Five O’Clock Lightning: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and the Greatest Baseball Team in History, The 1927 New York Yankees
By Harvey Frommer
John Wiley and Sons Inc., 262 pages

This book is good sports history because it does two things; it presents a simple, logical but dramatic narrative, and that narrative is filled with interesting characters.

And it’s done in a style that’s very reminiscent of the era about which the book is written – the Roaring 20s.

Using tons of primary sources, including many long-list interviews from the players and officials surrounding the great 1927 Yankees team, as well as reams of newspaper stories, Frommer has put together a solid, eminently readable, and enlightening account of one of the greatest seasons in professional baseball.

The 1927 Yankees were full of youthful energy and veteran talent. They also had a chip on their shoulder, because they were unexpectedly and unceremoniously ousted from the World Series the previous season.

Under their diminutive sage of a manager, Miller Huggins, this unique blend of personalities – and believe me, most of these guys were unique – a true powerhouse was born, rolling through the American League on their way to an easy pennant, followed by the first-ever four-game sweep in World Series history (over a very good Pittsburgh Pirates team.)

We see into the locker room and on the trains how this team came together both on and off the field, how they remained confident without being cocky, even-tempered without settling into complacency.

We also saw how they partied (or, in the case of a very young Lou Gehrig, hung out with his mother) and spent their non-playing time.

Looming over this book, like the larger-than-life presence he truly was, is Babe Ruth.

The Babe was arguably the best-known, most popular sports celebrity in America. His legendary appetites are talked about, but don’t consume too much of the narrative in this book. They’re mainly used to contrast him with the rest of the players on the Yankee roster, particularly Gehrig, and to show just how gargantuan a juggernaut he was as the Pinstripes’ main man.

It is curious to read about how little acclaim Gehrig was receiving in the shadow of Ruth, even though he put together one of the greatest offensive seasons of all time. But Gehrig’s time would come.

It is also fascinating to read about the other players from the 1927 Yanks, from the backup catcher, to the batboy, to the little-used relief pitchers, and how they contributed to the success of the team, and also to the camaraderie of the team.

Baseball fans, particularly those who root for the Bronx Bombers, will devour this book, and even those who are just fans of the grand old game will get a kick out of this examination of baseball from an era when the greatest star in the game ‘only’ made $70,000 a year, and a young star such as Gehrig settled for $7,500.

- Jim Barber is the Sports, Arts and Lifestyles Editor for the Barrie Advance. Contact him at jbarber@simcoe.com.