Stolen Dreams: The 1955 Cannon Street All-Stars and Little League Baseball's Civil War

by Chris Lamb Narrated by Midnite Michael

Overview

When the eleven- and twelve-year-olds on the Cannon Street YMCA All-Star team registered for a baseball tournament in Charleston, South Carolina, in June 1955, it put the team and the forces of integration on a collision course with segregation, bigotry, and the southern way of life. When all the white teams withdrew in protest, the Cannon Street team won the state tournament. If the team had won the regional tournament in Rome, Georgia, it would have advanced to the Little League World Series. But Little League officials ruled the team ineligible to play in the tournament because it had advanced by winning on forfeit and not on the field, denying the boys their dream of playing in the Little League World Series. Little League Baseball invited the Cannon Street All-Stars to be the organization's guests at the World Series, where they heard spectators yell, "Let them play! Let them play!" when the ballplayers were introduced.



Stolen Dreams is the story of the Cannon Street YMCA All-Stars and of the early civil rights movement. It's also the story of centuries of bigotry in Charleston, South Carolina-where millions of enslaved people were brought to this country and where the Civil War began, where segregation remained for a century after the war ended and anyone who challenged it did so at their own risk.

Editorial Reviews

OCTOBER 2022 - AudioFile

Chris Lamb dives into the story of the Cannon Street All-Stars, a 1955 Little League team in South Carolina that was prevented from competing in and ultimately advancing in a key tournament because of Jim Crow segregation. The story transcends sports. Lamb paints a vivid picture of life for Blacks in the South amid the social mores of the time. Midnite Michael’s bass pitch and tone of gravitas enhance the audiobook. He occasionally shifts his timbre slightly when someone is being quoted, a technique that is never distracting. Lamb’s well-researched and well-written account is an uncomfortable one of history and injustice. Michael gives it the attention and respect it deserves. M.B. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

From the Publisher

"Lamb's engaging and thought-provoking book provides readers with a unique story about integration, segregation, and America's pastime and cannot be recommended highly enough."—Chad S. Wise, NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture


"Stolen Dreams works as a history told at the intersection of sports, civil rights, and southern memory, reminding readers of how often those fields are closely woven together."—Robert Greene II, Journal of Southern History


"Lamb includes grand context of what was happening in South Carolina, the South and American courts during the tumultuous early 1950s. That makes Stolen Dreams . . . a slick double-play: academically worthy of any Palmetto State history syllabus and perfect for a baseball fan's 2022 season reading list."—Gene Sapakoff, Post and Courier

AudioFile

Midnite Michael's bass pitch and tone of gravitas enhance the audiobook.

OCTOBER 2022 - AudioFile

Chris Lamb dives into the story of the Cannon Street All-Stars, a 1955 Little League team in South Carolina that was prevented from competing in and ultimately advancing in a key tournament because of Jim Crow segregation. The story transcends sports. Lamb paints a vivid picture of life for Blacks in the South amid the social mores of the time. Midnite Michael’s bass pitch and tone of gravitas enhance the audiobook. He occasionally shifts his timbre slightly when someone is being quoted, a technique that is never distracting. Lamb’s well-researched and well-written account is an uncomfortable one of history and injustice. Michael gives it the attention and respect it deserves. M.B. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175400664
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	06/28/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged

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