The Yankees: An Authorized History of the New York Yankees was written by Daily News columnist Phil Pepe in 1994 in New York. It is the best book on the team ever written, and fans of the team should get a copy. The book is only 222 pages long but contains some great pictures, text, and statistics. The Yankees: An Authorized History of the New York Yankees will likely not appeal to people who are not fans of baseball and should appeal to baseball fans, though they may dislike the team.
It does not go in strict chronological order and instead starts with (what was) modern day. Has there ever been a more dominant professional sports team than the New York Yankees in the twentieth century?
The Yankees: An Authorized History of the New York Yankees
The Yankees: An Authorized History of the New York Yankees begins with a chapter on the modern Bronx Bombers. The modern Yankees of the time were 1994 and the discussion includes excerpts about Don Mattingly, Paul O’Neill, Wade Boggs, and Jimmy Key. After this beginning chapter, the book returns to the beginning, literally, and proceeds chronologically.
The second chapter deals almost exclusively with the Yankees’ acquisition of Babe Ruth. There is even a picture of him pitching. Babe Ruth is so important in team history that he is the subject of the third chapter. Again, there are great pictures, including opening day at Yankee Stadium on April 18, 1923. The fourth chapter details the difficulty the team had in securing their stadium and the beginning of their first championship run with all of those Hall of Fame players.
The rest of the text has chapters focusing on Joe Dimaggio, Casey Stengel, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Billy Martin, and Reggie Jackson. There are also chapters on the dismantling of the Yankees and the beginning of a new era. That chapter uses the facelift ‘The House that Ruth Built’ got in 1974, when the Yankees played their home games at Shea Stadium (the home of the New York Mets), as a backdrop to discussing the great New York teams of the late 1970s. In all cases, there are great pictures and informative text.
Some Great Statistics
The book concludes with an appendix containing several Yankees organizational statistics. These statistics, in some cases, are major league baseball records. The appendix begins by listing all the Bronx Bombers members of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Then, an all-time team roster is presented. There is a list of all the Yankee American League championship teams. A year-by-year listing of the team’s records for all seasons is also included.
There is a listing of Joe Dimaggio’s unprecedented 56-game hitting steak. Also included is a listing of all Yankee batting champions and 20 game-winning pitchers. The New York season, single-game records, and the team’s Most Valuable Player Awards are presented. Mickey Mantle won three, and so did Yogi Berra.
Conclusion
The Yankees: An Authorized History of the New York Yankees ends with a full-page picture of a youthful Mickey Mantle holding two baseball bats over his shoulders and grinning at the camera. The picture evokes the team’s greatness and the unbelievable potential of Mickey Mantle. The is no question that the New York Yankees of the twentieth century have a great history. They may be the greatest sports franchise of all time. As such, this book will appeal to Yankee fans, who should get a copy, and maybe to all baseball fans.
