Before They Were The Bombers

by Reisler, Jim

• ISBN13: 9780786422302
• ISBN10: 0786422300
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-03-30
• Publisher: McFarland Publishing

Summary

Many histories of the New York Yankees only skim the early years in their rush to pick up with the 1919 season when Babe Ruth joined the team and go on to celebrate the careers of Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, and Whitey Ford, and the team's World Series titles. But what about the Yankees before these big names? The early Yankees, who spent their first 12 years known as the Highlanders and were occasionally known as the Americans and the Invaders, get the attention they deserve in this work. It tells the story up until the sale of the Yankees in December 1914, beginning with 1903 when the team was formed from the remnants of the Baltimore Orioles. Led by future Hall of Famers "Wee" Willie Keeler, Jack Chesbro, and Clark Griffith, they were the most expensive major league team ever assembled-but they are remembered primarily for their terrible failures, which included losing a club-low 103 games in 1908 and finishing 55 games out of first place in 1912. Yes, the Yankees.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(4)
Enter the Prince	5	(5)
A Normal Start at Least	10	(5)
Origins	15	(9)
Hell of a Town	24	(6)
New Yawk, New Yawk	30	(8)
Play Ball!	38	(13)
Into the Swing	51	(5)
Of Wise Guys and Other Matters	56	(14)
The Good, the Bad and the (Mostly) Ugly	70	(7)
Happy Jack and the Epic Race of 1904	77	(14)
They Might Be Giants	91	(9)
Prince Hal	100	(22)
A Closer Look	122	(8)
Going Nowhere	130	(4)
Hoodoo Reigns	134	(4)
Rock Bottom	138	(2)
Evolution and Other Weighty Things	140	(9)
Nowhere to Go But Up	149	(17)
Not Bad, Not So Good Either	166	(18)
East Side, West Side, All Around the Town	184	(23)
A Bunion and an Onion	207	(28)
Money Talks	235	(5)
Endings	240	(12)
Postscript	252	(3)
Appendix: The First Dozen Years---Statistics	255	(18)
Primary Source Notes	273	(2)
Bibliography	275	(2)
Index	277