Bombers; An Oral History of The New York Yankees

New York: Crown Publishers, 2002. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Joey Gmerek (Author photograph). xii, [2], 288, [2]. Index. Embossed stamp of previous owner on rep. Sports writer Richard Lally focusses much of his efforts on his main passion: baseball. After collaborating with former pro player Bill Lee on Lee's autobiography, The Wrong Stuff, Lally wrote Pinstriped Summers: Memories of Yankee Seasons Past, a book that focuses on the team's history from the time the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) bought the team in 1965 until the 1982 season. During this period, the Yankees experienced great success, winning four American League pennants and two World Series. They also experience "down" years, including a last-place finish in 1966. In Long Balls, No Strikes: What Baseball Must Do to Keep the Good Times Rolling Lally collaborates with former player-turned-television commentator Joe Morgan to discuss the growing popularity of baseball during the 1998 season as the home-run competition to break Roger Maris's record grew between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. The book also suggests changes to the sport, including increasing the number of blacks in management, seeking new talent in the inner cities, and having teams share profits equally. Lalley turned his focus to the Yankees once again with his book Bombers: An Oral History of the New York Yankees, this time covering the team from Babe Ruth's arrival in 1920 to the 2000 World Series championship team. In an interview with Lally, Rob Neyer asked how Lally avoids the pitfall of rehashing old stories. "To make the cut for the book, a story had to offer a fresh perspective on an event or player," Lally explained. No sports team in history has a following quite like the New York Yankees. And with good reason. With thirty-seven pennants and twenty-five World Series victories, the Yankees aren't just the most successful baseball team of all time, they're the most successful franchise in the history of sports. Featuring more than one hundred authentic voices from Yankee history, Bombers tells their colorful history, from the unparalleled abilities and appetites of Babe Ruth to the professional excellence that characterizes the current dynasty. Here you'll find stories about all the Yankee legends, including DiMaggio, Mantle, Maris, Martin, and Jackson, as well as new information about current key figures like Jeter and O'Neill. Bombers is the story of the team as recalled by the people who actually created the history. Through painstaking research and probing interviews, Lally reveals the real story behind Ruth's called shot and the truth about the Giants' sign stealing in the '51 Series, and offers a new perspective on the 2000 Subway Series. Yankee fans will love Bombers, but this is a book for all baseball fans, one that illuminates baseball history the way it happened on the field, in the stands, and in the hearts of players and fans.