Salisbury Rotary Club member Duane Estes, long-time baseball coach at Salisbury School and with a wealth of knowledge of the history of baseball, spoke to club members present at the 6/14 luncheon meeting on David Halberstram’s 1977 best seller, October 1964. The book looks at the 1964 World Series with the aging NY Yankees vs the up-and-coming St. Louis Cardinals, and does so in the context of the societal changes of the times, primarily with regard to race relations, integration of Major League Baseball and differences between the American & National Leagues regarding their levels of having Black players. He cited many examples and stories involving greats like the Cardinals’ Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Curt Flood and Yankee Elston Howard. The book chronicles the important interplay between sports, in this case baseball, and society. The Cardinals won the ‘64 Series, 4-3, ending the Yankees’ dynasty since 1949.
