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BOOKSHELF
With a record 26 World Series championships and 38 pennants, the
New York Yankees are not simply the most successful franchise in
baseball history but arguably the most successful — and
recognizable — sports team of all time. But with such a
storied history, even most die-hard fans might forget some details,
such as which Atlanta Brave popped up to third baseman Charlie
Hayes for the final out of the 1996 World Series. In Pennants & Pinstripes: The New York Yankees,
1903–2002, Ray Robinson ’41 and Christopher
Jennison have provided a definitive, fascinating history of the
Bronx Bombers that should satisfy the most rabid Yankee fan. The
book was released to the public on April 1, 2002, which was not
only Major League Baseball’s Opening Day but also marked 100
years since the Baltimore team that eventually became the Yankees
played its first game. When the franchise moved from Baltimore to New York in 1903, the
team was renamed the Highlanders and played in Manhattan’s
Hilltop Park (officially the New York American League Ball Park),
on Broadway between 165th and 168th Streets, on the site where the
Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center now stands. Players, reporters
and fans began calling the team the Yankees as early as 1904, and
the nickname seems to have stuck by 1910. At first, the Highlanders/Yankees were clearly New York’s
third team, after John J. McGraw’s powerhouse New York
Giants, who played at the nearby Polo Grounds, and the lovable
Brooklyn Dodgers (originally the Trolley Dodgers). Only when the
Yankees “stole” Babe Ruth from the cash-strapped Boston
Red Sox for a measly $125,000 in 1920 did the team really take off.
With the acquisition of first baseman Lou Gehrig ’25,
and the move to the new Yankee Stadium, the House that Ruth Built,
the Yankees were on their way to sports history. Organized in 10 chapters that correspond to decades of the
franchise’s history, Pennants & Pinstripes covers
all the teams from the original Highlanders to the superb Yankee
teams that won four World Series titles between 1996 and 2001. A
major player from each period — including Ruth, Gehrig, Joe
DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle and Derek Jeter — is
profiled. And a series of baseball personalities that range from
NBC sportscaster Bob Costas to the inimitable Berra offer their
“All-Time Favorite Yankee Teams.” Robinson, a former editor of Redbook magazine who also served on
the CCT Advisory Board for many years, wrote all the text and
compiled the all-time great lists (Jennison gathered the photos).
Robinson admits to being “steeped in Yankee mythology and
history,” so this book was a lot of fun for him, especially
the all-time team lists. “I was surprised that a lot of
people picked McCarthy over Stengel” for manager, he
said. Baseball history is familiar ground for Robinson, who wrote
Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time, an affectionate
biography of the legendary Yankee first baseman, in 1990. Matty,
An American Hero: Christy Mathewson of the New York Giants, a
biography of the greatest pitcher of the early 20th century,
followed in 1994. In 1998, he collaborated with Jennison on
Yankee Stadium: 75 Years of Drama, Glamor, and Glory, which
not only recounted the stadium’s history as baseball’s
most recognizable field but also its role as a venue for others,
ranging from pop stars to popes. Robinson also has penned
biographies of Ted Williams and Stan Musial. Pennants & Pinstripes: The New York Yankees,
1903–2002 is published by Viking Studio and sells for
$34.95. By the way, it was Mark Lemke who popped up to Hayes to end
the 1996 Fall Classic.
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