Synopses & Reviews
George Herman Ruth was the Babe. Lou Gehrig was the Iron Horse.
Joe DiMaggio was the Yankee Clipper.
George Steinbrenner is the Boss.
On a rainy January morning, 1973, a press conference is called that will change the face of the Yankees forever. A young Cleveland Industrialist by the name of Steinbrenner stands at New York's famed 21 Club and announces his new ownership of the Yankees. And so begins the Steinbrenner era, the era of the Boss. Now with five World Championships to his name, Steinbrenner is not only the owner of one of the past century's winningest baseball teams, but a legendary figure in his own right. Both eccentric and egocentric, Steinbrenner's unique approach to the game turned a not-so-good 1973 Yankees squad into World Champions just five years later.
As integral to the history of the Yankees as DiMaggio or Ruth, All Road Lead to October examines the team under Steinbrenner's reign. Having covered the Yankees since Steinbrenner came aboard, acclaimed sports journalist and noted author Maury Allen examines the complex and often fiery relationships the owner had with the likes of Billy Martin, Reggie Jackson, Yogi Berra, Joe Torre, Darryl Strawberry and many others.
Here are the first hand, insider's accounts of the pivotal events in the Yankees rise to power. Covering both off the field and on the field controversies like Yankees pitchers Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich's wife swapping, the angry tirades, fights and often brilliant coaching moves of the misunderstood Billy Martin, the inside story of the signing of Reggie Jackson whose ego was as big as his bat, and the Yankees rise to baseball dominance with the likes of Jeter, Williams, El Duque, Clemens, Rivera and Torre, Maury Allen give an exclusive look at all the action. Allen was there through it all, from Steinbrenner's first press conference, through the death of Catfish Hunter, the World Series wins, the controversial trades and firings, and even when a drunk Billy Martin banged on his hotel room door one night madder than hell. This is the definitive look at not only the Boss, the but the New York Yankees, the most celebrated team of the twentieth century.
Review
"...like sitting around the press box during a long rain delay. One story flows into another...filled with weird and wonderful baseball talk to pass the time..." (New York Times Book Review)
Review
"...he dishes out some fascinating tidbits of Yankee lore...[It's] filled with enough weird and wonderful baseball talk to pass the time until the grounds crew takes the tarp off the field." (New York Times)
Review
"Allen captures the paradoxical mixture of callousness and generosity, arrogance and sentimentality, competence and silliness that propelled the Yankee leader unto baseball's center stage."--
Sports Illustrated"Fascinating tidbits of Yankee lore."--The New York Times
Synopsis
A noted sports journalist takes an up close and personal look at the New York Yankees under legendary owner George Steinbrenner, the most loved and most hated man in New York. 8-page photo insert.
Synopsis
For three decades brash Yankee owner, George Steinbrenner and his team have grabbed headlines, signed superstars, gotten into fights, changed managers, won and lost games, and become a New York institution.. Now, sportswriter Maury Allen takes you behind the scenes to chronicle George's reign--and how the Yankees went from being the Bronx Zoo to the classiest, most successful organization in baseball today.
Here are inside stories on Yankee greats including babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Joe DiMaggio, and revealing, in-depth portraits of current superstars such as Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, El Duque, Roger Clemens, David Cone, Daryl Strawberry, Mariano Rivera and Joe Torre. Along the way, we are treated to some amazing on-the-field--and off-the-field--action as seen by a journalist who has known three generation of Yankees up-close and personal. Exciting and irreverent, All Roads Lead to October is the definitive account of twenty-five years of baseball glory--New York Yankee style.
About the Author
Maury Allen began his career writing for
Sports Illustrated and then moved to the
New York Post, where he covered the Yankees for twenty-seven years. He has written more than thirty books on baseball and his work has appeared extensively in television documentaries.