Cardinal Dreams: The Legacy of Charlie Peete and a Life Cut Short
Cardinal Dreams revitalizes the legacy of Charlie Peete, a key figure in integrating the minor leagues with the breakout potential to be the first established Black position player for the St. Louis Cardinals. Peete changed the world for the better and left a lasting impact on baseball before his tragic death at just 27 years old.
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Danny Spewak has more than a decade of experience as a news reporter at local television affiliates in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Buffalo, and mid-Missouri. A native of the St. Louis area, he graduated from the University of Missouri with dual degrees in journalism and political science. Spewak has also covered college sports extensively as a freelance writer, producing work that has appeared in the USA Today Network, The Huffington Post, and other online media outlets. He is the author of From the Gridiron to the Battlefield: Minnesota's March to a College Football Title and into World War II, which was a finalist for the Emilie Buchwald Award for Minnesota Nonfiction in the 2022 Minnesota Book Awards.
As a lifelong fan of the St. Louis Cardinals, I thought I knew everything there was to know about the team's storied history. I was wrong. In his exhaustively researched book, Danny Spewak digs deep on Charlie Peete, a pioneering player who helped pave the way for a host of Cardinals legends. This is a valuable contribution to baseball history, one that details the number of lives that Peete managed to touch despite his own being cut tragically short.
Sometimes the best and most intriguing stories are those of what might have been. This is one such story.
Charles Peete never became a household name within the St. Louis Cardinals lexicon, but he was an up-and-coming star in the Cardinal organization. The Cardinals have a storied and consistent ability to find players like Peete, who fit the Cardinal mold of players. Unfortunately, tragedy befell him at the young age of 27, robbing him of a future in baseball we are only able to dream about.
Marvelously researched, sparklingly written. A riveting read that belongs with the best of baseball biographies.
A name that should not be forgotten, Charlie "Pistol" Peete, is brought to life in Cardinal Dreams. Readers are taken on a journey through baseball during a time when segregation was still the norm and players like Peete grew up only dreaming of a Major League career. Peete's story is one of triumph as well as tragedy and is eloquently told in Cardinal Dreams.
