That's OK. If you're a Roy White fan, I think you'll enjoy it, Q. It's written in a very conversational style. Almost as if Roy was sitting there telling you great baseball stories.Originally Posted by The Q Bomb
Heidi
That's OK. If you're a Roy White fan, I think you'll enjoy it, Q. It's written in a very conversational style. Almost as if Roy was sitting there telling you great baseball stories.
Heidi
"I don't need any extra motivation. My motivation is to win." - Derek Jeter
As many have said, Luckiest Man is wonderful.
Yankee Century was written by Red Sox fans, but it's very well done; it's a great starting point for any new or Young Yankee fan, or any fan who wants to learn about the history of the team.
Hello ,
My first post in a long time on this forum. I just attempted to read " The Era" by Roger Kahn. What a disappointment. I don't want to read gossip, I want to read about rivalries and pennant races. Any one else try this book ? I have to give it a big thumbs down. I like reading about the forties and fifties in NY baseball. I think I'm going to try " A Day in the Bleachers" by Hano. Any thoughts on that one or others ?
Wasn't really sure where to put this question, so I figured here would be a good place. In "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty" Buster Olney writes that Roger Clemens, before coming to the Yankees, was one of three players that the Yankee players genuinely dislike. He says the other two were Jaret Wright and Jerry Hairston.
Does anyone remember what happened between the Yankees and Jerry?
On amazon.com, a customer review of The Truth About Ruth: Behind Yankees Myths, Legends, and Lore, by Peter Handrinos, is like a bag of potato chips, you just can't put it down and want to keep reading. I think that description is perfect. Handrinos has done a magnificent job in this 240-page work, as he says, "debunking the most popular myths in Yankees baseball history." This is thoroughly enjoyable book. For sentimentalists, it may be tough to read some of what is in there, but it's well worth it. Handrinos is a member of SABR and uses statistical analysis, as well as qualitative critique to go through a series of Yankees accepted wisdom. It is not overly complicated, though, and is a fun and easy read. It is important to note that Handrinos is a Yankees fan, and his love for the team and its history comes through. I would highly recommend this book this offseason.
"You don't play the games on paper....you have to play the games."
--Derek Jeter
10 good ones, not necessarily the greatest books ever:
Graham "The New York Yankees, An Informal History" (originally 1942, updated through 1957)
Smelser "The Life that Ruth Built"
Halberstam "Summer of '49"
Golenbock "Dynasty"
Cramer "Joe DiMaggio"
Castro "Mickey Mantle"
Barra "Yogi Berra"
Durso "Yankee Stadium"
Eig "Luckiest Man"
Appel "Munson"
Avoid like the plague:
Larsen "The Perfect Yankee"
Gossage "The Goose is Loose"
Mays played baseball. Mantle was baseball.
Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum.
Normally, I do not enjoy collections of newspaper columns or articles bound in a book. There is not often a good flow from one article to another, and the read is therefore choppy and disjointed. There are only two such books that I have found to be excellent exceptions (one being Robert Fisk's The Age of the Warrior, on the Middle East). I have just finished reading Ira Berkow's Summers in the Bronx: Attila the Hun and Other Yankee Stories, published this year. Berkow, noted baseball columnist for The New York Times, has compiled many articles written over the years into a gem of a book. To be reintroduced to Berkow's writing (he retired in 2007) was a treat. He is an elegant writer, and passionate about the game of baseball. His columns demonstrate a style that is rare. This book, which spans decades of Yankees history, is not your typical glance into Yankees history, and in fact, if you're tired of reading some of the oft-told anecdotes, this book will hold your attention. Berkow occasionally refers to the more popular Yankees stories, but in a way that will be sure to capture any fan's interest. He writes each column with a perspective not frequently told. From DiMaggio to Jeter, Ford to Jackson, Martin to Dallas Green to Torre, Berkow covers position players, pitchers, and managers, as well as George Stienbrenner. Enjoy the insights and stories, and appreciate the writing. This is a fine book.
"You don't play the games on paper....you have to play the games."
--Derek Jeter
My fiance gave me Summer of '49 for Christmas this year. I just started reading it last night. I also got the Yanks 2009 DVD and this very nice framed picture although mine is slightly different because it also has the line-up card. There is real Yankee dirt where the mound is. Last year I got dirt from OYS in the form of a nice glass paper weight. Pretty soon I'll need to build myself a Yankee room!
I don't usually recommend books on tape (or CD) but I got the tape of Summer of '49 with Mel Allen doing the narration. His obvious delight in reliving the season he called from the broadcast booth is evident all the way thorugh it. I've had the tape for many years so I can't imagine you can pick it up easily (try eBay or the like), but I'm sure you'd all enjoy it as much as I did.
Mays played baseball. Mantle was baseball.
Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum.
Has anyone else read "The Voice: Mel Allen's Untold Story" by Curt Smith? I'm reading it now and am having a hard time getting through it. I've never read an author with such a choppy style. It's like stream of consciouness. Here's an example (pp 50 and 51):
"I just can't forget that 3-1 pitch to Stirnweiss. Don't you think he made a mistake swinging?"
Russ stared. Allen rose, gobbled shrimp - "I'll eat it in any form" - and gorged on approbation. Harry S. Truman threw out Opening Day balls left and right-handed - to Yogi Berra, "amphibious" - April 19 at Griffith Stadium. Four days later the Yankees feted The Stadium - and their public place with The Voice.
I didn't make any changes, that's how it's written. The Harry Truman part is in the same paragraph as the shrimp comment. And the whole book is like that. I want to enjoy it because I'd like to know more about Mel Allen and that Yankees period, but man, it's hard to get through.
Heidi
"I don't need any extra motivation. My motivation is to win." - Derek Jeter
Much better book on Allen: How About That by Stephen Borelli. Well researched, talked with Mel's family, etc.
Mays played baseball. Mantle was baseball.
Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum.
Thanks Kentucky. I'll try that one too. I'm determined to get through this one, even though I'm thinking "WTH?" after reading just about each page.
Heidi
"I don't need any extra motivation. My motivation is to win." - Derek Jeter
"Then Roy Said to Mickey...": The Best Yankees Stories Ever Told, by Roy White with Darrell Berger is a collection of anecdotes spanning White's Yankee playing career, which bridged the early 1960s championship teams to the mid-1970s championship teams. White's playing career is full of good stories, which are recounted here. In White's unassuming way, this book seems to be more abot baseball, and about the Yankees, than about White, although there is ample material of White's to satisfy. In a more subtle way, this book is about minorities in the game, and White does a good job of telling this story as well. This is a quick read, but well worth it. This book includes a bonus: a 38-minute interview with White, which recounts some of the material from the book. The interview comes on a CD that is included. Enjoyable, I commend this book to anyone who is interested in the lean years of the late 1960s and early 1970s, about White's playing career, and about the Yankees and baseball in general in this period.
"You don't play the games on paper....you have to play the games."
--Derek Jeter
MyRoom http://tinyurl.com/y89l8up
My
My
My Jeter Kicks http://tinyurl.com/yee5tzl
Is that a book on gay porn?
Javy Vazquez's 2010 non-Cy Young season: 4-10, 7.15 ERA, 140 Ks, 170 IP.
The Nettles book is fantastic, especially when you consider that he was still with the Yankees when it was released. As the the blurb on the book says, never before has an author been traded as the result of a book.
I'm sure it's been mentioned, but I finally got around to reading Living on the Black. I really enjoyed it. A lot of good stuff on how pitchers prepare for games, and some great stuff on how pitchers and coaches voice their displeasure with umpires without getting ejected. Plus, Mussina is one of my favourites.
youngin's read up on past yankee greats!
My
My
My
My Jeter Kicks http://tinyurl.com/yee5tzl
Not a Yankees' book but a baseball book (we used to have a baseball book thread a few years back but rather than bump a three year old thread, I'll just add this here.) I'm currently reading As They See 'Em: A Fan's Travels in the Land of Umpires by NY Times Reporter Bruce Weber. It is very well researched which is not an easy thing to do as umpires are VERY insular and do not like talking to reporters. It shows baseball from a side we normally do not see. While I'm still going to roll my eyes when a Yankees' game is being called by Laz Diaz or Angel Hernandez, I think I will have a little more empathy for what umpires go through. I think it's well worth the read for those of us who love the game of baseball.
That's on my To Be Read pile. I just wish it had been about Moose's last season and not the next to last where he struggled.
But I wonder, since I presume the book is about a pitcher's mental preparation as much as physical, did you find that his struggles added to the book?
And I agree about Nettles' book. It was almost as funny as Sparky Lyle's Bronx Zoo.
Heidi
"I don't need any extra motivation. My motivation is to win." - Derek Jeter
I think it did add to the book. Moose is really open in the book and is pretty candid about his struggles. Grab the paperback if you can because there is an afterward that deals with the following season.
I didn't know a whole lot about Glavine (other than what he did on the field) when I got the book, but the stuff with him is great too. I totally forgot until I got to the end that he started the Mets last game of the season that year against the Marlins. You end up feeling for him. Well, I did anyway.
You nailed it. I read this book last summer and found it extremely enlightening, especially in terms of the difficulty of the task of umpiring.
"You don't play the games on paper....you have to play the games."
--Derek Jeter
I found this book on the shelf and started reading it-you're right, it was very addictive. I especially liked the chapter that compares the teams of 1927, 1961 and 1998 to rate the best of the three. His verdict was toss-up. Another interesting chapter was his comparison of Lou Gehrig to Cal Ripken, Jr. His write-up of Ripken basically portrayed him as Barry Bonds with a smile on his face. I wonder if the author really thinks Ripken was such a rotten guy, or if he is just mad that Ripken had the audacity to break Gehrig's record.
Summer of '49 was a great book, although it has been a while since I read it. October, 1964 by David Halberstam was also excellent. The White Sox are a bit player in that book, mainly because the famous Phil Linz harmonica episode from that season happened in Chicago when the Yankees were caught in a traffic jam on their way to O'Hare airport. Halberstam seems to attach great sociological significance to that year's World Series, though: the traditionally all-or mostly white Yankees vs. the team of the future, the St. Louis Cardinals of Brock, Gibson, and other black greats. I guess it is supposed to be the Yankees representing the old-time baseball of a dying past and way of life against the new one in a historical showdown, with the new way triumphing in seven games. Me, I'm not altogether sure it was all that serious. Besides, history shows that while the Yankees may have fallen behind after 1964(Halberstam's theory being that they were slow to recruit and sign black talent-Elston Howard not coming along until 1955) it was only a matter of time before their resources and talent allowed them to catch up and get back on top.
Here is one that may not be well-known-Minnie and the Mick: The Go-Go White Sox Challenge the Fabled Yankee Dynasty, 1951-64. It is by Bob Vanderberg and is told from the perspective of a White Sox fan: The White Sox "Davids" always falling short to the Yankee "Goliaths" except for 1959. Each year has two games, a win and a loss. It also has an appendix with every Yankee-White Sox game from those years. Here is an interesting tidbit:In a 1964 game the Yankees were beating the Sox 2-1 in the late innings of a game in Chicago. A Chicago batter laid down a bunt that was fielded and tossed to pitcher Jim Bouton covering first. The umpire called the batter safe, saying that Bouton didn't touch the base. An enraged Bouton fired the ball into the ground and started arguing. The baserunners kept moving, Bouton being unaware that with the "safe" call the ball was still in play. Both runners scored and the Sox went on to win, 4-2. The Yankees won the pennant that year by 1 game over the Sox, so that play by Bouton could've loomed large had the Yankees not won it that year and been out of contention for a few years. He might have been driven into the Idaho hinterlands and have to keep a low profile and still put up with fans hating him and being bitter and naming him as one of history's great villians and feeling self-pity...oh, wait a minute. He didn't do it for the the Red Sox. Never mind. Funny thing, I don't recall reading about that bone-headed play in Ball Four. I just read about what boneheads other ballplayers were.
Another great chapter is about a brawl from 1957 that started when Larry Doby was brushed back by Art Ditmar. Doby warned Ditmar, who mouthed back. Doby decked him and it was on. Order was restored after several minutes, then Billy Martin jumped Doby from behind and began pounding him. (This was the last straw for him, he was traded to Kansas City the next day.) I only mention the fight because there is a great picture out there of Doby clocking Ditmar with the umpire trying to intervene. I would love a copy of it but can't find it anywhere.
I just bought Dynasty:The New York Yankees 1949-1964 off ebay. Can't wait till it arrives so I can read it.
I have read:
Yankees Century, The Yankees Years, New York Yankees-Seasons of Glory, Summer of '49, October 1964, All Roads Lead to October; Pride & Pressure, Luckiest Man; Birth of A Dynasty; Last Night of The Yankee Dynasty, October Men, Balls, 10 Rings, Pride of October, Bleeding Pinstripes
On my must read list:
1923 New York Yankees -A History of their first world championship season, The Rivals, Dog Days, A Legend in the Making-The New York Yankees in 1939, Before they were Bombers, Bombers-An Oral History of the New York Yankees, Babe Ruth-The Legend Come To Life, Now Pitching for the New York Yankees, Yankee For Life, Dammned Yankees, Ball Four, Me & My Dad-A Baseball Memoir.
Be on the look out for Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero coming out 3/16/10
Mike
Do any of you guys know if a decent narrative of the 2009 season has been released yet? I've yet to see a good retelling of the ups and downs of last year
SI: Do you have a secret ambition?
Igawa: That's secret.
"They should just practice during the regular season and show up for the playoffs -Ichiro on the Yankees
That would be rather fast. I'd say give it a year or two.
In the wake of the great 2009 season, I went back and read about the great 1941 season: Baseball in '41: A celebration of the best baseball season ever-in the year America went to war, by Robert W. Creamer. I had seen Creamer on various baseball programs, particularly The Golden Age, but admitedly had never read anything of his. This book was written in the early 1990s. (It is intersting to read a book before the wave of SABRmetrics hit--you really notice the absence of such analysis on occasion!) This book chronicles the whole season and the AL and NL pennant races (the NL was much closer), as well as an occasional chapter about the world situation and the war. Particularly intersting are the bits about players and the draft. The season was exciting, of course, for DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak and Williams hitting .406, as well as the Dodgers' 1st time in the World Series in a long time, and their race to get there. The Series itself was good, too, and Creamer does a fine job of writing about it all in a conversation and fluid way. I've got a few more Yankees books by Creamer (a Yankees fan) on deck.
"You don't play the games on paper....you have to play the games."
--Derek Jeter
My Dynasty book still hasn't arrived off ebay. I heard they were republishing it for another printing. I wonder if there is anything being added.
Another great book is The Mets. The reason why I like this book so much is it gives a great rundown of the history of National leauge Baseball in NY before the Mets came into exsistance. The telling of how the Mets came to be is pretty intresting as well. I know it's not a Yankees book, but I found it to be a good read.
Mike
I enjoyed Creamer's contributions in the Ken Burns Baseball documentary. So much so, I read two of his books as a result. One on Casey Stengel and one on Babe Ruth. Both were very good, Casey's especially. I learned a lot about him as a player that I didn't know before.
Heidi
"I don't need any extra motivation. My motivation is to win." - Derek Jeter
I had recommended Marty Appel's "Munson" although I hadn't yet read it, knowing he always does a good job. I just finished it, basically reading nonstop in 2 sessions, thus not watching the second half of the Super Bowl. (really wasn't interested)
A really good read, full of facts from a Munson and Yankee insider. I have to admit Thurm was never one of my faves, and in fact I'm not really fond of any of the 1970's bunch. Too much unnecessary garbage going on. But this book did soften me a little in Munson's direction, especially when you come to realize his personality derived from his narrowly escaping the family from Hell. You learn lots about Thurman and quite a bit about his teammates, too. Well worth reading.
Mays played baseball. Mantle was baseball.
Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum.
i remember hearing someone wrote a book to be released this spring about how the 1995 ALDS vs. the Mariners changed the Yankees...
anyone know anything about this?
Marty Appel, the former Yankee PR director and author of Munson, has a new book coming out next month that sounds pretty interesting:
Here's the summary from Amazon:
I've pre-ordered it.162-0: Imagine a Season in Which the Yankees Never Lose
Pub. Date: March 26, 2010
162-0: Imagine a Season in Which the Yankees Never Lose imagines that season by identifying the most memorable victory in Yankees history on every single day of the baseball calendar season, from late March to late October. Ranging from games with incredible historical significance and individual achievement to those with high drama and high stakes, this book imagines the impossible: a blemish-free Yankees season. Evocative photos, original quotes, thorough research, and engaging prose and analysis all highlight 162-0.
Heidi
"I don't need any extra motivation. My motivation is to win." - Derek Jeter
That sounds interesting; I certainly like the premise.
You have to pre-order it Heidi? I figured you'd just get an advance copy from your good buddy Marty.
I received a recommendation email from Amazon about it the other day.
I doubt I'll read it though. For me, 1995 is a close second to 2004 on the pain scale.Baseball’s Greatest Series details what many believe to be the most exciting postseason series in baseball history: the 1995 Division Series between the New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners.
This division series was not simply about two teams playing five postseason games. It was about Ken Griffey Jr., Lou Piniella, Buck Showalter, Gene Michael, Jim Leyritz, Randy Johnson, Wade Boggs, Tony Fernandez, Pat Kelly, Dion James, Darryl Strawberry—and many others who changed the course of baseball history . . .
A team playing to keep baseball alive in the Pacific Northwest
A manager who was literally managing for his job
A New York sports icon who for one week reminded everybody of the dominating player he had been a decade earlier
Chris Donnelly’s replay of this entire season reminds readers that it was a time when grown men cried their eyes out after defeat, and others, just a few hundred feet away, poured beer and champagne over one another while 57,000 people in Seattle’s Kingdome celebrated. Five games they were. Five games that reminded people, after the devastating players’ strike in 1994, how great a game baseball is because comebacks are always possible, no matter how great the obstacles may seem.
From Don Mattingly’s only postseason home run, which caused a near riot, to Edgar Martinez’s legendary eleventh inning series-clinching double, Donnelly chronicles the earlier struggles of both teams during the 1980s, their mid-1990s resurgence, all five heart-stopping games of the series, and the dramatic and long-lasting effects of Seattle’s victory. Simply stated, Baseball’s Greatest Series hits a home run.
Heidi
"I don't need any extra motivation. My motivation is to win." - Derek Jeter
Wouldn't that be nice, but I don't mind paying for a good book and I'm sure it won't disappoint.That sounds interesting; I certainly like the premise.
You have to pre-order it Heidi? I figured you'd just get an advance copy from your good buddy Marty.
Heidi
"I don't need any extra motivation. My motivation is to win." - Derek Jeter
There's another called the Season That Saved Baseball In Seattle. I have yet to read it, but it also goes into detail how it helped build Safeco and how close the M's were to moving to Tampa.
I just finished "Living on the Black" (paperback) and you're right Spruce, Moose's struggles that season did add to the book. Thanks for the recommendation on the paperback. I liked the way the afterward wrapped everything up with his successful season the next year and his retirement. It was very, very good.
Heidi
"I don't need any extra motivation. My motivation is to win." - Derek Jeter
The only 2 books I read on Yankees were the Olney book Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty and the Joe Torre book. I enjoyed both of them. That reminds me, you all are talking about Mussina and John Feinstein wrote a book about him. One day I ought to check that book out.
What a bummer! I just bought this new Mantle book, and when I tried to read it, all the words were these squiggly things...
D'oh! It's the Japanese version of "Education of a Baseball Player", a pretty good book Mantle put out in the late 1960's. Some instructional stuff, some biographical stuff. Out there on eBay for not a whole lot if you're interested.
Mays played baseball. Mantle was baseball.
Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum.
I have just finished both of these, Babe Ruth: The Legend Comes to Life and Stengel: His Life and Times. Both of them are enjoyable. What marks Creamer (perhaps now more than when he wrote these books) is that he primarily focuses on what happened between the lines. Both the book on Babe and on Stengel are mostly about their baseball lives with not much about their off-field activities, unless they have to do woth baseball. Of course, major life events are included, but in a day when books focus on the off-the-field stuff, these books are a relic, in a way. I enjoyed them both.
"You don't play the games on paper....you have to play the games."
--Derek Jeter
Creamer's book on Ruth is a good one, though Marshall Smelser's The Life That Ruth Built is probably better. I read Stengel's 1961 autobiography Casey at the Bat before I read Creamer's book. Creamer's material up through 1961 is virtually identical in structure, sometimes almost verbatim, to Casey's book. I was pretty disappointed, almost shocked at that book.
Mays played baseball. Mantle was baseball.
Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum.
A book like that is liable to give the 1972 Miami Dolphins nightmares-in the dreamworld of this book, they have nothing to act obnoxious about.
Have any of you read H.A. Dorfman? His books have some nice quotes and references to former and current Yankees players.
Just finished Season of Glory: The Amazing Saga of the 1961 New York Yankees, by Robert Creamer and Ralph Houk. Actually, this book is mostly by Creamer, with inset long quotes by Houk on various topics. It is an enjoyable read, but after the more dramaticized renditions of 1961, this book seems tame (as does most of Creamer's writing). [The writing of baseball has definitely changed (for the better) with a new generation of writers.] A fast read.
"You don't play the games on paper....you have to play the games."
--Derek Jeter
If anyone here is a good writer and is interested in being the Yankees book review guru for NYY Stadium Insider, please email me at ross at nyystadiuminsider dot com.
I got more books around this time last year, but I currently have a couple of Yankees/ New York Sports-related books that publishers sent me to review. Sadly, I don't have time to read and review them, but I'd love to have that aspect of my blog.
Email me with a writing sample of some kind, if possible - or a compelling argument that you'll be good for the job. I like for the grammar and sentence structure of my blog to be top notch. All I can offer is free copies of Yankees and baseball-related books. The more reviewing my blog does, the more I will be sent books.
Let me know
no book written by Mike Lupica!
Last night I finished Marty Appel's "162-0: Imagine a Season in Which the Yankees Never Lose". It was a lot of fun and a quick read. Each date has a game selected as best, complete with a summary and sometimes even a box score. The summaries are chock full of trivia and tidbits as well as little asides that help make the game background even more interesting.
I enjoyed learning more about Yankees I didn't know very much about and reliving the games that I remember watching. There's even two that I saw in person (pretty lucky for someone from Chicago!).
Heidi
"I don't need any extra motivation. My motivation is to win." - Derek Jeter
Just started reading a new book "1921: The Yankees, the Giants and the Battle for baseball Supremacy in New York" by Lyle Spatz & Steve Steinberg. Really good read so far.
It said nothing about baserunners running across the pitcher's mound, but it wasn't published in the 2-0-9 so it's probably all wrong.
Otherwise an entertaining but informative short read!
Dieting isn't a piece of cake.
Nobody ever says "it's just a game" when their team is winning.
"Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball" --Jacques Barzun
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