Teammates, The: A Portrait of a Friendship (original 2003; edition 2004)

by David Halberstam

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booksandbosox's review

It's October 2001. Johnny Pesky, Dominic DiMaggio and Dick Flavin are on their way to Florida. Friend Bobby Doerr unfortunately cannot make the trip. Their purpose? One final visit with Ted Williams, friend and baseball legend, who is very close to death.

Admittedly, I don't know very much about baseball and the great players of yore. Of course, I know their names and that they are revered, but I don't have a brain for statistics and I wasn't alive to see how these players got to be the legends they are today. I've watched baseball my entire life, but not MLB until college. I bought this book for my dad a number of years ago - he being the man that instilled a love of baseball in me - and he never read it (my mother claims he's "saving it for retirement"), so I've been in a baseball mood (having watched the 18+ hours of Ken Burns' "Baseball" documentary) and decided to pick it up while I waited for my boyfriend to finish our book club book. I liked learning more about these men - they are, after all, the greats from my team. And it felt appropriate to read after the recent passing of Dominic DiMaggio - he comes across as the biggest hero of this tale. However, something was missing for me. I can't put my finger on it, though. I think perhaps I am too woefully ignorant of these men's backstories that I couldn't fully appreciate the story of their friendship. For me, this book almost felt like the bare bones of the story - yes, there is information about each man's baseball career, and his childhood, and his life post-baseball, and how they've managed to stay in touch, but something was still lacking. I'm definitely glad I read it - I appreciate each player more now and I want to expand my knowledge about them. (

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booksandbosox | May 27, 2009 |

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Reads like a postscript to the author’s Summer of ‘49, from which it recycles a few too many anecdotes. Dom Dimaggio and Johnny Pesky make a trip to Florida to see Ted Williams, dying. Bobby Doerr can’t make the trip from Oregon; he’s caring for his wife, who after suffering for years from MS has had two strokes. Halberstam combines, as usual, sharp reporting with clear prose, and continues his project of using the lens of baseball, and our obsession with it, to make larger statements about post-war American society. It's not only about baseball, it's an elegaic meditation on friendship, aging and death. A good read. (

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HenrySt123 | Jul 19, 2021 |

Quick but fun read. Baseball fans of any age would like this book. (

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stevesbookstuff | Nov 7, 2020 |

David Halberstam Teammates: A Portrait of Friendship is a wonderful baseball book that transcends the game, by turns heartwarming and heartbreaking. It is the story of four Boston Red Sox teammates - Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio, and Johnny Pesky - who after their playing days remained lifelong friends. Halberstam chronicles their personalities, their interrelationships, their careers (and a marvelous recap of the pivotal play in the seventh game of the 1946 Red Sox-Cardinals World Series), all leading to DiMaggio and Pesky’s October 2001 road trip to pay a final visit to Williams, his health failing, in his last dying days. (

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ghr4 | Mar 31, 2019 |

A good read about the bonds between teammates and a look back at those Sox from the "good old days" (though the good old days are happening right now... or at least the last decade or so, for the most part). (

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mhanlon | Jun 10, 2017 |

Really enjoyed this book. Well-researched, and based on interviews with the four team members, Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Dominic DiMaggio, and John Pesky, it paints a realistic, if mostly unflattering, picture of Ted Williams. But it also provides insight into why Ted was the way he was, and offers examples of his generosity. It also reconfirmed by belief that ball players used to play for the love of the game itself, and as a result they were more invested in the game and the fans more invested in the players. Greed has helped to ruin America's Pastime. (

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bjtimm | Nov 8, 2016 |

Great read (

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jimifenway | Feb 2, 2016 |

Pretty good story about the life and times of a few historical Boston Red Sox. (

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biggs1399 | Jan 19, 2016 |

Halberstam, Red Sox. what's not to love?
elegiac, both for Williams and Halberstam
in passing, probably the best analysis of "The Curse" -- not enough pitching -- written before '04

tomspisak | Sep 21, 2013 |

Just a good book about aging athletes, friendship and the Red Sox. (

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nmele | Apr 8, 2013 |

A book about Ted Williams and his former teammates when age and illness brought them back together. It's a touching book and Halberstam's writing should not be missed.

Find more of my reviews -- usually much longer than this one -- at Mostly NF.

benjfrank | Aug 19, 2012 |

Surprisingly little on the years these guys played together on the Red Sox--what makes them of interest in the first place. But Halberstam manages to make us interested in these guys as men rather than players. I could easily have been disappointed, but I'm not. Though a few chapters on their glory years would have been to the good. (

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ehines | Jun 21, 2011 |

A portrait of the friendship of Ted Williams, Dom DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky and Bobby Doerr who all played for the Boston Red Sox and stayed close to each other for 60 years. (

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marient | Oct 11, 2010 |

In the 1940's, the Boston Red Sox was one of the best teams in baseball, with Ted Williams, Dominic DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky and Bobby Doerr in the lineup, as well as a friendship that would last a lifetime. In 2001, Dominic DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky drive 1300 miles to pay a last visit to Ted Williams, who is dying. The book is an account by a master baseball writer of the beginning of their friendship, their lives in baseball, and their final time together. Of particular interest to me, a St. Louisan, is the account of the 7th game of the 1946 World Series between Boston and the Cardinals at Sportsman's Park - which Boston, of course, barely lost. They would not win a Series in modern times until the 2004 series, again against St' Louis (they swept). A fine and touching story about a time when baseball and friendships seemed to be more enduring. Halberstam may be the best baseball writer there is. (

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burnit99 | Oct 11, 2009 |

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booksandbosox | May 27, 2009 |

This book is a short biography of Ted Williams, Dominic Dimaggio, Johnny Pesky, and Bobby Doerr, four men who formed lifelong friendships while playing for the Boston Red Sox. I generally am not interested in reading about baseball players' personal lives, and this book is no exception, its best parts are when they talk about baseball. Halberstam is far too worshipful of his subjects to make this anything more than a cute little book. I’m particularly fond of Dom Dimaggio though, the type of man and ball player he is in the shadow of both his brother and Ted Williams. (

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Othemts | Jun 25, 2008 |

Insight into relations among a famous foursome. (

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baseballgeek | Apr 27, 2008 |

This was a quick enjoyable listen.

I liked the story about Ted Williams signing a baseball for a pitcher who struck him out with the ball.

He then went on to hit a huge home run against the same pitcher.

As he was rounding the bases he said:
"If you can find it, I'll sign that son-of-a-bitch too!" (

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dvf1976 | Apr 23, 2008 |

Great story of the man Ted Williams and his closest friends...Dom Dimaggio, Johnny Pesky, and Bobby Doerr (

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MikeD | Nov 25, 2005 |

I used to be a big Red Sox fan, before they became a self-pitying mob, engaged in some self-victimized group think. What a bunch of whiners.

I loved the forties teams with Ted Williams, Bob Doerr, Johnny Pesky, and Dom DiMaggio. This is their story, not as players, but as men in their twilight years. More importantly, it is the story of three great players who always lived under the hot light cast by Williams, perhaps the most brilliant, publicly annoying man that ever played the game (one of my baseball heroes, I might add,)and how they prepare for his approaching death.

It is an affecting story, well told by David Halberstam. (

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ksmyth | Oct 16, 2005 |

Chronicle of Red Sox team mates Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio, and Johnny Pesky (

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