The Bilko Athletic Club: The Story Of The 1956 Los Angeles Angels

Before the Brooklyn Dodgers departed the fabled Ebbets Field in New York City in 1958 for the City of Angels, one of the key reasons leading to the exodus was the public frenzy for an much admired minor league player, Steve Bilko, and his red-hot Los Angeles Angels two years earlier. Former Denver Post sportswriter White relives that miracle season when the beer-guzzling, hefty Bilko, with his mighty bat, ignited the lowly minor league team in the Pacific Coast League during a historic year. Written in a subdued voice without any sensational prose, Bilko, known as the Sergeant of Swat and Mr. Biceps, is a stirring tribute of a superstar shining on a small stage, guiding "baseball's last great minor league team," slugging 313 homers in the minors, but the highly hyped athlete's luck fizzled in the majors with only 76 round-trippers. However, Bilko dazzled the sports world for the incredible 1956 season, at a time when Yankee star Mickey Mantle pursued Babe Ruth's home run record nationally and baseball fans held their breath. Weaving in anecdotes from Bilko's teammates and rivals both in the minors and the pros, White's precise, powerful account of a remarkable, unlikely athlete who peaked too early without achieving too much when his dream finally came true. (Mar.)