Review of "Great Infielders of the Major Leagues," by Dave Klein

 Review of

Great Infielders of the Major Leagues, by Dave Klein ISBN 0394823834

Four out of five stars

A set of brief, laudatory biographies

 The author has self-selected twelve infielders from the time period from 1945 until the year of publication in 1972. Three players for each of the four infield positions are profiled.  They are Gil Hodges, Boog Powell and Willie McCovey at first, Jackie Robinson, Ken Hubbs and Glenn Beckert at second, Pee Wee Reese, Phil Rizzuto and Luis Aparicio at short and Ken and Clete Boyer and Brooks Robinson at third.

 The biographies are generally laudatory, describing their early years in the sport, the circumstances of their signing their first pro contract and if applicable, the circumstances of their retirement from the sport. As such, there are no eye-popping revelations, most of the quotes are standard, generic  baseball talk.   

 While many of the players are in the Baseball Hall of Fame, some are not. Specifically, Hubbs, Powell, Clete Boyer, Beckert and Hodges. It is easy to play the “what about?” game with the selections. The most obvious ones are Hall-of-Fame third baseman Eddie Mathews over Clete Boyer and Hall-of-Fame second baseman Bill Mazeroski over Hubbs. This is a good, but not great look back at some of the better players in this timeframe.