Overview

At the dawn of the roaring twenties, baseball was struggling to overcome two of its darkest moments: the death of a player during a game and the revelations of the 1919 Black Sox scandal. At this critical juncture for baseball, the two teams that emerged to fight for the future of the game were also battling for the hearts and minds of New Yorkers as the city dramatically rose to the pinnacle of the baseball world. 1921 tells the story of a season that pitted the New York Yankees against their Polo Grounds landlords and hated rivals, John McGraw’s Giants, in the first all–New York City World Series. Lyle Spatz and Steve Steinberg re-create the drama that featured the charismatic Babe Ruth in his assault on baseball records in the face of McGraw’s disdain for the American League and the Ruth-led slugging style. Their work evokes the early 1920s with the words of renowned sportswriters such as Damon Runyon, Grantland Rice, and Heywood Broun, and with more than fifty photographs, offering a vivid picture of the colorful characters, the crosstown rivalry, and the incomparable performances of this classic season.

Full Product Details

Author:   Lyle Spatz ,  Steve Steinberg ,  Charles C. Alexander
Publisher:   University of Nebraska Press
Imprint:   University of Nebraska Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.739kg
ISBN:  

9780803239999

ISBN 10:   0803239998
Pages:   544
Publication Date:   01 March 2012
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

"List of Illustrations Foreword by Charles C. Alexander Preface Acknowledgments Part 1. The Preseason 1. Prelude to the World Series 2. Baseball Confronts the Black Sox Scandal 3. The Shady Side of Baseball’s Flagship Franchise 4. Ruppert and Huston Arrive, Ready to “Go to the Limit” 5. “You can’t compare him with anybody else. He’s Babe Ruth.” 6. The Giants Fail to Get Rogers Hornsby 7. Ed Barrow Comes to New York 8. “We fear only Cleveland” 9. “I do not fear any club in the National League” Part 2. The Season 10. “My job is to knock ’em a mile” 11. “This home run business is being carried too far” 12. The Trials and Tribulations of John McGraw 13. Cobb and Speaker Await as the Yankees Head West 14. “The Yanks are the best worst team in either league” 15. Setbacks on the Road and in the Commissioner’s Office 16. The Giants Solidify Their Lineup 17. “You can’t play your outfielders in the middle of the next block” 18. Lay off Huggins and Hope Nothing Happens to the Babe 19. A Terrible August for the Giants . . . So Far 20. “Let’s go get ’em while the getting’s good” 21. “It is no time in which to count McGraw and his men out of any race” 22. Ascent to First and Then a Demoralizing Loss 23. “It was the greatest game ever played” 24. The Giants Clinch and the Repercussions Get Ugly 25. A Pennant for the Yankees, At Last Part 3. The Postseason 26. Prelude to the World Series, Part 2 27. Game 1, Wednesday, October 5: “Who said the Yanks were slow and clumsy and dull?” 28. Game 2, Thursday, October 6: The Yankees Again Win with an Inside Game 29. Game 3, Friday, October 7: The Giants’ Offense Comes Alive 30. Game 4, Sunday, October 9: The Giants Finally Get to Carl Mays, or So It Seems 31. Game 5, Monday, October 10: Ruth’s Gameness and Hoyt’s Guts 32. Game 6, Tuesday, October 11: The Series Is Evened, but without Ruth--Is It Really Even? 33. Game 7, Wednesday, October 12: “Give me another game against those Yankees, and they’ll get even less"" 34. Game 8, Thursday, October 13: “New York and baseball are proud of the Yanks and the Giants” Epilogue Appendix 1. 1921 Yankees and Giants Regular Season Batting and Pitching Appendix 2. 1921 AL and NL Batting and Pitching Leaders Appendix 3. 1921 World Series Box Scores Appendix 4. 1921 Yankees and Giants World Series Batting and Pitching Notes Bibliography Index"

Reviews

I can't think of a better match between biographer and subject. Like the man he continues to so capably chronicle, Norman Macht is astute, authoritative, and meticulous. If you want to learn about twentieth-century baseball, you'll have to read this book. The best part is that you'll want to. Tom Swift, author of Chief Bender's Burden

""I can't think of a better match between biographer and subject. Like the man he continues to so capably chronicle, Norman Macht is astute, authoritative, and meticulous. If you want to learn about twentieth-century baseball, you'll have to read this book. The best part is that you'll want to."" Tom Swift, author of Chief Bender's Burden

Two decades into the twentieth century, much of baseball was still playing a turn-of-the-century game. 1921 represents one of the pivot points in baseball history, as the old style and its proponents, embodied by John McGraw and his Giants, began to give way to what would become the modern game, as embodied by Babe Ruth and his Yankees. --Bob Costas --Bob Costas (09/28/2009)

Author Information

Lyle Spatz is the editor of The Team That Forever Changed Baseball and America: The 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers (Nebraska, 2012). Steve Steinberg is the author of Baseball in St. Louis, 1900–1925. Charles C. Alexander is the author of several baseball books, including John McGraw (Nebraska, 1995) and Spoke: A Biography of Tris Speaker.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions