How the Yankees Explain New York (How...Explain) by Chris Donnelly

by Chris Donnelly

An examination of the unique parallels between New York City’s evolution and that of the New York Yankees, How the Yankees Explain New York illustrates how the storied history of the Bronx Bombers mirrors that of the Big Apple itself. The oldest professional sports franchise in the city, the Yankees have played in front of sold out crowds in the Bronx for nearly a century, and this work explores the relationship between Wall Street high-rollers and the Yankees’ record-setting payroll, describes the “city that never sleeps” through the nighttime antics of Mickey Mantle and Billy Martin, revisits the healing effect of the Yankees’ World Series run in the aftermath of 9/11, and much more. Entertaining and insightful, this book is sure to be popular amongst one of sports’ most passionate fan bases.

Genres: Baseball

Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[SheMac · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not good. The author doesn't really make a case for how the Yankees explain New York. Instead he merely points out parallels between the two: NYC has had good mayors and bad mayors; the Yankees have had good managers and bad managers. NYC has large impressive buildings, and the Yankees have a big impressive building. Of course, like any good author since 2012, Donnelly goes out of his way to prove his liberal bona fides with gratuitous comments about, for example, George W. Bush although he must be embarrassed that he did not excoriate Robert Moses as now seems de rigueur among good progressives.

[Andrew Min · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing quality was poor -- missing commas, odd sentences, and a lot of information repeated almost verbatim. The parallels are interesting but also a bit of a stretch. That being said, the classic stories are all there, and if you're a Yankees fan, it's probably still worth it.

[Jordan Jang]

I really enjoyed it. The author could have focused more on the relationship between New York and the Yankees before 9/11 occurred.