Author: Kevin Baker
Reviewed by Chloe Fuksa
If anyone was like me, the championship run of the Texas Rangers baseball team last fall reminded you of how fun the game is and made you think back to your younger days. I remember sitting at the breakfast table before school and every morning opening up the newspaper to look at the box score of the Rangers’ game the prior day. Now, right in time for the start of the 2024 season, author and journalist Kevin Baker has a new book out that is perfect for baseball fans, whether you’re a diehard fan or a rollercoaster one like myself.
The New York Game is a fabulous combination of the history of baseball, the history of New York City, and the biographies of everyone involved – from the players and managers to the politicians and gangsters. The book starts in the early 19th century, when it was just kids playing in corner lots, and travels through the dead-ball era, the gambling scandals, the outright racism, and the professionalization of the game, to finish in 1945, with the impacts of World War II. This thoroughness does make The New York Game a little daunting in its thickness – over 500 pages with the sources and index. But it is not a slog of a read at all. The chapters are short, and the writing is quite lively and enjoyable.
Now, if you wholly despise the Yankees, this book might not be your favorite book ever. But really, The New York Game is so much more than just them. It’s a history of the game overall, the Knickerbockers and the Cincinnati Red Stockings and the Boston Braves and the Federal League. It’s about John McGraw and Christy Mathewson and Johnny Evers and, of course, Babe Ruth. It’s about the rise of skyscrapers and the creation of the subway system and the heyday of the newspaper industry. This book is a really, really fun read, and it will certainly get you even more excited to cheer on your favorite team this season.
Visit us in Sunset Plaza or call 580-297-5089 to get your copy of The New York Game today!
