Home Book Reviews New York Yankees and the Meaning of Life by Derek Gentile

New York Yankees and the Meaning of Life by Derek Gentile

by Matt Smith

New York Yankees and the Meaning of Life by Derek Gentile (MVP Books, 2009) 400 pages

The New York Yankees: love them or loathe them, you can’t deny their amazing history.  It’s a history full of great players, magical moments and memorable quotes.  All of which is celebrated in this new book by Derek Gentile. 

New York Yankees and the Meaning of Life is a small but thick book that combines photos and quotes in a stylish manner.  On each double-page spread you will find one page taken up in full with a photo and one page with a well-chosen relevant quote accompanied by some explanatory text. 

The book is broken up into broad sections charting different eras in the franchise’s history.  They stretch from the early days of the Highlanders to Ruth and Gehrig, DiMaggio, Casey Stengel, Yogi Berra, Mantle and Maris, the ‘Bronx Zoo’, George Steinbrenner, and the modern era.  Yankee Stadium, the old Yankee Stadium that is, also gets a well-deserved section.

Many of the quotes included will be well-known to baseball fans, but that doesn’t make them any less enjoyable to read.  You can’t help but smile at a classic Yogism like “when you see a fork in the road, take it”, especially when it is set alongside a photo of Yogi riding on a little scooter.  A legendary Stengelism such as “most ballgames are lost, not won” always gets you thinking, while Billy Martin’s infamous description of Reggie Jackson and George Steinbrenner (“one’s a born liar, the other’s convicted”) always causes a chuckle at the very least.

No book containing Yankee quotes could leave out the “luckiest man on the face of the earth” line from Lou Gehrig’s emotional farewell speech.  It’s included here with a poignant photo from that day showing everyone looking on at the Iron Horse with his head slightly bowed, cap tucked under his right arm and hands clasped together. 

The quotes are a good mixture of emotional statements, considered thoughts and funny lines.  Catfish Hunter provides several of the latter, including this wry comment about teammate Reggie Jackson: “He’d give you the shirt off his back.  Of course, he’d call a press conference to announce it”.  Babe Ruth also chimes in with quite a few lines, not least of which is a less than flattering comment about Wrigley Field (“I’d play for half my salary if I could hit in this dump all the time”) which serves as a good excuse for Gentile to mention Ruth’s infamous ‘called shot’ from the 1932 World Series.

Much as the quotes and other text are enjoyable to read, the old adage that a picture tells a thousand stories holds true here.  The photos really bring the book to life. 

A black and white photo of Babe Ruth at the end of a mighty swing, looking serenely up at the ball he has just propelled high into the air, captures the magic of his home run hitting prowess.  The grace of DiMaggio in full flight is shown in a still of him rounding a base, while the awe-inspiring history of the team is conveyed by the sight of Mickey Mantle staring in reverence at the monument honouring the Babe.

Memories come flooding back at the sight of Mariano Rivera on his knees, eyes closed with arms lifted triumphantly in the air.  That moment of pure elation contrasts strongly with the grimace of anger on Roger Clemens’ face, just before he launches a broken piece of Mike Piazza’s bat back at the then-Mets catcher.  The intensity and ferocity of that occasion sweeps through you, knowing the carnage that Clemens’ actions are about to provoke.

And then you flick to good old Catfish, sitting in the Yankee clubhouse blowing a giant bubble and dangling a fishing rod in his hand as if he was preparing to make a catch down by the riverbank instead of preparing for his Yankee debut. 

There are moments of laughter, anger, joy and sadness in the Yankee’s history just as there are in life.  Gentile does a good job of bringing them all together.

New York Yankees and the Meaning of Life is not designed to be a comprehensive history of the Yankees, but it is a great introduction to the franchise for a general baseball fan.  As an enjoyable collection of great photos and quotes, it would also be a well-appreciated present for any Yankee fan.

Have you read “New York Yankees and the Meaning of Life”? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below. Can you recommend any other similar books? If so, let us know.

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1 comment

Joe Cooter April 15, 2009 - 11:32 am

A yes, a lot of memories, a lot of history. And a lot of quotes. Perhaps my favorite Era of the team was when they were known as the Bronx Zoo. It really was a Zoo. Reggie vs. Billy, Billy vs, Goerge vs Reggie, Reggie vs. Thurman and Catfish vs. Sweet Lou. These guys may not have been friends off the field, but when the lights went on and it was time to play the game few teams were better. Perhaps Graig Nettles put it best; “Most boys dream of either playing baseball or jioning the Circus, with the Yankees I get to do both.”

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