Preview
  • The New York Game

  • Baseball and the Rise of a New City
  • By: Kevin Baker
  • Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
  • Length: 19 hrs and 59 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (28 ratings)

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The New York Game

By: Kevin Baker
Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
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Publisher's summary

The New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice • A hugely entertaining history of baseball in New York City, bursting with bigger than life figures, and long-forgotten heroes, spanning the game’s founding to the early 1940s

"You’re going to beg for extra innings. Without missing a scandal or a sensation, with an eye on how assimilation transforms the picture, Kevin Baker has written a buoyant, double coming-of-age story."—Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize-winning author

Baseball is “the New York game” because the city is where the white lines were first drawn, where a bunt was first laid, and where the curve ball was first thrown. It’s also where the superstars first emerged, and where social progress in the sport was first made. With nuance and depth, historian Kevin Baker brings this all back to life: the games–World Series in 1905, 1919, 1932; the players–Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig; the coaches and managers–John McGraw, “Foxy Ned” Hanlon, Clark Griffith; and even the writers, reporters, and spectators. The result is a portrait of baseball’s most transformative years amidst New York City’s evolution from a heaving, stinking, fantastic city to a global capital.

No one is better placed to write this book than Baker, a life-long Yankee fan, beloved historical novelist, and part-time historian to the city that doesn’t sleep. In his hands the city and game emerge from the murk of nineteenth century American life together–driven by big personalities and gangsters, but ultimately requiring regulation and organization. Baker details how the game and New York came to mirror one another, growing and expanding, bumbling through the sociopolitical concerns of the day, and rising out of these trials stronger than before.

From the establishment of the New York Knickerbockers Base Ball Club by a young Manhattan shipping clerk in 1846; to the shrewd financial investments that spread the game nationally, resulting in the first professional league; to the fan loyalty that skyrocketed at the turn of the century; to local investment in teams of Hispanic and Black players, trailblazers for the breaking of the color line; to the pressures of multiple world wars, The New York Game is at once a fascinating and comprehensive account of baseball. Long-forgotten legends finally get their due. The New York Game is an ode to the game of baseball and its city of origin.

©2024 Kevin Baker (P)2024 Random House Audio
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Critic reviews

"Let me put it this way: You’re going to beg for extra innings. Without missing a scandal or a sensation, with an eye on how assimilation transforms the picture, Kevin Baker has written a buoyant, double coming-of-age story. He leaves plenty of myths—and Abner Doubleday—by the wayside. He carries us on a high-octane tour from baseball’s early, pre-league days to the first box scores, past Giants, Bridegrooms, and Highlanders, to stadium singalongs and brawling, betting, and umpire-flattening. A naked Babe Ruth is the least of the wonders in this exuberant, deliriously readable, glorious grand slam of a book."—Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams

"No one knows New York City better than Kevin Baker, so it's only natural that he would breathe such spectacular life into the stories of the National Pastime in the Capital of Baseball. A remarkable, complicated doubleheader of a book."— Ken Burns, filmmaker

"An insightful, beautifully crafted narrative...One hopes for a second volume from Kevin Baker, every bit as good as [The New York Game]."—David Oshinsky, The New York Times

What listeners say about The New York Game

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Sure.. Baseball… but so much more!

This book was an absolute delight to surrender to. A sweeping history of not just baseball in NY through WWII, but of the city and its people. LJ Ganser’s narration captured the sense of the times perfectly… he passed my test of listening at 1.0 speed and maintaining the proper tempo. A must listen for baseball fans and for those of us who hanker for simpler times!

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Places baseball in historical context

Wonderful interweaving of baseball history within context of NYC and U.S. history. Great story and analysis.

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Baseball, Broads, and Badasses

This book was amazing. The best baseball book I’ve ever read. It’s well written and the narration is superb. It filled with interesting details about the players and teams of New York baseball. If you are a fan of baseball history this is an absolute must read.

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Baseball and the City

Combining baseball and NYC history was brilliant. Smooth and well told I appreciated that it gave an in depth perspective on the baseball in NYC and did not neglect Robert Moses or Jane Jacobs or LaGuardia. A few mispronunciations made me cringe. The team is the Baltimore “E”light Giants and I have no idea how Tony Lazzeri’s name got so mispronounced. Those are minuscule criticisms of a great audio book.

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Baseball and New York

"The New York Game" is a superb history of baseball in New York City from the game's origins in the 19th century until 1945.
Ganser's narration brings alive this wonderful book.

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Evan's Review

If you like a good history of baseball I recommend this book
It gives you good overview of baseball in New York plus some history of other teams that evolved during early years of professional baseball.

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Great Baseball Book

Very well written and performed book. To me the book ended at an odd point. I assumed the story would progress all the way until the Dodgers and the Giants relocated out of NY. Fantastic book but I think it was a no-brainer to tell the story for another decade.

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Need volume two

Now I know why my mother only mentioned seeing Babe Ruth when she was young. This book really makes it clear why he was such a legend. Parts of his life are sprinkled throughout this book. This is so well done that I hope they will continue and bring baseball up to the current time. Even though, this will bring up the painful time when baseball had a slow response to performance enhancing drugs, compared to other sports. I am sure he will have some amusing descriptions of the steroid enhanced players going from the typical lanky baseball player to the Incredible Hulk in one to three years.
What will he say about Pete Rose?

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Great History of the Game and the City

A brilliant delightful book. I’m a lifelong New Yorker but I learned a ton about my city. And about baseball. Sad to see it end. I will be giving this book to many people.

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Fascinating History of Baseball and of New York

I saw a favorable review of this book in The New York Times, and because I love baseball history, I decided to purchase this. I was not disappointed. Baker's prose, combined with Ganser's narration, makes a wonderful combination. Several times I laughed at loud at Baker's turn of phrase, and learned something at the same time. Baker takes time to discuss New York City's politics and people, as well as Negro League baseball too. This book is begging for a sequel of post-reintegrated major-league baseball, and I plan to be one of the first in line to purchase it.

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