The Glory Days: New York Baseball 1947-1957

Brooklyn-Born in 1945, I grew up as a child thinking it natural that I had three major league baseball teams to root for, or more precisely, choose from. Didn't all American kids, everywhere? I rooted for my beloved dad's Giants out of loyalty. He grew up in Manhattan's Lower East Side slums, and occasionally the Henry Street Settlement House would distribute to the kids free tickets to Giants games at the Polo Grounds, and Columbia University football games at Baker Field, uptown. He was so impressed by these offers of free tickets, he became a lifelong fan of Columbia football, The baseball Giants and the Henry Street Settlement House. Between this book's text, photos and memorabilia, I'm sure most readers old enough to remember the Glory Days of the 50s, will become awash in nostalgia, as the text restores to one's memory names we'd forgotten about with the passage of time. Not just fringe roster players, but front office types, managers and coaches, and even sportwriters, a different breed then. For young baseball fans who've heard second-hand of the Era or perhaps read Roger Kahn's ¨The Boys of Summer,¨ this book admirably fleshes out those anecdotes. It's a treasure trove of New York City baseball in the 1950s.

Having missed this era by a hair but born in it's fading penumbra (1960), THE GLORY DAYS held a fascination for me. Unable (because of time and distance constraints) to visit the excellent Glory Days exhibit at the equally excellent Museum of The City of New York, I found this book to be a quality substitute for being there, although I found the text a little thin, and the emphasis on the Yankees to be a bit overdone. Between 1947 and 1957 New York was home to three Major League ballclubs, the Yankees, the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the Giants. The Yankees were and are an overwhelming force in baseball, but less remembered is the power of the Brooklyn Dodgers matched only by their fans' passion, and the strong presence of the Giants. In ELEVEN seasons, AT LEAST one New York team (and often two) appeared in the World Series TEN times. With only sixteen clubs in Major League Baseball altogether, New York was preeminent in the sport, and this preeminence was helped by the fact that New York was the unofficial capital city of Earth as the newly-anointed home of the U.N., the newspaper publishing center of the world, the television production and broadcasting mecca for all of America, the then-largest city on the planet, and about as highly as diverse a place as could be found anywhere. The story of baseball in the postwar era was the story of New York, the story of New York was the story of America, and as America went so went the rest of humanity in the 1950s. As society forged ahead into a more tolerant era, baseball led the way, and became the common man's bellweather of change. The book is arranged in nine chapters representing innings. Each covers a period or an issue and brings us from the shadow of the war years to the Dodger/Giant abandonment of New York, an abandonment which presaged the rise of Los Angeles as a major urban center and a rival for New York's dominance in communications and population. By focusing on such mundane items as torn ticket stubs, dog-eared baseball cards, chocolate stained ice cream Dixie Cups with "Your Favorite Player" lids, The Museum of The City of New York tells a sociological story. Of importance is the psychological difference between Yankee fans, Dodger fans, and Giant fans, who all held each other in mutually affectionate contempt. The Dodgers were the stubble-bearded trailblazers, integrating baseball as the Fifties dawned; the Yankees were pinstriped and proper and self-righteous; the Giants staggered along (sometimes with dazzling success) as the faded diva of New York baseball. The question of whether The Mick, the Duke or Willie Mays was the greatest Center Fielder in baseball was a burning issue, and with a schedule allowing the National League rival Giants and Dodgers to play each other 22 times a season, it was far from academic. It was also enjoyable, and THE GLORY YEARS is bittersweetly nostalgic. A fine and fun presentation by a very fine institution which deserves every dedicated reader's

Some great & rare photos, but the text commentary is sub-par. Although the greatest baseball player in New York during the time period covered was Duke Snider, this book has the usual emphasis on Mickey Mantle, then Willie Mays, then Snider. There's a full chapter on Jackie Robinson, a chapter on the Brooklyn Dodgers leaving Brooklyn (by Michael Shapiro, who wrote his own book on this subject). Good sections on the Giants-Dodgers rivalry & the New York ballparks. You will find great photos of Jackie Robinson (20 of them), Pee Wee Reese (4), Roy Campanella (8), Gil Hodges (4), Preacher Roe (1), Mays (11), Snider (only 8, but a 2 full page photo, & another full page photo), Carl Erskine (2), Mickey Mantle (who gets a chapter to himself, 22), Joe Black (1), Carl Furillo (2), Don Newcombe (4), Sandy Amoros (1, a full color page), Johnny Podres (2), Billy Cox (1), Clem Labine (1), Washington Park, Ebbets Field in 1920 with neighborhood, Hilltop Park, & the Polo Grounds in 1900. An index would have been helpful, but there is none. Worth buying for the photos alone.

First off, i am a collector of baseball stuff, which already puts me in the odd category of caring too much about photographs with dates. I love the photos in this book and in the stein book because i think they are both unique, have not been published 1000 times, and because they show a real side of what is going on. I think that it is really useful that the public gets access to this information. I loved the book and i have many things that were i asked, i would have given to the exhibit!

This book would be of special interest to those who grew up as baseball fans in New York City during the years between 1947-1957. I first remember baseball games beginning in 1951 as a fan of the Detroit Tigers. However, I vividly remember listening to those classic World Series between the Yankees and Dodgers of the 1950's. The book is filled with artifacts from this time period such as baseball cards (which I have in my collection), full color photos from Sport or Look magazine of such stars as Joe Page, Al Dark, Hank Bauer, Sandy Amoros, Don Zimmer, Willie Mays, and another of Mays with Leo Durocher. They are beautiful pictures. Other keepsakes from the Yankees, Giants, and Dodgers that would have had little value at the time, but could fetch a nice price now are also shown. Each chapter is written by a different author who is contributing his own area of expertise to this historical era. I did find an error on page 154 which shows a photo of Bauer and Mantle with another Yankee in between which is listed as Don Larsen after his perfect game. I don't know who the individual in the middle of the photo is, but it is most certainly not Larsen. Neither are the looks Don Larsen nor the haircut his. Larsen had a butch haircut. Also, on page 155 a photo is shown of Mantle leading off first base (same picture on page 156) with the caption on page 155 claiming to be the Yankees' dugout during Larsen's masterpiece. That said, if you are a baseball fan from this time period, whether a fan of the New York teams or not, this is a book that will bring back a lot of precious memories. Many of these individuals have passed on, but their memory will always remain with me.