Our Team

The riveting story of four menΓÇöLarry Doby,Bill VeeckBob Fellerand Satchel PaigeΓÇöwhose improbable union on the Cleveland Indians in the late 1940s would shape the immediate postwar era of Major League Baseball and beyond. In July 1947not even three months after Jackie Robinson debuted on the Brooklyn Dodgerssnapping the color line that had segregated Major League BaseballLarry Doby would follow in his footsteps on the Cleveland Indians. Though Dobyas the second Black player in the majorswould struggle during his first summer in Clevelandhis subsequent turnaround in 1948 from benchwarmer to superstar sparked one of the wildest and most meaningful seasons in baseball history. In intimateabsorbing detailLuke Epplin’s Our Team traces the story of the integration of the Cleveland Indians and their quest for a World Series title through four key participants: Bill Veeckan eccentric and visionary owner adept at exploding fireworks on and off the field; Larry Dobya soft-spokenhard-hitting pioneer whose major-league breakthrough shattered stereotypes that so much of white America held about Black ballplayers; Bob Fellera pitching prodigy from the Iowa cornfields who set the template for the athlete as businessman; and Satchel Paigea legendary pitcher from the Negro Leagues whose belated entry into the majors whipped baseball fans across the country into a frenzy. Togetheras the backbone of a team that epitomized the postwar American spirit in all its hopes and contradictionsthese four men would captivate the nation by storming to the World Series–all the while rewriting the rules of what was possible in sports.