The Men Who Made the Yankees: The Odyssey of the World’s Greatest Team from Baltimore to the Bronx

Bewitched by the power of the early 1960s team with Whitey Ford, Clete Boyer, and Mickey Mantle, Nikola-Lisa (Dear Frank: Babe Ruth, the Red Sox, and the Great War) considers the beginnings of the franchise in the chaotic mix of two rival organizations, the American and National Leagues, dating back to their infancy in the 1890s. He singles out the work of innovative owners William Ambrose Hulbert, Ban Johnson, and Albert Spalding, who shaped the collection of rag-tag minor teams into the modern sports empire seen today. At the heart of this book are wily New York Giants manager John McGraw, iconic slugger Babe Ruth, and historic Yankee Stadium, all of which contribute to the mythic American League team that overcame every political and financial challenge to rise to the top. For baseball fans, especially of the Bronx Bombers, Nikola-Lisa’s anecdote-packed homage to the Yankee dynasty covers a lot of ground in a few pages, with a fairly complete bibliography and index. (BookLife)