Dog Days

How did the New York Yankees, home to so many legends such as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, go from dominating "America's pastime" from 1921-1964 to falling into last place in 1966? Author Philip Bashe shares his unique take on the abrupt collapse of the Yankees' dynasty and the team's decade-long climb back to the top. Mickey Mantle's retiring in '69 and Roger Maris's serious injuries left the Yankees' dugout "devoid of a single superstar" for the first time in decades. Management's inability to replace this outgoing talent perpetuated the drought that would plague the Yankees for the next 11 years. Poor handling of the team's few remarkable talents, unfortunate trades, and leadership shortcomings kept the Yankees anchored in failure.

But there's more to it than that. Bashe looks at the dog days of the Yankees in a wider social context of 1960's America, giving a refreshing texture and depth to this period of sports history. Yankee haters will revel in the recounting of the team's epic slump, and Yankee fans will get a better understanding of their team's history, and rejoice in their dramatic return to glory in the '76 pennant race.

Readers interested in related titles from Philip Bashe or Greg McDonald will also want to see: Heavy Metal Thunder (ISBN: 162654882X).

Dog Days recounts a tumultuous period of Yankee's baseball history when the legendary team plummeted from first to last place in the span of a few years. Philip Bashe attributes the crash of the franchise to mismanagement, loss of key players, a shrinking talent pool, and trends that favored newer teams over the "establishment" Yankees.
Philip Bashe is the author or coauthor of eighteen books and has edited many hundreds more. A former magazine editor and radio announcer whose work has appeared in the New York Times Book Review, the Buffalo Evening News, Reader's Digest, Parade magazine, Billboard, and other publications, Bashe lives with his wife, author Patty Romanowski Bashe, and son, Justin, in Baldwin, New York.