Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #428487 in Books
• Published on: 2002-11-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

From Library Journal
To honor the team's upcoming centennial, five New York Times sportswriters (Dave Anderson, Murray Chass, Robert Lipsyte, Buster Olney, and George Vecsey) cover, in turn, the Yankees' story from the early days of Ruth through the times of Gehrig and DiMaggio to the era of Stengel, Mantle, and Maris; the Martin-Jackson feuding of the 1970s and early 1980s; and the quiet professionalism of the current Steinbrenner dynasty. But the real appeal for fans will be the many photographs from the files of the Times and the Baseball Hall of Fame. Despite two quibbles-the Yanks beat the Giants, not the Cubs, in 1937, and there is too much hero worship in the book-this one will be a winner in Yankeeland libraries and a worthy addition to larger sports collections elsewhere.
Morey Berger, St. Joseph's Hosp. Lib., Tucson, AZ
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
The one-hundredth season of the Bronx Bombers has produced aspate of titles, and The New York Yankees Illustrated History ,produced by a polished and practiced team of New York Timeswriters, is a pleasure. The five writers focus their essays on keyplayers: George Vecsey on Ruth; Dave Anderson on DiMaggio; RobertLipsyte on Mantle and Maris; Murray Chass on Steinbrenner (and Billyand Reggie); and Buster Olney on the past half-dozen magical seasons,from Mattingly to Martinez, from D. J. to Sory and, always,Torre. Less cluttered than Richard Lally's Bombers and far moregraceful than Glenn Stout's occasionally bombastic YankeesCentury, it contains no surprises but offers taut and gracefulwriting and some great photos. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
Dave Anderson has been a sports columnist at The New York Times since November 1971, after having been a general-assignment sports reporter for the newspaper in 1966. Mr. Anderson won a Pulitzer Prize in 1981 for distinguished commentary in his column, "Sports of the Times."

Murray Chass has been a sports reporter for The New York Times since he joined the newspaper in July 1969. He specializes in coverage of professional baseball--including the Yankees--and the sport's labor, legal, and financial aspects. He previously had been with the Associated Press as a general-assignment reporter and sportswriter in Pittsburgh and New York.

Robert Lipsyte returned to The Times as a sports columnist in 1991 after a twenty-year absence. He had been a sports reporter and columnist at paper for fourteen years before he left. In 1966, and again in 1996, he won Columbia University's Mike Berger Award for distinguished reporting. In 1992, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for commentary.

Buster Olney joined The New York Times as a sports reporter in 1997. He covered the Yankees full-time from 1998 through 2001. Previously, Mr. Olney was a reporter for The Baltimore Sun from 1995 to 1997, The San Diego Union-Tribune from 1990 to 1995, and The Nashville Banner from 1986 to 1990.

George Vecsey, after three years of covering religion for The New York Times, returned to where his journalism career began--sports. In January 1982, following the death of Red Smith, he was named a columnist, joining Dave Anderson in writing "Sports of the Times."

Stephen J. Jesselli is the award-winning Sports Photo Editor of The New York Times. Born in the shadow of Yankee Stadium, he has covered every major sporting event for the paper for more than a decade but baseball remains his passion.

Customer Reviews

Great Gift
We gave this book as part of a gift for a real Yankee fan. Each time we visit we see more bookmarks and notes in the book which is always next to his favorite chair. That shows us how much he loves it.

Bought this for the die-hard Yankee Fan and he loves this DVD
Bought this for the die-hard Yankee Fan and he loves this DVD

The New York Times tells the story of the New York Yankees
A 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.