Synopses & Reviews
Before the feuding owners turned to Ed Barrow to be general manager in 1920, the Yankees had never won a pennant. They won their first in 1921 and during Barrowand#8217;s tenure went on to win thirteen more as well as ten World Series. This biography of the incomparable Barrow is also the story of how he built the most successful sports franchise in American history.and#160;Barrow spent fifty years in baseball. He was in the middle of virtually every major conflict and held practically every job except player. Daniel R. Levitt describes Barrow's pre-Yankees years, when he managed Babe Ruth and the Boston Red Sox to their last World Series Championship before the and#8220;curse.and#8221; He then details how Barrow assembled a winning Yankees team both by purchasing players outright and by developing talent through a farm system.and#160;The story of the making of the great Yankees dynasty reveals Barrowand#8217;s genius for organizing, for recognizing baseball talent, and for exploiting the existing economic environment. Because Barrow was a player in so many of baseballand#8217;s key events, his biography gives a clear and eye-opening picture of how Americaand#8217;s sport was played in the twentieth century, on the field and off. A complex portrait of a larger-than-life character in the annals of baseball, this book is also an inside history of how the sportand#8217;s competitive environment evolved and how the Yankees came to dominate it.
Review
"When we think about the beginnings of the Yankees' long dynasty, we think of Gehrig, and DiMaggio, and the Babe. Especially the Babe. But thanks to Dan Levitt, now we know that mastermind Ed Barrow belongs on that list, too. Perhaps at the top."-Rob Neyer, ESPN.com
Review
"In Ed Barrow: The Bulldog Who Built the Yankees' First Dynasty, author Daniel Levitt offers a well-detailed account of the great baseball man including his meteoric rise through the professional baseball world, the beginning of the Boston Red Sox's descent from championship status and what would become the legendary Yankee dynasty of the 1920s."and#8212;Anthony Basich, The Inside Game
Review
and#8220;The author has an astounding facility with detail: The sheer number of names, dates and salaries he tosses around is mind-blowing, and the 18 informational tables in the appendix are worthy of inclusion in an economics textbook. . . . A labor of love of great value to Yankees fans and hard-core baseball junkies.and#8221;and#8212;
Kirkus ReviewsReview
"Levitt revisits the vexed matter of Sox owner Harry Frazeeand#8217;s motives in selling baseballand#8217;s greatest player to New York and, in so doing, debunks the previous debunking of Glenn Stout and Richard A. Johnson in 2000, in Red Sox Century. . . . Eight years ago Stout and Johnson convinced me of their views; today I am just as convinced by Levitt."and#8212;Katherine A. Powers, Boston Globe
Review
and#8220;Substantive baseball history filtered through the career of one of the gameand#8217;s overlooked titans.and#8221;and#8212;Wes Lukowsky, Booklist
Review
“A captivating overview of baseball from the ‘20s through the ‘40s.”—Bill Madden, New York Daily News Katherine A. Powers - Boston Globe
Review
and#8220;A captivating overview of baseball from the and#8216;20s through the and#8216;40s.and#8221;and#8212;Bill Madden, New York Daily News
Review
and#8220;The tale Macht offers is often riveting.and#8221;and#8212;Library Journal
Review
and#8220;[A] comprehensive and interesting portrait of one of baseballand#8217;s most successful managers. . . . A compelling look at a legend and an era.and#8221;and#8212;Kirkus Reviews
Review
“[A] mother lode of data, stories, perceptions about one of the legendary figures in the history of the national pastime. Like a fine wine, Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball brings back Mack as player, manager, owner. If you are into baseball, get into this tome.”Harvey Frommer on Sports -- Kirkus Reviews
Review
and#8220;[Includes] many fascinating details of baseball from the 1880s to 1914.and#8221;and#8212;Boston Globe
Review
'“[R]ichly enjoyable.”
The Roanoke Times -- Katherine A. Powers - Boston Globe'
Review
and#8220;Masterful. . . . A must read for all historians of the national pastime, particularly those with an interest in Philadelphia sports.and#8221;and#8212;Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography
Review
and#8220;No other baseball manager is going to winand#8212;or loseand#8212;as many games as Connie Mack did in his fifty years managing the Philadelphia Athletics. A biography of Mack cannot help but be a history of baseball in the first half of the twentieth century, and this biography is a feast of interesting facts and judgments.and#8221;and#8212;George F. Will, syndicated columnist and author of Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball
Review
and#8220;As a catcher and manager, Connie Mack deserves much of the credit for writing and#8216;The Bookand#8217; on baseball strategy and the managing of men. How he did it all is told here for the first time.and#8221;and#8212;Roland Hemond, three-time winner of Major League Baseballand#8217;s Executive of the Year award
Review
"[Ed Barrow] will undoubtedly go down as the definitive work on one of the most important baseball figures in the first half of the 20th century."and#8212;Rich Lederer, baseballanalytics.com
Review
“The University of Nebraska Press, long respected for its scholarly works, has emerged as a valuable baseball resource as well. . . . Notable American players and teams, baseball history overseas (in Latin America, Japan and Australia), sportswriters and broadcasters, the African-American baseball experience, early traces of the games essential elements in medieval Europeall these and more are among the subjects examined in the NU Presss fascinating explorations of baseball in its many dimensions. . . . . The University of Nebraska Press deserves praise for drawing attention to this notable figureand for publishing dozens of titles that help fans of our national pastime better understand this venerable sport.”Omaha World-Herald (NE) -- Anthony Basich - The Inside Game
Review
http://rksbaseballbookshelf.wordpress.com/2009/03/21/prtops-to-university-of-nebraska-press/ Ron Kaplan
Review
and#8220;A mother lode of data, stories, perceptions about one of the legendary figures in the history of the national pastime. . . . If you are into baseball, get into this tome.and#8221;and#8212;Harvey Frommer on Sports
Review
and#8220;Richly enjoyable.and#8221;and#8212;Roanoke Times
Review
"Macht has done such meticulous research that readers will discover the precise layout of Mack's office at Shibe Park as well as his home. . . . In 650 pages he has no ill word for Mack and continually reminds us of his greatness. He was a respected husband, father, leader, role model and humanitarianand#8212;maybe even a hero."and#8212;Kirkus Starred Review
Review
"Between 1914 and 1931, Mack's teams went from the penthouse to the cellar of the American League, and back to the penthouse, as he sold off one group of accomplished players and brought together another, which included such greats as Lefty Grove, Jimmy Foxx, Mickey Cochrane, and Al Simmons. It is a fascinating story. . . . This book will please anyone who likes the hits, runs, and errors of baseball."and#8212;R. W. Roberts, Choice
Review
"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."and#8212;Bob Edmonds, McCormick Messenger
Review
"For any fan of baseball or historyand#8212;or ideally bothand#8212;it's worth devoting a few hours to Connie Mack, The Turbulent and Triumphant Years, 1915and#8211;1931."and#8212;Glenn Miller, Florida Weekly
Review
andquot;If you are a fan of the early days of baseball or just want to learn more about them, I'd highly recommend picking up this book. It was extremely enjoyable to sit and read and will increase your knowledge of that time period immensely.andquot;andmdash;Daniel Shoptaw, Cardinal70.com
Review
"[Connie Mack is] a major addition to the study of the game and its longest-serving icon."and#8212;Rick Huhn, NINE
Synopsis
Connie Mack (1862and#8211;1956) was the Grand Old Man of baseball and one of the gameand#8217;s first true celebrities. This book, spanning the first fifty-two years of Mackand#8217;s life, through 1914, covers his experiences as player, manager, and club owner and will stand as the definitive biography of baseballand#8217;s most legendary and beloved figure.and#160;and#160;Norman L. Macht chronicles Mackand#8217;s little-known beginnings. He tells how Mack, a school dropout at fourteen, created strategies for winning baseball and principles for managing men long before there were notions of defining such subjects. And he details how Mack, a key figure in the launching of the American League in 1901, won six of the leagueand#8217;s first fourteen pennants while serving as manager, treasurer, general manager, traveling secretary, and public relations and scouting director (all at the same time) for the Philadelphia Athletics.and#160;This book brings to life the unruly origins of baseball as a sport and a business. It also provides the first complete and accurate picture of a character who was larger than life and yet little known: the tricky, rule-bending catcher; the peppery field leader and fan favorite; the hot-tempered young manager. Illustrated with family photographs never before published, it affords unique insight into a colorful personality who helped shape baseball as we know it today.
Synopsis
The Philadelphia Athletics dominated the first fourteen years of the American League, winning six pennants through 1914 under the leadership of their founder and manager, Connie Mack. But beginning in 1915, where volume 2 in Norman L. Machtand#8217;s biography picks up the story, Mackand#8217;s teams fell from pennant winners to last place and, in an unprecedented reversal of fortunes, stayed there for seven years. World War I robbed baseball of young players, and Mackand#8217;s rebuilding efforts using green youngsters of limited ability made his teams the objects of public ridicule.
At the age of fifty-nine and in the face of widespread skepticism and seemingly insurmountable odds, Connie Mack reasserted his genius, remade the Aand#8217;s, and rose again to the top, even surpassing his earlier success. Baseball biographer and historian Macht recreates what may be the most remarkable chapter in this larger-than-life story. He shows us the man and his time and the game of baseball in all its nitty-gritty glory of the 1920s, and how Connie Mack built the 1929and#8211;1931 champions of Foxx, Simmons, Cochrane, Grove, Earnshaw, Miller, Haas, Bishop, Dykesand#8212;a team many consider baseballand#8217;s greatest ever.
About the Author
Daniel R. Levitt is the coauthor of Paths to Glory: How Great Baseball Teams Got That Way, winner of the Sporting Newsand#8211;SABR Baseball Research Award. He has also published numerous baseball articles and biographical essays.and#160;