When Babe Ruth left the New York Yankees in 1935, some feared that the loss would cripple the club for years. However, the post–Ruth era Yankees continued to dominate until the start of World War II. Their forward-thinking administrative staff signed and developed top-flight talent like Joe DiMaggio and retained superstars like Lou Gehrig, who remained the greatest first baseman in the game until he succumbed to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This history of the Yankees from 1936 to late into World War II details the team’s swift recovery from losing Ruth and reintroduces unheralded players, examines the personal styles of the key men, and chronicles the team’s remarkable achievements, including six American League pennants in eight years and five World Series victories.

Lew Freedman is a long-time, prize-winning journalist for such newspapers as the Philadelphia Inquirer, Chicago Tribune, Anchorage Daily News and Wyoming’s Cody Enterprise. Specializing in sports and the outdoors, he has written more than 100 books. He lives in Columbus, Indiana.

Lew Freedman
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 223
Bibliographic Info: 10 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2011
pISBN: 978-0-7864-5906-3
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8824-7
Imprint: McFarland

Introduction      1

1. A Kid Named Joe      7
2. Replacing Ruth      19
3. Co-Starring Gehrig and DiMaggio      26
4. Ruff Was Tough      37
5. Monte, Pat, Bump and Grandma      47
6. The Real Italian Stallion      59
7. Dickey Linked Them All      68
8. The Crow Makes A Mark      78
9. The Yankee Way      87
10. Joe D. Gets Hitched      97
11. Shut Up and Play Like King Kong      108
12. The Search For Fresh Arms      116
13. New Guys on the Block      125
14. Gehrig and the Other Babe      134
15. Diagnosis and Death      143
16. The Yankees Lose a Pennant      152
17. The Streak      162
18. A Brooklyn-Bronx Subway Series      175
19. War Changes Everything      185

Epilogue      196
Chapter Notes      199
Bibliography      209
Index      211