How the Yankees Explain New York (How...explain) - Softcover

Donnelly, Chris

Softcover

ISBN 10: 160078920X ISBN 13: 9781600789205

Verlag: Triumph Books, 2014

Inhaltsangabe

An examination of the unique parallels between New York City&;s evolution and that of the New York Yankees, How the Yankees Explain New York illustrates how the storied history of the Bronx Bombers mirrors that of the Big Apple itself. The oldest professional sports franchise in the city, the Yankees have played in front of sold out crowds in the Bronx for nearly a century, and this work explores the relationship between Wall Street high-rollers and the Yankees&; record-setting payroll, describes the &;city that never sleeps&; through the nighttime antics of Mickey Mantle and Billy Martin, revisits the healing effect of the Yankees&; World Series run in the aftermath of 9/11, and much more. Entertaining and insightful, this book is sure to be popular amongst one of sports&; most passionate fan bases.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Chris Donnelly is the author of Baseball&;s Greatest Series: Yankees, Mariners, and the 1995 Matchup that Changed History. He lives in Ewing, New Jersey.

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How the Yankees Explain New York

By Chris Donnelly

Triumph Books

Copyright © 2014 Chris Donnelly
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-60078-920-5

Contents

Foreword by Paul O'Neill, 
1. The Boss Steinbrenner and Boss Tweed, 
2. The Sky's the Limit, 
3. The City That Never Sleeps, 
4. The Times They Are a Changin', 
5. Instant Fame: Rags to Riches, New York Style, 
6. The 1980s, 
7. The Fourth Estate, 
8. The 1990s, 
9. Wall Street, 
10. PR Stunts, 
11. 9/11, 
12. Mayors and Managers, 
13. Yankees Fans, 
14. A New Year and a New Season, 
Acknowledgments, 
Sources, 

CHAPTER 1

The Boss Steinbrenner and Boss Tweed

Outside of its literal meaning, the term "boss" has several connotations. Generally, none of them are positive. Nobody likes the person in charge, and even if they do, they always think they can do a better job. In politics "boss" has become a derogatory term slapped onto those who use money and power to influence their political party and the functions of government. In business the "boss" is the person who keeps you late, who doesn't pay you enough, who never thanks you, always steals credit for your ideas, and always blames you when their ideas don't work out.

New Yorkers have bestowed the title of boss on three prominent individuals. One is Bruce Springsteen. (To avoid getting heckled in my Garden State home, I must point out that New Jerseyans played a pretty significant role here.) But Springsteen's nickname is given out of love and admiration for a rock star — not out of anger or spite. The other two men, however, were not given their titles out of respect, admiration, or love. They fit into the two derogatory terms outlined above. One was a politician; the other was a businessman. They were William "Boss" Tweed and George "The Boss" Steinbrenner.

Tweed ruled over the city's famous Tammany Hall faction, stealing millions from the city treasurer and becoming the symbol for political corruption. But he also pushed for the creation of hospitals, bridges, and museums and donated enormous sums of money to charity. Steinbrenner owned the Yankees for 37 years. He was suspended once and even banned from baseball in 1990 (before getting reinstated prior to the 1993 season) because of illegal or downright bizarre behavior. He could be extremely cruel to those who worked for him, particularly general managers, managers, and coaches. He recklessly attacked those who dared utter an unkind word about the Yankees, even implying that an umpire was purposely helping the Seattle Mariners during the 1995 postseason because he grew up in Oregon. "[An] egomaniac wrapped in a bully inside an asshole," as author and illustrator Bruce McCall described him. "And ultimate confirmation that villainy and the New York Yankees would be synonymous for all time."

But speak to the players whom he employed, and you will hear about a wonderful man who started charities, kept people on the payroll after firing them, signed players down on their luck, and made sure to visit the afflicted in the hospital. Depending on who you talked to, Boss Tweed and The Boss Steinbrenner were devil, angel, or both. They were big men — literally and figuratively — who knew the benefit of good media relations and an occasional publicity stunt. They hobnobbed with the social elite, pushed boundaries, broke the law, were targeted for vicious attacks by cartoonists and columnists, and were ultimately brought down by forces of their own making. They lived eerily similar lives that had a profound and everlasting impact on New York City.

By 1973 the Yankees organization was in shambles. The team hadn't made the World Series since 1964 and had failed to make the playoffs once — even under the new expanded format. Its star players — Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Roger Maris, Yogi Berra, and Elston Howard — had all retired. The team's resistance to signing black and Latino players had caught up to it, as the minor league system was void of much talent. Fans had left in droves, and attendance fell from more than 1.3 million in 1964 to just more than 966,000 in 1972. The entertainment on the field was lacking while across town the Miracle Mets were thrilling New Yorkers with young, exciting players like Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, and Cleon Jones. CBS had bought the Yankees in 1964 with the idea that owning the most prominent franchise in sports would be a gold mine. Now they just wanted out.

Knowing that they were looking to sell, Michael Burke gathered a group of investors, including Steinbrenner, to pony up $8.7 million for the team. It was the biggest theft in New York City since Manhattan Island was sold for roughly $1,000. At a press conference announcing the sale, Steinbrenner said perhaps the most famous words he ever publicly uttered: "We plan absentee ownership as far as running the Yankees is concerned."

Early on, it became clear Steinbrenner had no intention of living up to his proclamation. On the first day of the season in 1973, he made note of which players wore their hair too long for his taste and immediately demanded they get it cut. (He was so new to the team that he wrote down the uniform numbers of the players because he didn't know their names.) For many it was the first sign of things to come, and before the month was over, co-owner Burke had had enough and sold his shares to Steinbrenner.

But hair length would soon be the least of Steinbrenner's problems. Not long after he purchased the team, news broke that Steinbrenner was linked to the Watergate crimes that had brought down the Richard Nixon presidency. Steinbrenner had illegally funneled money from his Cleveland shipbuilding company through several employees in order to make contributions to Nixon's reelection campaign. He'd also been less than honest about the whole affair. In 1974 he pled guilty to making illegal contributions and to a count of obstruction of justice. He was given a fine but spared jail time. Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn immediately suspended Steinbrenner from the game for two years, though it was later reduced to 15 months, meaning The Boss was absent from the team for the entire 1975 season.

When Steinbrenner returned in 1976, the Yankees, through a combination of key trades and big free-agent signings, were now the dominant force in the American League East. They made the playoffs for the first time in 12 years, won an intense five-game AL Championship Series against the Kansas City Royals on a walk-off home run by Chris Chambliss, and marched on to the World Series. But in the Fall Classic, the Yankees were swept by the Cincinnati Reds. As manager Billy Martin sat crying in the trainer's room, which was off-limits to the press, Steinbrenner came in and berated the sobbing manager for embarrassing him. It was just one of many cruel moments in what became one of the strangest relationships in baseball history with Steinbrenner playing the role of mentally abusive spouse and Martin the victim, thinking his better half would change. Over a 13-year period, Steinbrenner would hire and fire Martin five times, and there was a strong possibility there would have been a sixth time had Martin not died in a car accident on Christmas Day 1989.

The Yankees won the World Series in 1977 and 1978, and Steinbrenner took credit for restoring the team to its former glory. But 1978 would be the last title for nearly two decades, as the same attributes that created Steinbrenner and the team's success helped bring him and the Yankees down. Throughout the 1980s, The Boss made...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Triumph Books
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2014
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 160078920X
• ISBN 13: 9781600789205
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 240
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: preigu; mail@preigu.de; ; Lengericher Landstr. 19; Osnabrück; 49078; Deutschland