The Blues of Summer

The Blues of Summer is the nostalgic true story of a bygone era when baseball ruled the summers of Daniels County, Montana. The book traces how the homesteaders brought the game to northeastern Montana in the early 1900s and how Daniels County -- dubbed "Baseball Country" by the Daniels County Leader -- was always passionate about baseball. Scobey, the county seat, was a magnet for talented baseball players, including Happy Felsh and Swede Risberg from the 1919 Chicago White Sox, who played for the Scobey Giants town team in 1925. The Scobey town team became known as the Plainsmen and won two Montana state AAU and semipro championships in 1958 and 1960. But the book's heart is the story of the Scobey Blues American Legion Baseball team, which began playing in 1930 and won eight Montana state Class B Legion championships for legendary coach Clyde H. "Doc" Norman between 1969 and 1982. Author Joe Puckett, who played on four state Legion championship teams in the late 1970s, tells his baseball story and the story of the teams that came before and after his playing days.

Due primarily to the dwindling population in northeastern Montana, the Scobey Blues Legion program fell into decline and ultimately folded following the 2003 season, with a brief revival attempt from 2016 to 2019. Like the Brooklyn Dodgers of Roger Kahn's The Boys of Summer, the Scobey Blues have faded away, but they will forever live in The Blues of Summer. The book, published on the 100th anniversary of the founding of American Legion Baseball -- "a program of service to the youth of America" -- is a testament to the honor and respect the author holds for its founder, The American Legion. The book was made possible by the local newspaper, the Daniels County Leader, which had closely covered the town and Legion baseball teams for over a century, providing the author with access to its archive of articles and photos.