The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City is a 2024 book by Kevin Baker. This is a great book that explores both the history of the city and the baseball in it. The 475-page book will apply to everyone who is a baseball fan or anyone who wants to know details about New York City. The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City has about 100 of its pages dedicated to Babe Ruth and there is also a lot in the book about race relations in New York City including a detailed look at the Negro Leagues. Will you read this book?
The Death of Ray Chapman
Baseball is great, and New York City has always been its Capital. One of the reasons why baseball is the best sport is that it is the only major sport where the specter of death hangs over the games. In baseball, in 1920, as told in The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City, Yankee pitcher Carl Mays killed Cleveland Indians (they were the Indians then) Shortstop Ray Chapman with a pitch.
Mays was a wild pitcher, but he was effective. His career is detailed in The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City. He threw one pitch that moved like a knuckleball, submarine style. It was that pitch that Mays hit Chapman in the head. Spectators watched in horror as Ray Chapman collapsed to the ground at home plate after he was hit in the head. The hit by pitch made an “explosive sound”; New York Yankees right fielder Babe Ruth claims he heard it clearly, and Carl Mays fielded the ball and threw to Yankees first baseman Wally Pipp.
Ray Chapman was a good player, and he had just been married. The pitch had driven part of his skull into his brain. He did not die right away. In fact, Chapman was slowly lifted to his feet and escorted off the field by teammates. We mostly walked under his own power to second base, but he needed to be carried to a waiting ambulance just beyond the centerfield fence.
In the hospital, he tried to write something. Chapman seemed comforted when the new wedding ring was put on his finger. He would pass away in the hospital less than a day later, on the morning of Aug. 17, 1920. His new wife died a couple of years later. A baseball signed by Carl Mays and Babe Ruth is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Baseball remains the only sport where a player has died. That threat is always there.
Attendance from Yankee Stadium
Two of the main themes of The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City are the Depression and World War Two. Baker makes the point that the Depression drove down attendance at baseball games everywhere. As we stand on the precipice of a new baseball season, it may be wise to review the attendance of the New York Yankees. In many ways, attendance at Yankees Stadium is a bellwether for the league.
These attendance data for the New York Yankees is taken from Armstrong Analytics. They did the notations on the graph as well.
The graph shows the effects of the depression and World War II. It also shows the boom in attendance at Yankee Stadium after World War II. Attendance at Yankee Stadium peaked in 2008 and has fallen since.
Conclusion
The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City is an informative book on both New York City, the Capital of the world, and the baseball in it. Readers will benefit from the rich detail present in the book. It is a good book to read as the new baseball season starts. Those who are interested in the rise of New York City.
