The 1923 New York Yankees

The 1923 Yankees started the dynasty. With stars like Babe Ruth, Wally Pipp, Joe Dugan and Bob Meusel, they won the pennant by 16 games before claiming the franchise's first World Series title. Five Yankee pitchers won 16 games that year, led by Sam Jones (21-8), and the team finally defeated McGraw's Giants after losing to them in the Series two years in a row. This book covers that first Yankees championship team in great detail, taking the reader through the entire season, game-by-game.

The untold story of Babe Ruth's Yankees, John McGraw's Giants, and the extraordinary baseball season of 1923. Before the 27 World Series titles -- before Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, and Derek Jeter -- the Yankees were New York's shadow franchise. They hadn't won a championship, and they didn't even have their own field, renting the Polo Grounds from their cross-town rivals the New York Giants. In 1921 and 1922, they lost to the Giants when it mattered most: in October. But in 1923, the Yankees played their first season on their own field, the newly-built, state of the art baseball palace in the Bronx called "the Yankee Stadium." The stadium was a gamble, erected in relative outerborough obscurity, and Babe Ruth was coming off the most disappointing season of his career, a season that saw his struggles on and off the field threaten his standing as a bona fide superstar. It only took Ruth two at-bats to signal a new era. He stepped up to the plate in the 1923 season opener and cracked a home run to deep right field, the first homer in his park, and a sign of what lay ahead. It was the initial blow in a season that saw the new stadium christened "The House That Ruth Built," signaled the triumph of the power game, and established the Yankees as New York's -- and the sport's -- team to beat. From that first home run of 1923 to the storybook World Series matchup that pitted the Yankees against their nemesis from across the Harlem River -- one so acrimonious that John McGraw forced his Giants to get to the Bronx in uniform rather than suit up at the Stadium -- Robert Weintraub vividly illuminates the singular year that built a classic stadium, catalyzed a franchise, cemented Ruth's legend, and forever changed the sport of baseball.

In 1923, the losing New York Yankees played their first season on their own field, and everything changed. Babe Ruth bounced back from a contentious season to carry the team to their first title. This is the untold tale of the Yankees' breakout season.

The 1950s marked a transformative period in postwar American history. In baseball, one dynasty was the story during the decade. The New York Yankees played in eight World Series from 1950 to 1959, winning six of them. Yankees icon Joe DiMaggio retired following the 1951 season, but a new super star, Mickey Mantle, took over in Yankee Stadium’s center field in 1952. Mantle, the powerful switch-hitter who blasted tape-measure home runs, often tortured by leg ailments, was the number one box office draw in baseball. He was the American League’s most valuable player in 1956 and 1957, putting together a triple crown season in 1956. Mantle came into baseball when TV was just beginning to stir, and with the Yankees reaching the World Series and appearing on national TV seemingly every season, he became the face of the game during the decade. Mantle joined with his pals, pitcher Whitey Ford and infielder Billy Martin, to form a hard-partying trio that would be a joy and a pain to management. The author of several books on the Yankees, David Fischer will bring expertise and a knack for great story-telling to the saga of the most dominant decade in the annals of sport, set during a defining moment in U.S. history.

The New York Yankees don't call themselves the "Bronx Bombers" for nothing. And though Babe Ruth did not invent the home run, he did indeed popularize it and make it seem less vulgar. New York Yankees Home Run Almanac presents a month-by-month tally of historic, important, unusual, or titanic home runs, hit mostly by Yankees (or players who hit them at Yankees ballparks). It covers everyone from Ruth to Mickey Mantle, Alex Rodriguez, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Reggie Jackson, Derek Jeter, Aaron Judge, and many more pinstripe players, past and present, in an easy-to-read format. Some of the many dingers featured include: Graig Nettles's home run on Opening Day 1974, when the Yankees called Shea Stadium home Jorge Posada's and Bernie Williams's switch-hit home runs during the same game in 2000 Pitcher Whitey Ford's third and final home run of his career Aaron Judge's 50th home run of the season, a rookie record And many more!

Let’s say you’re the manager of the most successful professional baseball team in history, with every past and current player available on your bench. Game time is approaching and the ump needs your line-up card. Who’s your starting pitcher? Crafty Whitey Ford, lights-out Ron Guidry, or a big-game right-hander? Is Munson behind the plate or Yogi? Who’ll bat clean-up? Who’s your DH? Combining statistical analysis, common sense, and a host of intangibles, Jim Griffin constructs an all-time All-Star Yankee line-up for the ages. Agree with his choices or not, you’ll learn all there is to know about the men who played for and managed the winning-est baseball team of all time.

The first MLB franchise to be featured in the new, exciting, and completely original Sports by the NumbersTM series! THE TEAM: The New York Yankees is the greatest franchise in sports history with forty Hall of Fame legends, thirty-nine American League Pennants, twenty-six World Series titles, and the largest fan base in professional sports. The Sports by the NumbersTM franchise unlocks the storied history of the “Bronx Bombers” by providing fans with a unique and captivating look at the legends who make us all dream of wearing pinstripes. THE FORMAT: The presentation created by the authors distinguishes Sports by the NumbersTM from everything else available today. New York Yankees is composed of ten chapters, each offering one hundred numbered “mini-stories”—facts, anomalies, records, coincidences, and enthralling lore and trivia. Each chapter begins with a stirring introduction highlighting the many exciting stories detailed in that chapter. INTERACTIVE: Numerical entries tagged with SBTN-All Star and SBTN-Hall of Fame logos are scattered throughout this book. These logos indicate that more information is available at our website www.sportsbythenumbers.com. Just click on the athletic locker in the bottom right-hand corner of the homepage and access additional reading material, audio and video clips, and more. Sports by the NumbersTM books are not just for die-hard sports fans, but for every fan and sports history reader who loves sports and wants to know more about their heroes and favorite teams. They will quench any fan’s thirst for entertainment and knowledge. About the Authors: Daniel J. Brush is currently working on his Ph.D. at the University of Oklahoma. David Horne is a professional educator and former high school athletic director currently pursuing his doctoral degree at the University of Oklahoma. Marc CB Maxwell is a Ph.D. student at the University of Oklahoma and is the author of Surviving Military Separation: 365 Days (Savas Beatie, 2007).

From the days of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig to the dynasty of the late '90s, few teams in pro baseball have dominated the game like the New York Yankees. More than 400 trivia questions cover the players, the managers, the ball fields, the classic rivalries, and the traditions that made the Yankees famous.