”One Nation Under Baseball” with John Florio & Ouisie Shapiro

 

"The '60s were a time of conflict, progress, tragedy, triumph, and unforgettable events in the nation and its pastime.  One Nation Under Baseball connects the two in revealing and insightful fashion."  -Bob Costas

One Nation Under Baseball highlights the intersection between American society and America's pastime during the 1960s, when the hallmarks of the sport -- fairness, competition, and mythology -- came under scrutiny.  John Florio and Ouisie Shapiro examine the events of the era that reshaped the game: the Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale million-dollar holdout, the encroachment of television on newspaper coverage, the changing perception of ballplayers from mythic figures to overgrown boys, the arrival of the everyman Mets and their free-spirited fans, and the lawsuit brought against team owners by Curt Flood.

Florio and Shapiro bring to life the seminal figures of the era -- including Bob Gibson, Marvin Miller, Tom Seaver, and Dick Young -- richly portraying their roles during a decade of flux and uncertainty.

John Florio is a freelance writer and novelist.  He is the author of Sugar Pop Moon and Blind Moon Alley.  Ouisie Shapiro is an Emmy-winning writer and producer of sport documentaries.  Her writing credits include HBO's Nine Innings from Ground Zero and ESPN's Playing for the Mob.  Florio and Shapiro are the authors of One Punch from the Promised Land: Leon Spinks, Michael Spinks, and the Myth of the Heavyweight Title.  They are also contributors to the Atlantic and the New Yorker.

On an April evening in 2017, John Florio and Ouisie Shapiro took us back to the 1960s in a fascinating Clubhouse conversation.  Listen in...