Dog Days:The New York Yankees' Fall from Grace and: Return to Glory,1964-1976

Follows the events and personalities of an era that began with the last days of Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford, followed by a period of losing seasons, to the Yankees' eventual revival

In determining the causes for the abrupt fall of the Yankee baseball dynasty in the late Sixties, Bashe cites a convergence of factors, including the negative impact of television on minor league attendance (which ultimately led to a shrinking of the club's talent pool), the initial reluctance to sign minority players, and the burgeoning competition from other professional sports. By 1969, Yankee fans were faced with the rare sight of a team "devoid of a single superstar." In year-by-year format, Bashe relates a string of on- and off-the-field episodes reflecting the mounting pressures on management and players to regain past stature. Only a combination of helpful trades and free agency signings sparked a resurgence in the Seventies. Altogether, this is a competent effort that stands in stark contrast to the many entries chronicling the team's glory days. For regional collections.
William H. Hoffman, Ft. Myers-Lee Cty. P.L., Fla.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Starting their streak in 1921, the Yankees compiled a record of 29 American League pennants and 24 world championships, although they lost the World Series in 1964, the year that opens this book. But the stars who had formed the nucleus of their winning teams for a decade before 1964, like Mickey Mantle, Elston Howard and Whitey Ford, were all in their 30s, old by baseball standards. What happened over the next 12 seasons is the subject that concerns Bashe ( Teenage Idol ) in his outstanding sports history. He recounts the story of flawed judgment of talent in the Yankees' minor league teams, unfortunate trades, the mishandling of the few above-average players, badly chosen managers (including the indulgent Ralph Houk, the distant Johnny Keane, the autocratic Bill Virdon and the alcoholic Billy Martin) and, in the last few years of the drought, of quixotic principal owner George Steinbrenner. Yankee-haters will love the tale of the kings of the diamond brought low, while Yankee fans will be buoyed by the happy ending, with a return to glory in 1976 when the Yankees won the American League championship--but lost the World Series to Cincinnati.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Sprightly recounting of the years between the end of the great New York Yankees dynasty of the 1950s and '60s and the team's revival in the late 1970s. Between 1949 and 1964, the Yankees won nine World Series and 14 American League pennants. Then everything fell apart. From 1965 to 1975, the Yankees endured 11 seasons of frustration. As Bashe (Teenage Idol, Travelin' Man, 1992, etc.) details it, the team suffered from a variety of ills: star players who got old suddenly; problems with management when the team was sold to CBS; rookies who didn't pan out; and trades that went sour. What made the team's decline even more frustrating for the players and management was the simultaneous rise of the Mets as rivals for the affections of New Yorkers. Bashe traces the fading powers of stars like Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford; the disappointments of phenoms like Jim Bouton and Mel Stottlemyre, who never lived up to their promise due to injuries; and the daily struggles of journeyman ballplayers trying to hang on in the majors. The author also tries to situate the problems of the team in the larger social context of a volatile era in American history, although occasionally that effort seems a bit forced. Finally, with the sale of the team to George Steinbrenner, a new era in Yankee history began, one that culminated in a pennant that was equally the product of Steinbrenner's predecessors (although George is quick to take full credit). Of course, that began a new dynasty which led to a new decline--and perhaps to another book some day. Although prone to excessively colorful metaphors, Bashe tells this story with wit. Full of good stories and sure to warm the hearts of anyone who hates the Yankees. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Baseball fans tend to be either Yankee haters or Yankee lovers. Here's a book that works for both groups. For those who hate the Bronx Bombers, Bashe tells the story of those 11 delicious seasons from 1965 through 1975 when the team couldn't win a pennant and only managed to finish better than .500 five times. Yankee-loving readers will enjoy both the flashbacks to the glory days of the 1950s and early 1960s, when stars such as Mickey Mantle, Elston Howard, and Roger Maris reigned supreme, and the account of the triumphant 1976 season, when the Yanks once again claimed the American League pennant. Bashe's prose is very uneven, soaring with great metaphors and some hysterically funny stories, then descending into baseball's hoariest clich{‚}es. Along the way, he offers some insightful analysis of how the changes in American society are reflected in the national pastime; it's clear that his sympathies in this regard are always with the offbeat and unconventional players who challenged the system, such as Jim Bouton and Doc Ellis. A good choice anywhere baseball books are popular. George Needham