At this point, I've read enough of Harvey Frommer's books to anticipate the excellent history and writing that is to be found in this one. But what I wasn't prepared for is just how beautiful the design of the book is; the bounty of photographs of the park, players, and action; and the images of memorabilia--like ticket stubs and posters--scattered throughout. If you're a Yankee fan or have read much about them, there won't necessarily be a lot that's new to you here, but you can't be enough of a fanatic to know all the great anecdotes and the oral histories from players and others with memories of and ties to the Stadium are wonderful. What seals the deal though is the visual experience and, since we soon won't have the park itself to refer to anymore, that makes this book a must have.

Just as everyone has their own special memory of The Stadium, in such a rich collection of stories and pictures, everyone is likely to find their own favorite tidbit. Here's mine. In the middle of Mr. Frommer's discussion of Babe Ruth's record 60 homerun season of 1927, we come upon a list of the pitchers off of whom he went yard that year. A simple enough thing you think, eh? But check out these names: Sloppy Thurston (3 times!), Rube Walberg (4 times!), Rip Collins, Garland Buckeye (twice on June 11th), Hal Wiltse, Slim Harriss, Hod Lisenbee, Lefty Stewart, Sarge Connally, Milt Gaston, Willis Hudlin, Lefty Grove... If a fiction writer used all those magnificent monikers in a baseball novel you'd criticize him for going over the top. Make room on your coffee table, because you'll want to keep this beauty there.

(Reviewed:15-Jan-09)

Grade: (A) Orrin C. Judd

Tweet

Harvey Frommer Links:

    -AUTHOR SITE: Harvey Frommer Sports
    -BOOK SITE: Remembering Yankee Stadium
    -AUDIO INTERVIEW: Remembering Yankee Stadium with Harvey Frommer (WCBS Radio)
    -BOOK SITE: Rickey and Robinson (Harvey Frommer)
    -ARCHIVES: Harvey Frommer on Sports & Culture (Travel-Watch)
    -EXCERPT: Dale Berra from Growing up Baseball
    -EXCERPT: Gene Conley from Growing up Baseball
    -EXCERPT: Pumpsie Green from Growing up Baseball
    -EXCERPT: Keith Hernandez from Growing up Baseball
    -EXCERPT: Monte Irvin from Growing up Baseball
    -EXCERPT: Mel Parnell from Growing up Baseball
    -EXCERPT: Johnny Pesky from Growing up Baseball
    -EXCERPT: Al Rosen from Growing up Baseball
    -EXCERPT: Nolan Ryan from Growing up Baseball
    -EXCERPT: Bobby Thomson from Growing up Baseball
    -ESSAY: Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: The Yankee Mystique (Harvey Frommer, Travel-Watch)
    -ESSAY: Don Larsen - The Perfect Game: October 8, 1956 (Harvey Frommer)
    -ESSAY: Celebrating Jackie Robinson (Harvey Frommer, January 31, 2000, Travel-Watch)
    -ESSAY: Bobby Thomson's Famous Homer Lives On (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson  (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: The Mets Have Always Been Amazing (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: Shoeless Joe Remains a Scapegoat  (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: Remembering the Yankee Clipper: Joe DiMaggio  (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: Celebrating Hank Greenberg   (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: Yankees vs. Red Sox: Baseball's Greatest Rivalry  (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY:  Reese was no Pee Wee (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: Willie Mays and the Month of May  (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: Gehrig's Streak (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: Yankee Stadium's First Opening Day (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: The Birth of Baseball's First Professional Team (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: Midsummer Classic: Midsummer Mockery (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: Subway Series  (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: Remembering Irving Rudd (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY:  Satchel Paige: World's Greatest Pitcher (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: The Yankee Mystique (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY:  Trade a Player a Year Too Early, Not a Year Too Late (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: Baseball's Mecca: The Hall of Fame in Cooperstown (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: The Harmonica Incident: August 20, 1964  (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY:  The 1919 Black Sox (Part I) (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: The 1919 Black Sox (Part II)  (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: The First World Series  (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: Let's Play Two (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: Wee Willie Keeler: Good Things Come in Small Packages (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: The Big Train:  Walter Johnson, Baseball Immortal (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -ESSAY: New York City Baseball: Once Upon A Time (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -REVIEW: of Baseball's Best Shots  (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -REVIEW: of The Barry Halper Collection of Baseball Memorabilia (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -REVIEW: of Red Smith on Baseball (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -REVIEW: of "Fenway: A Biography in Words and Pictures"  (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -REVIEW: of  Yankee Doodle Dandies: Yankee Books  (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -REVIEW: of Baseball Books On Parade (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -REVIEW: of Sandy Koufax, Out of Brooklyn (Harvey Frommer, Baseball Library)
    -CHAT TRANSCRIPT: Growing Up Baseball with Harvey Frommer (Washington Post, 4/01/02)
    -CHAT TRANSCRIPT: It Happened in Manhattans with Myrna & Harvey Frommer (Washington Post, 5/13/02)
    -CHAT TRANSCRIPT: Baseball Labor Negotiations with Harvey Frommer (Washington Post, 8/30/02)
    -CHAT TRANSCRIPT: A Yankee Century with Harvey Frommer (Washington Post, 10/11/02)
    -REVIEW: of Remembering Yankee Stadium (Travis Nelson, Bleacher Report)
    -REVIEW: of A Yankee Century (Phil Speranza, Behind the Bombers)
    -REVIEW: of The New York Yankee Encyclopedia By Harvey Frommer (Dan Albaugh, World-Wide Collectors Digest)
    -REVIEW: of Primitive Baseball by Harvey Frommer (Gene Murdoch, Journal of Sport History)
    -REVIEW: of It Happened in Manhattan By Myrna Katz Frommer and Harvey Frommer (Carter B. Horsley, City Review)
    -REVIEW: of It Happened in Manhattan (Kendal Dodge Butler, Culture Vulture)
    -REVIEW: of It Happened on Broadway:  An Oral History of the Great White Way By Myrna Katz Frommer and Harvey Frommer (Carter B. Horsley, City Review)
    -REVIEW: of It Happened on Broadway (Kendal Dodge Butler, Culture Vulture)
    -REVIEW: of It Happened on Broadway (Victor Castillo, KC Stage)
    -REVIEW: of It Happened on Broadway (Elyse Sommer, Curtain Up)

Book-related and General Links: