The Yankee Years by Joe Torre, Tom Verducci Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Yankee Years
Book Review: "Where have you gone Joe Torre?"
Summary: 5 Stars
Where have you gone Joe Dimaggio? Those who miss the class, style, and grace of the Yankee Clipper found it in Joe Torre during his years as New York Yankee Manager during their World Series championship years in the nineties. Now we are asking and humming to the song, "Where have you gone Joe Torre?" He classed the Yankees up, and turned Yankee haters like myself into Yankee supporters (different than a fan). His poise and confidence as a manager made the Yankees America's team again. I loved this book. Period! Joe Torre seemed to open our eyes to the Yankees front offices when he managed and he seemed to invite us into the clubhouse and sit down with him and his players in the dugout. Now, in his book, we actually experience the inside look it seemed we were almost getting when he was in the driver's seat. It's amazing such integrity can thrive and be honored during such a tumultuous stretch for MLB. Definitely one of the best baseball biographies to come out of the last decade. You won't be disappointed. If you like this title, be sure to check out the documentary NINE INNINGS FROM GROUND ZERO.Nine Innings from Ground Zero 27 x 40 (approx.) PosterNine Innings From Ground Zero: 2001 World Series DVDBook Review: 5 STARS FROM A BIASED YANKEE FAN
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this book. The big games, the players, the relationships are wonderfully recreated in this awesome book describing the greatest Yankee teams and coach of all time.
It made me laugh, cry and sent chills up my spine at times. Highly recommended!
Book Review: A very interesting and descriptive book!!!!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a good read, It is written in a conversational style and is very interesting and descriptive. I almost would call it a Psyco-History because we get some much insight into the way Torre is thinking and also the Players. About a 1/3 of the Book is Joe Torre's recollections of his 12 Years in Pin Strips. You get a lot of insight into his managing decisions, his relationships with the players, management and the fans. And a good year by year history and game by game synopses (some times play by play) in the Playoffs. About 1/3 of the book is about Baseball operations and Verducci does a great job explaining the rise and fall of the Yankees, the rise of Money ball, the rise of both Boston and Cleveland etc.,. We find out how baseball, in general, was doing and what teams were doing in those 12 years, including a good section on steroids (And other banded substances), and revenue shearing, the Yankees farm system as opposed to others etc., The Other 1/3 is basically interviews with the players going over all the same subjects, its all interspersed and laid out in time order. This is really a great book if you want to get inside baseball. It offers a lot of information for the Yankee fan as well as any sports fan.Book Review: A **Baseball** Book, not a Yankee Book
Summary: 4 Stars
The Yankee Years is misnamed. It's a book about baseball's evolution over the past 12 years, and features outstanding writing by Tom Verducci on a variety of baseball issues. There are reports on the rise of steroids, the economics of baseball, the way scouting and player development have changed, and many other facets of the game. It is called The Yankee Years because during this time in baseball history the Yanks made the playoffs every season.
A few notes:
First, Joe Torre's name is on the cover but he basically had nothing to do with the book besides giving the real author, Tom Verducci, some interviews. Also, I suppose having Torre's name on the cover isn't hurting the book's sales.
Second, this is not a book about the Yankees. It's a book about the game of baseball and how it evolved over the dozen years Torre managed the Yankees. There are whole parts of this book that have nothing to do with the Yankees at all. However, the Yankees provide the central narrative for the book as their season-to-season performances are chronicled to anchor the chapters about steroids, free agency, revenue sharing, sabremetrics, and the breakdown of the Yankee dynasty.
Third, anyone who hates the Yankees will love this book and revel in the breakdown of how they stopped being a dynasty by signing over the hill sociopaths and addicts like Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson, and Jason Giambi.
Finally, the book is well-written. Verducci does a masterful job putting the pieces together to form a cohesive narrative. The book loses a star due to the overlong final chapters detailing Torre's last year at the helm of the Yankee ship. The editor must have missed the duplicated paragraphs that were taken from earlier in the book and reinserted at the end.
Book Review: A CANDID BOOK WITH MUCH BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Summary: 5 Stars
Someone has to be patient to read this book because it has 482 pages. However, there is much worthwhile information. Torre mentions the reasons Randy Johnson and Kevin Brown flopped as Yankees. There was good information on the steroid scandal and its effect on the Yankees. The interviews with Billy Beane and Theo Epstein about the economics of baseball and theories of scouting were excellent, though Beane has altered his approach.