A Tale of Two Cities: The 2004 Yankees-Red Sox Rivalry and the War for the Pennant Review

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A Tale of Two Cities: The 2004 Yankees-Red Sox Rivalry and the War for the Pennant ReviewAs a baseball fan, I was glued to this book and could not put it down, even though I knew who won in the end... Tony Mazz and John Harper did a great job giving the reader a feel for what each city was experiencing during the 2004 season. The behind the scenes stories and quotes added a critical element to the book and made the reading fun. If you want some inside information on Pedro, A-Rod, Schilling and others, this book is for you. The off-the-record quotes are stunning. I really enjoyed this book... and I've read a lot of baseball books over the years. This is one of the best.A Tale of Two Cities: The 2004 Yankees-Red Sox Rivalry and the War for the Pennant OverviewWhen the Boston Red Sox faced the New York Yankees in the historic 2003 American League Championship Series, the meeting seemed to serve as the climax to perhaps the greatest rivalry in professional sports. Yet, following New York's comeback victory in scintillating Game 7, both the Red Sox and Yankees entered the off-season without a world title--and with renewed conviction to finish the job in 2004.In A Tale of Two Cities, respected baseball writers John Harper (New York Daily News) and Tony Massarotti (Boston Herald) chronicle the Yankees and Red Sox in parallel story lines through the summer of 2004. The authors take you behind the scenes with the teams, cities, and media during one of the most intense baseball seasons in history.

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Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain Review

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Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain ReviewWhen I was a youngster, I was a huge fan of Thurman Munson.
To this day, if I close my eyes, I can quickly remember the feeling of sitting in Yankee Stadium, as a 13-year old, with my father, watching the Yankees play with Munson at bat and runners on base.
During these moments, my heart would race - where it felt like it was about to jump out of my chest (because it was beating so hard and fast). Why? Because I wanted Thurman to come through...as he was "my guy."
And, more times than not, Munson did the job.
It's been so many years, but, in this memory, I can still see Munson slapping a line drive into right field, as if he was picking the ball out of opposing catcher's mitt with his bat, waiting until the last minute to go the other way with the pitch, with Yankees runners rounding third and coming home to score...man, talk about pure exhilaration...that was it.
Being such a Munson fan, I was (and still am) very interested in learning more about him. And, for the last three decades or so, I've been waiting for the ultimate book covering the entire story of Thurman Munson.
Now, thanks to Marty Appel, with his new book "Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain," we have what I have been waiting for...all these years. With this book Appel provides us with the complete account of Thurman Munson's life and untimely passing...with no holds barred.
With this work, we get to see the many facets of Munson's life: Thurman as a ball player, a friend, the family man and a real estate entrepreneur. And, we get to see the good and the bad sides of the man. This includes getting to see Thurman as the everyday likeable guy who eats Oreos and milk for breakfast, watches the Three Stooges, sings commercial jingles to himself, has a terrible sense of fashion, and who would go out of his way to help people (with no fanfare whatsoever). But, we also get to see Thurman as someone who was somewhat insecure at times, cursed at sportswriters, gave the fans "the finger" during a game, cut many of the dysfunctional family members out of his life, and who once fired a gun in the Yankee Stadium parking lot.
Also, with this biography, Appel provides a superior account of the complete Thurman Munson timeline - bringing us from Munson's youth, through his time with the Yankees, to covering his tragic death in terms of the event itself and the impact it had on many (both inside and outside the Munson circle).
But, what I enjoyed most about "Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain" is how the story is told. In the book, Appel uses his own voice as well as those of many others who knew Thurman - including his teammates and friends. And, many of these sources are people who most were never aware (until now) as being a big part of Munson's life or parties that you would not expect to have some insight on the Munson story.
In summary, I would offer that "Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain" is a must read for any Yankees fan over the age of forty, a highly recommended read for Yankees fans of any age, and a recommended read for anyone interested in baseball and a very well-done story about one of more notable players from the last half-century of the game's history.
This book will engross, entertain, enlighten and "touch" you all at the same time. It's too bad that we had to wait 30 years for a book like this on Thurman Munson. But, now that its here, I cannot imagine a better one ever being done compared to the job Marty Appel did with "Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain."Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain Overview

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The New York Yankees Illustrated History Review

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The New York Yankees Illustrated History ReviewA transient American League franchise was plunked down in New York in early 1903, which made last year the 100th anniversary of the team now known as the New York Yankees. As part of the celebration five writers from the sports department of "The New York Times" put together "The New York Yankees Illustrated History." Actually this volume has less photographs than I would have thought, given the title, although most Yankee fans will find enough new shots to justify flipping through the pages, including, believe it or not, a photograph of Mike Kekich and Fritz Peterson joking about their infamous "lifestyle" swap.
The volume divides the history of the Yankees into five eras, each of which is defined by decades: (1) The Ruth Years (1903-1929), covered by George Vecsey, covers the most of the first three decades of the team, although Ruth was with the team from 1921 to 1935. This opening chapter sets up the first Yankee dynasty, with black & white photographs focusing on Ruth and the 1927 "Murder's Row" team as well as a collection of Yankee memorabilia by a long-time fan. My favorite shots are of Ruth in 1921, when he was in his physical prime, and Gehrig sitting on the dugout steps watching the team after he benches himself in 1939. (2) Gehrig-DiMaggio (1930s, 40s, 50s), written by Dave Anderson, really focuses primarily on the DiMaggio period, with the Iron Horse as the link between the Babe and Joltin' Joe. Again, the chronology does not quite fit because DiMaggio retired after 1951, but he is the dominant figure in this chapter, which has photographs of his personal life as well as his playing career.
When you see that the next chapter focuses on the 1960s, and who it focuses on, it becomes clear that the major figure who does not get to be worked into a title and who clearly defined the 1950s for the Yankees, was Yogi Berra. Instead, we have (3) Mantle, Maris and the 1960s, by Robert Lipsyte, which elevates Roger Maris and his 61* home runs to the same level of Mantle, DiMaggio, Gehrig and Ruth. I really think they are off base here, that the 1950s and 1960s should have been Yogi and Mickey. After all, it is still Yogi, the most beloved living baseball player, who is the only one in history with 10 World Series rings. This chapter has a rare color photograph of a 19 year old Mantle as well as a shot of Mantle and teammate Clip Mapes visiting Mickey's father at a Oklahoma mine, as well as the pivotal moment in the 1951 World Series when Mantle caught his spikes on a drain hole and popped his knee as DiMaggio catches the ball hit by Willie Mays.
For most Yankee fans the last two chapters deal with the New York Yankees they have probably known most of their lives: (4) Life With Steinbrenners (1970s, 80s), by Murray Chass, reminds everybody that you could have Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, Billy Martin, Ron Guidry, Goose Gossage and whoever you wanted on the field, but the Yankees were dominated by the personality of the Boss. (5) The Modern Yankees, by Buster Olney, looks at how the dynasty that started dominating baseball at the end of the 1990s was put together, ending, ironically, with the Yankees losing the 2001 World Series in the bottom of the 9th inning of Game 7 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Which meant the Yankees had only won four World Championships in the last six seasons. They are photographs of most of the key players associated with the new Yankee dynasty.
The 150 photographs in "The New York Yankees Illustrated History" come from the library of the Baseball Hall of Fame and extensive archives of "The New York Times." Interestingly enough, only the photographs in the last chapter are color shots. The text provides not so much a history of a franchise as the stories of the legendary players and great games. The writing here is certainly in the tradition of sports reporting more than history, which is quite appropriate for a richly illustrated volume. This is not a definitive history, nor is it the final word on a pictorial history of the team, but it is certainly strong enough in both departments to be worth a look by Yankee fans.The New York Yankees Illustrated History Overview

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Five OClock Lightning: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and the Greatest Baseball Team in History, The 1927 New York Yankees Review

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Five OClock Lightning: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and the Greatest Baseball Team in History, The 1927 New York Yankees ReviewThis is the second book on the New York Yankees entitled Five O'Clock Lightning. The first came out a few years ago and was written by former Yankee Tommy Henrich and Bill Gilbert. This new version on the 1927 Yankees provides us with an introduction to each of the players on the roster including Manager Miller Huggins and batboy Eddie Bennett. We are provided with anecdotes regarding Ruth, Gehrig, Lazzeri, Joe Dugan, Bob Meusel, Urban Shocker, manager Miller Huggins, and others, but if you have done some significant reading on baseball history you will find many of the same stories repeated here. The regular season is covered with more statistics than I care to read about. The World Series against the Pirates follows, but it is hard to jazz up a four game route. To me the best part of the book was the final section regarding what happened in the future to each of those involved. The reader will know about Ruth, Gehrig, and Huggins, but the demise of the remaining members of the team is covered as well. The book is a quick read depending on your background. Writer Damon Runyon's name is misspelled (Runyan) three times on pages 74 and 75. Regarding the 1927 Yankees St. Louis pitcher Milt Gaston is quoted as saying, "There isn't a moment's mental rest for a pitcher against that batting order." It sounds like this also will apply to the 2008 Detroit Tigers. I rate this book a solid three stars. It isn't a classic by any means, and I'm sure it wasn't meant to be.Five OClock Lightning: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and the Greatest Baseball Team in History, The 1927 New York Yankees Overview

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