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PINSTRIPE PRIDE by Marty Appel

PINSTRIPE PRIDE

The Inside Story of the New York Yankees

by Marty Appel

Pub Date: Feb. 17th, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4814-1602-3
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

The action-packed saga of the New York Yankees is recounted for young readers by an author who knows the team well.

Founded in 1903 as the New York Americans, they were also known as the Highlanders, but newspapers soon started calling them the Yankees. They were an average team, and nothing in those early years hinted at the successes to come. Then, in 1920, along came Babe Ruth in a trade that Boston fans later bemoaned as the “curse of the Bambino,” and everything changed. What followed was nearly a century of dominance that would lead to 40 American League pennants and 27 World Series championships. Their story is told in mostly chronological order, focusing on the personalities and actions of owners, managers and players who were key figures, from “Wee Willie” Keeler all the way to Derek Jeter. Keeping the young audience in mind and employing a conversational tone throughout, Appel incorporates each era’s customs, slang and wider events into the narrative seamlessly via brief parenthetical explanations and comparisons. There are familiar stories and some fascinating behind-the scenes information. Championships and superstars are here, of course, but so are the long gaps without a pennant and players involved with steroids. This is a work that will be shared by young readers and their baseball-loving parents and grandparents.

An enormous home run.

(foreword, statistics, reading list, index) (Nonfiction. 9-16)