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Book Review: A Yankee Century

A Yankee Century: A Celebration of the First Hundred Years of Baseball's Greatest Team
By Harvey Frommer
Published by Berkley Publishing Group
p 424

As a third-generation NY Yankees fan for over 25 years, I always imagined that the definitive book on the NY Yankees would resemble a massive, folio-sized tome of at least 1500 pages, printed in slightly crooked, eight-point typeface, and would require the arcane taxonomies of a sixteenth-century Neo-Platonist just to organize usefully the reams of esoteric material one might hope to see. Harvey Frommer, who also wrote The New York Yankee Encyclopedia, makes no such attempt here, though his academic credentials as a professor at Dartmouth College and authorship of more than thirty books might tempt him to do so. Frommer’s newest book, A Yankee Century, is an entertaining and readable historical account that balances a desire for completeness with a judicious compression of information that only very rarely comes up short. Statistics are used to highlight, rather than sustain, the stories of the players, and Frommer goes out of his way to provide as many illustrative quotations as he can. A Yankee Century is the most up-to-date, complete history of the team ever written, and its diverting format and choice nuggets will not only delight any true fan of the game (and satisfy Yankee fans looking for some new little tidbit of the history behind the legends), but also succeeds with its elegant (if not Neo-Platonic) organization, incorporating the newest Yankee Dynasty of the last decade.

Coming in at around 400 pages, the book eschews the traditional chronological narrative, dividing into ten entertaining chapters, each with its own structural logic. This allows one to take in many shorter, “complete” mini-histories—one sitting at a time. Slightly oversized, it is perfect for the library or the coffee table.

The first chapter is a short, forty-page chronology with a handful of choice facts listed year-by-year and day-by-day. Frommer doesn’t forget things like the no-hitter that Andy Hawkins lost to the White Sox 4-0 in 1990, the signing of Don Gullett in late 1976, Mickey Mantle’s only time hitting for the cycle (July 23, 1957), or Wally Pipp’s sale to the Reds for $7,500 (1926). Since one can only really get the flavor of an entire season by reading a longer, book-length account of a single year, the chronology is a nice, fact-surfing appetizer. Chapter two is a short history of Yankee Stadium, and the earlier homes of the Yankees-Highlanders.

Chapter three begins modestly with the Highlanders roster, and moves chronologically through “Memorable Moments” in team history—mostly hitting records, game-winners, no-hitters, post-season heroics, and the occasional focus on a September pennant race or a notable team brawl, and includes, of course, the infamous “Pine Tar” game and the recent 9th-inning heroics of the 2001 World Series. Feature boxes with detailed box scores for Joltin’ Joe’s complete hitting streak and Ruth’s 60 homers are interesting statistical monuments that one will be inclined to skip altogether, or read one-by-one to discover long-forgotten players.
By far the largest section, Chapter four is the “Yankee Who’s Who”: one page features of Yankee Hall of Famers alongside all the notable legends who never made the Hall, and contemporary stars like Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. The decision to organize this section alphabetically creates a powerful effect of continuity by juxtaposing old-timers and active players. For example, one section of the R’s has Bobby Richardson, Dave Righetti, Mariano Rivera, Red Rolfe and Phil Rizzuto; Derek Jeter follows Reggie Jackson and is succeeded alphabetically by Wee Willie Keeler. Although not all the bios include player photos, Frommer is only rarely too judicious in his selections. Paul O’Neill, Willie Randolph, Graig Nettles, Bernie Williams, Ron Guidry and Dave Winfield all make the Who’s Who. Perhaps hedging his bet, Roger Clemens is included as well. Honorable Mention to Roy White seems fine, but Mel Stottlemyre deserves a full feature there (especially given his talent as head pitching coach during the recent championship years)—and if you offer features on recent players like Rivera and Jeter, you have to include home-grown star Andy Pettitte, especially if you include short-timer Roger Clemens. More on Clete Boyer would have been nice too.

Chapter Five rehearses a lot of well-known history with chronological three-page summaries of the best and worst Yankee teams. Since this is not an encyclopedia, Frommer’s look at the best and worst covers only 8 of the best and 3 of the worst and does not include any of the 1949-1953 dynasty teams (remarkably, none won 100 games, though the superb ’56 team is included). Chapter Six, my personal favorite, is a mini-dictionary of quotations, most of them hilarious, from the many players, managers and owners throughout the years. Notable quotesters like The Bambino, Reggie, Yogi, Billy and the Scooter have many citations, whereas others have just one or two. Certain players like Mantle and Steinbrenner have longer groupings of quotes about them. A two page featurette inside this chapter offers quotations from Casey Stengel that I urge any fan to read. Frommer has chosen the quotes well—many illustrate the cultural atmosphere of the game and its politics (such as those concerning El Duque, or Casey Stengel’s Congressional testimony on the Reserve Clause) and other describe what it means to be a Yankee, a Major Leaguer, or elicit candid (and often nasty) views of other players. Famous words range from the self-effacing anti-metabole [“I didn’t make this game, this game made me” –Derek Jeter] to the swollen ego [“After Jackie Robinson the most important black in baseball history is Reggie Jackson. I really mean that” –Reggie himself] to jesting trash-talk [“Kid (to Phil Rizzuto), you’re too small. You ought to go out and shine shoes” –Casey Stengel] to brutal honesty [“Maybe I’m not a great man. But I damn well want to break the record” –Roger Maris] to the hateful [“I’d rather beat the Yankees regularly than pitch a no-hit game” –Bob Feller], to the astonishing [“When I come back, I want to come back as Derek Jeter” --George Steinbrenner], to the sporting jest [“Zimmer’s face looks like a blocked kick” –Joe Garagiola] to the naïve confusions of Mickey Rivers [“We’ll do all right if we can capitalize on our mistakes”], and, of course, the eloquent but accurate Rickey Henderson on the subject of spring training: “This shit don’t count. This shit don’t go on the bubble gum card.” I fell off my chair more than once while reading these gems, many of them new to me.

The seventh chapter is a lively catalogue of famous nicknames and buzzwords associated with Yankee lore. This chapter is filled with the charming clubhouse banter that evokes nostalgia for a more naïve era. “Biscuit Pants,” we learn, is “a reference to the well-filled-out trousers of Lou Gehrig” and Leo Durocher was called “All-American Out” by Babe Ruth for his questionable hitting skills. Jim Turner was known as the “Milkman” not because he delivered the goods every day at the plate, but because he was, in the off season, actually a milkman. Most Yankee fans will know the vast majority of the nicknames presented here, but the chapter covers a lot of ground in only a few pages.

The next section is a now familiar “by the numbers”segment beginning with zero and climbing upward, listing important numbers (mostly baseball stats) alongside a piece of trivia associated with each figure. This culminates predictably in current player salaries and attendance figures, and seemed to me to be the weakest and most derivative chapter in the book. Interspersed at random throughout the book are one-page oral narratives called “Yankee Stories” by players like Monte Irvin and Bobby Brown. I would like to have seen more of these in the book, or perhaps an entire chapter comprised of stories from still-living players across the different eras instead of the trendy “by the numbers” gambit. Frommer has written many oral histories, and has acquired great skill in editing and compiling them. Reading them alongside the narratives of articulate and contemporary players like David Cone would have enhanced the value of the book as a bridge the present, and given us a better glimpse of those “honorable mention” Yankees like Roy White and Jorge Posada, or clutch heroes like Jim Leyritz.

The penultimate chapter is a actually a 100-question Yankee quiz designed to test your knowledge with many difficult and some absurdly recondite questions involving history, players, and numbers. Most of the multiple choice questions are really more designed to instruct and surprise the reader than test one’s working knowledge of the team’s history. Who remembers which Yankee hit two homers in one inning in 1977? I happen to remember that it was Cliff Johnson, because I remember the game, and I also knew that Allie Reynolds pitched two no-hitters in 1951 (I first saw it on his plaque in Monument Park behind the bullpens at Yankee Stadium)--but there were many questions that I’m sure I once knew and was then surprised to see how my memory now failed me. Even as a long-time fan since 1975, I only knew the answers to about half the questions, and had to guess on a few of those. The final chapter is really an appendix of “all-time Yankee” statistics: lists of retired numbers, Hall of Famers, Yankee Captains, streaks, odd trivia and the like.

A short introduction by former right fielder Paul O’Neill sets a nice tone for the book: the “Yankee Century” is defined not only by the era of the lowly Highlanders and the mighty Babe, or the dynasty teams of DiMaggio and Mantle, but another excellent right fielder named O’Neill who played for a modern dynasty that has even managed to excite interest and respect even from old Yankee-haters and anti-Steinbrennarians across the nation. If you are looking for more comprehensive statistical guide, Frommer’s The New York Yankee Encyclopedia contains detailed statistics on all the players ever to play for the team through 1996, with many photos and team histories. With A Yankee Century, Frommer includes the history of the team through the remarkable 2001 season, presenting a delightful overview of baseball’s most successful and heralded franchise. Any serious fan of the game and its history will surely be interested in the team that has appeared in the post-season forty times over a single century, and fans new to the game will be astonished at the breadth of the Yankees contribution to the game and its impact on the greatest players of every team in every era. Harvey Frommer does justice to this remarkable tradition.

Rating: 3.5 Balls – This is a book you will definitely read again and again.

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Our Rating System is based on a four ball system as follows:
One Ball: Average. It has something to say but is nothing special.
Two Balls: Something men usually have - also means its a cut above average, and worth reading/owning.
Three balls: Stands out from its peers and is highly recommended.
Four Balls: More than just what two men have when hanging out together, it means it is an exceptional book that truly earns a walk - straight to the local book store to get a copy.

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