Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series That Changed Baseball

An outstanding and deeply enjoyable book. Epplin has used the 1948 Cleveland baseball team, who ended up winning the World Series that year, as a lens through which to look at baseball and at America. Epplin examines the careers of four men, two white -- eccentric owner Bill Veeck and fireballing Cleveland pitcher Bob Feller -- and two black: star outfielder Larry Doby and legendary pitcher Satchel Paige. These four men came together in unpredictable ways to bring a championship to Cleveland in the dawning days of postwar America. The writing is fresh and vivid. Add it to the short shelf (Eight Men Out, The Glory of Their Times) of indispensable baseball books.

Author Luke Epplin takes the reader back in time to the Cleveland Indians magical 1948 season. This book focuses on primarily four people: offbeat and courageous team owner, Bill Veeck, two pioneering Black players, Larry Doby and Satchel Paige, and All-American hero Bob Feller. Veeck integrated the American League by signing Paige and Doby, and their backgrounds are given, along with interesting information about the Negro Baseball Leagues. Paige was an aging but legendary pitcher with 20 years of experience, while Doby was a young, unproven talent at the Major League level. Feller's abilities as baseball's premier fastball pitcher were declining. Veeck put together an unlikely combination of these and other players who would win games and fans throughout baseball. I highly recommend this book as both a fascinating "underdog" sports story, as well as an important statement about the early racial integration of baseball's American League.

This is a well researched book that is written well. Very interesting even for non-baseball fans!

In a well researched and exceptionally well written book, Luke Epplin tell the story of four individuals, Larry Doby, Satchel Paige, Bob Feller and Bill Veeck and how they miraculously came together during the 1948 baseball season in Cleveland. He skillfully weaves their stories together culminating in the World Series. He also describes in detail the difficulties the Black players had in finally integrating baseball. This is both a book about baseball with a commentary about race and a book about race relations with a baseball background. This is a riveting read.

When I came to the United States in 1949 as a 13-year-old Czech refugee, I had never heard of the game of baseball. Less than a year after arriving, as I was learning the game, I came across the story of a young man whose story reminded me of my own. Larry Doby, a wonderful athlete from nearby Paterson, New Jersey, was a great hitter who was barred from the major leagues for one reason--he was Black. His story of being the subject of deprivation, disrespect, insults, and rejection resonated with me. Just as he suffered from American segregationists and their laws, I had suffered at the hands of the Nazis. Larry Doby became my idol--my hero. I wore his number 14 in high school, college, and even on a sports car I raced later in life. 

Jackie Robinson and the 1947 Dodgers have been celebrated and written about thousands of times. Unfortunately, the story of the second man to break through the barrier of major-league segregation, and the first in the American League, is not well known. As a friend of mine once asked: "Does anyone remember the name of the second person to fly across the Atlantic?"

I've read a number of books and stories about the desegregation of the Cleveland Indians by owner Bill Veeck, but no one tells it better than Luke Epplin, the author of OUR TEAM. The book's tag line reads: "The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series that Changed Baseball." The four men are: Larry Doby and Satchel Paige--two Black men who were instrumental in bringing a World Series championship to Cleveland--and Bill Veeck and Bob Feller. Feller was, arguably, the greatest pitcher in the history of the game, but at the end of his career by the time Doby and Paige arrived. Bill Veeck was known as a great promoter. However, what stands out in Epplin's book is the fact that he was also a great humanitarian, one who nurtured Doby through difficult times and one who remained Larry's friend for life.

I write about my own love and respect for, and eventual encounter with, Larry Doby in my memoir, NAME-DROPPINGS: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH THE FAMOUS AND NEAR FAMOUS. Epplin brings all the drama and strife of Doby's life and career to the pages of his wonderful book, OUR TEAM. I recommend it highly, even if you may not be a baseball fan.

“Our Team” is perhaps the best book about baseball I have ever read. The author’s insight on the four Hall of Famers featured (Veeck, Paige, Feller, and Doby) was interesting to read, and brought me right into the story.
I am a 77 year old Yankee fan, and a huge fan of Veeck, Paige and Doby. Veeck is a personal hero of mine, as I’m also a highly driven leg amputee. I’ve met Larry Doby, and think Paige is likely one of the top 10 pitchers of all time. The story of the way black folks were treated (and continue to be treated) is so sad and awful.

This is just a terrific book. I bought it after hearing the author give a talk about it at the City Club of Cleveland. It sat in my “to read” pile for a few months, and I’m glad I finally got around to reading it. A compelling narrative—really, four compelling narratives—and very well-written. A terrific book, and a must-read for anyone interested in the history of baseball and race in America.

Given as gift to life-long Cleveland Baseball fan, who remembers the race for the pennant and who owned all the team trading cards in the 1948 season. They are enjoying the trip down memory lane, as well as the background information interwoven in the story. We will have the younger generation read it next, as it relates to current events in sports today.

The story of the American League's Cleveland Indians, Bill Veck and Bob Feller and the Negro League players, Satchel Page and the 1948 saga of Larry Doby. That's good story telling.

This is such an important untold story!! Written in a great journalistic style.