the 1964 season, both on and off the field.

I give this book an A.

Goodreads requires grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, an A equates to 5 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at Mr. Book’s Book Reviews, and Goodreads.

Mr. Book finished reading this on December 16, 2024.