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5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 He told my story! A trip down memory lane. May 12, 2000
I grew up in South Texas in the 50's and 60's and related to the author's personal reflections throughout the entire book. I recall the White Sox and their pennant run while admitting to being a die hard Yankee fan not unlike most boys of those times without our own team to cheer for. I played many a sandlot game with my neighborhood buddies using the same broken and mended bats and decaying baseballs. I could recall my mother calling me in for dinner from our street playing fields as I read Larry's fond memories of the mongrel dog and his brother's game-winning home run. The baseball trading episodes left me wondering where my own boyhood treasures rest today. What a respite from my day ending pressures that I bring home from the office today. The day to day account of games also brought back memories of my early introduction to major league baseball by Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reece. I envy the author's fond recollection of sleep time radio broadcasts of his heros exploits; my experiences were relegated to Saturday afternoon television. The author nonrtheless took me back with him to where I thought I was in the room with him on those joyful radio celebrations. This book is a wonderful recall to days of joy and fun for boys and girls lucky to grow up in good family neighborhoods with caring parents and many friends. Thank you Mr. Kalas; I will read the book again soon to take me back again to a time lost for a middle-aged man with deep rooted baseball dreams.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 Sorry, But I Was Disappointed Sep 21, 2002
By C. W. Emblom
"Bill Emblom"
Author Kalas has provided the reader with pretty much a game by game summary of the 1959 Chicago White Sox season. I went through the book in two sittings. The book contains too much game summaries with no real in depth information. Occasionally, he provides some nostalgic information from that period of time. I was in high school when the Pale Hose won their first flag in forty years so I am well aware of this time period and the players that were on each team's roster. The author concludes the book with a biographical summary of each player and mentions if they are now deceased. I guess I expected more. If you want to read a book on the 1959 White Sox I would suggest "'59: Summer of the Sox."
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Good glimpse of a very special year for the Sox. Jun 29, 2004
By David C. Roller
Summer 2004 Reading List - Mini ReviewI really enjoyed this book for many of the same reasons other reviewers were disappointed with it. I really like Larry Kalas's perspective on the 1959 series. Not having been born soon enough to experience the the ecstasy of a city in celebration of an AL Pennant, I feel like I lived that experience vicariously through this fine narrative. An enjoyable feature of Strength Down the Middle is the way the story segued from the exploits on the field to the showmanship of Bill Veeck to the childhood of the author to the major headlines of the season in the world of sports and beyond. Reading it in many ways, evokes the feelings of opening a time capsule 45 years after the 1959 season unfolded. I do not feel that this book is particularly well titled. This volume is a very personal history and should wear a title that communicates the nature of the narrative. I believe the tweaking of the subtitle could achieve this. Remembrances of the 1959 Chicago White Sox would have better suited the material contained within.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Strength Down the Middle Mar 18, 2002
The 1959 Chicago White Sox were an godsend for a young Yankee hater in the '50's. Larry Kalas, a local fan at the time, takes you back to through a day-by-day accounting of the season recalling all the runs, hits and errors of his beloved Go, Go, Chisox. With roster changes and pitching performances his research of games provides the reader with throw back memories of the time. Names like Bill Tuttle, Rocky Colavito, Don Buddin and Jackie Jensen will jog your brain and take you back to a better time for the world, yourself and baseball. The book drags at times as he never alters from his game-to-game format. A little more local flavor of the stadium crowd and neighorhood following could have been substituted for his school stories. All-in-all it is a book I've been hoping to find for years since the Sox were a boyhood favorite that year. Nostalgia of Nellie Fox, Jim Landis and little Looey Aparicio is well worth the journey back with this book.
3 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Another disappointment! Oct 15, 2002
By John A. Alfano
I was expecting quite a bit more from this book. Essentially every game that the White Sox played in 1959 is summarized in a paragraph or two with both highlights and lowlights. What's lacking is current interviews by the author with the men who played the game. The few quotes mentioned are easily obtainable from other printed sources. Another thing that I found somewhat annoying was the author's nostalgic trips into his own childhood. If I was interested in his little league activities and visits to Comiskey Park with his dad I wouldn't be looking for a book titled "The Story of the 1959 White Sox". Enjoyed the extensive stats in the back of the book and the game chronologies but was left wondering, "Is that all there is?".
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