Baseball has had its fair share of one-and-out champions, but few clubs have dominated the sport for any great length of time. Given the level of competition and the expansive length of the season, it is a remarkable accomplishment for a team to make multiple World Series appearances in a short timespan. From the Baltimore Orioles of the 1800s who would go to any length to win—including physically accosting opponents—to the 1934 Cardinals known as the “Gashouse Gang” for their rough tactics and determination, and on to George Steinbrenner’s dominant Yankees of the late twentieth century, baseball’s greatest teams somehow found a way to win year after year. Spanning three centuries of the game, Baseball’s Dynasties and the Players Who Built Them examines twenty-two of baseball’s most iconic teams. Each chapter not only chronicles the club’s era of supremacy, but also provides an in-depth look at the players who helped make their teams great. Nearly two hundred player profiles are included, featuring such well-known stars as Joe DiMaggio, Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax, and Pete Rose, as well as players who were perhaps overshadowed by their teammates but were nonetheless vital to their team’s reign, such as Pepper Martin, Allie Reynolds, and George Foster. With a concluding chapter that profiles the clubs that were on the cusp of greatness, Baseball’s Dynasties and the Players Who Built Them is a fascinating survey of what makes some teams dominate year after year while others get only a small taste of glory before falling to the wayside. Written in a lively style with amusing anecdotes and colorful quotes, this comprehensive book will be of interest to all fans and historians of baseball.

Since the 1920’s, the New York Yankees have become the most successful sports franchise in history because of the way they manage their talent and their organization. So how do they do it? The Yankees’ sustained success can be traced to 14 core management principles, applicable to any business operating today. These principles embrace cultivation of home-grown talent, creation of a culture that demands excellence, pursuit and introduction of the most talented players from outside the organization, promotion of a diversified workforce, and utilization of a productive farm system as currency in making talent deals.

Almost A Dynasty details the rise and fall of the World Champion 1980 Phillies. Based on personal interviews, newspaper accounts, and the keen insight of a veteran baseball writer, the book convincingly explains how a losing team was finally able to win its first world championship.

In celebration of the twenty-year anniversary of the 2000 Subway Series, Jerry Beach details the history of the series between New York's Major League Baseball clubs. From the early history of the rivalry between the Giants and Dodgers, to the Mayor's Trophy games, from the fans' old barroom and playground arguments over whose team was better, to Mike Piazza and Roger Clemens battles, and far beyond, Beach leaves no stone unturned in this comprehensive account. Mets and Yankees fans alike can read about their favorite games, players, and managers through the years, from Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman to Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle, from Al Leiter and Bobby Valentine to Derek Jeter and Joe Torre. They all played an integral part in shaping the history of the intercity rivalry. Readers might also uncover something about the psyches of Mets and Yankees fans alike. This book makes for a great gift whether you wear pinstripes or bleed blue and orange, or whether you hail from the Bronx or Queens. Finally, something both fan bases can agree upon, and the perfect addition to any baseball fan's shelf!

After winning three consecutive World Series championships, myriad problems befall the Buffalo Pioneers, starting with a dying owner, a crumbling stadium and a superstar the club can no longer afford. Tensions in the front-office and egos in the clubhouse spill over onto the field, depriving the Pioneers of the chemistry that brought them glory. As the team is ripped apart by free-agency, drug controversies and personal rivalry, old-school manager Jack Vaughn does his best to keep the ship together only to be overcome by the economics of baseball and the immense problems of his own personal life. As Jack's relationship with general manager Trent Blair disintegrates beyond repair and he finds himself in the twilight of his own storied career, he is forced to come to the realization that "nothing lasts forever". Is baseball doomed in Buffalo? Can the Pioneers ever hope to replicate the glory of their halcyon years? End of a Dynasty shows the alienation that can occur in professional baseball between the players and its devoted fans, as greed and egoism threaten to ruin the majestic innocence the game provides for those who love it.

The Story of the Greatest Yankees Team—and Baseball Team—of All Time New York, 1936. Red Ruffing, Lefty Gomez, Bill Dickey, Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri, and rookie Joe DiMaggio—with these six future Hall of Fame players, the Yankees embarked on a four-year run that would go down in the history books as the greatest Yankees team, if not, the greatest baseball team of all time. Over the next four years, the Yankees won four straight pennants, finishing an average of nearly fifteen games ahead of the second-place team. They won their four World Series by an overall margin of 16-3, sweeping the last two, putting the punctuation mark on baseball’s first true dynasty. Even the Ruthian Yankees of the twenties never won more than two consecutive world championships. From 1936 to 1939, the world was changing rapidly. America was in the grip of the Great Depression. Franklin D. Roosevelt was re-elected president in the greatest landslide in American history. And Hitler’s Germany was on the move in the fall of 1939, just as the Yankee dynasty reached its climax. Against the backdrop of a world in turmoil, baseball, and America’s love for baseball, thrived. Starring the best team of all time, featuring little-known anecdotes of players and set against a history of the world, Yankees 1936–39, Baseball's Greatest Dynasty tells the tale of a legendary team that changed history.

In a special collector's edition format, this revised edition of The New Biographical History of Baseball presents updated statistical research to create the most accurate picture possible of the on-field accomplishments of players from earlier eras. It offers original summaries of the personalities and contributions of over 1,500 players, managers, owners, front office executives, journalists, and ordinary fans who developed the great American game into a national pastime. Each individual included has had an impact on the sport as mass entertainment or as a cultural phenomenon, and as an athletic art or a business enterprise. Also included are first-time entries on players like Sammy Sosa and Albert Belle, and expanded entries for such players as Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds. This special resource for fans of baseball reflects the breakout talent and enduring fan favorites from all eras of the historic game.

Is it bedtime for America's pastime? In recent years, action on and off the diamond has left some fans predicting baseball's imminent death--or claiming to have already attended the funeral. This book refutes those claims with an in-depth look at baseball then and now. Comparing the baseball of the 1950s to the game of today, this author examines the widespread dissatisfaction with major league baseball, considers how modern teams differ from those of the past, and reflects on whether professional baseball remains a truly competitive sport. Excessive salaries, player movement and the evolution of the draft are all up for discussion, as is the Wild Card playoff format and how it has affected the overall competition. Tables show statistics on salaries, league attendance and the correlation between winning percentages and payroll. Appendices offer details on market size and attendance regressions. The facts and figures add up to a win for the long-lasting appeal of baseball.