Stealing Games: How John McGraw Transformed Baseball with the 1911 New York Giants

Historian Klein (Rainbow’s End: The Crash of 1929) offers a thorough account of the 1911 New York Giants. That team, led by future Hall of Fame manager John McGraw, stole 347 bases in one season—a record likely to stand forever. As a player/manager (a common position at the turn of the century), McGraw was temperamental, a trait he carried from the Baltimore Orioles to the Big Apple when he took over the Giants in 1902 and eventually earned the nickname Little Napoleon. His 1902 squad finished the season an unfathomable 53.5 games behind the pennant-clinching Pittsburgh Pirates. The author then recounts the Giants’ evolution into a dynasty that went on to win three straight pennants, beginning in 1911. Klein writes for the serious baseball fan, and his day-by-day (often hour-by-hour) account of the Giants’ 1911 spring training will test even the most patient of readers. Nevertheless, he offers thought-provoking details of the drastic changes baseball underwent at the time, both on the field and in the boardrooms.[em] (Mar.) [/em]