Review of "Strangers in the Bronx"

The New York Yankees have not only won the most World Series championships, they also seem to have had the most books written about them.  This one that covers the 1951 season when the torch was passed from Joe DiMaggio to Mickey Mantle is a good one.  

Title/Author:

“Strangers in the Bronx: DiMaggio, Mantle, and the Changing of the Yankee Guard" by Andrew O'Toole

Tags:

Baseball, professional, Yankees, history, championship

Publish date:

June 1, 2015

Length:

304 pages

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

Two of the most legendary players in New York Yankee history played together only one season, 1951. That season was the last one for Joe DiMaggio and the first one for Mickey Mantle.  The stories of their unique issues that season, along with a nice recap of that championship season for New York, is the subject of this book by Andrew O'Toole.

DiMaggio did not come to his decision to retire easily.  He struggled with both that and his play on the field all season and even agreed to join a team that was touring Japan as a favor to his friend Lefty O'Doul.  The inner struggles of DiMaggio were very interesting to read about, as were the adjustments a young Oklahoma kid named Mickey Mantle had to make when he was named to the Yankees out of spring training that season.  His speed, long home runs and overall talent wowed everyone who saw him, but time in New York with the most famous sports team took its toll on the youngster.  These two topics make up a good portion of the book and are the best passages.

There is also significant material on the Yankee team and manager Casey Stengel for that season and while decent reading, it comes across as drier than the material on the main two subjects of the book, especially Mantle.  Readers who are Yankee fans or enjoy reading about Yankee history will enjoy these, especially some of Stengel's more colorful quotes.  The reader does get a good feel for what it was like for the team and the press that wrote about the Yankees regularly.  It was a very enjoyable book and any Yankee fan will want to pick this one up.

Book Format Read:

E-book (Kindle) 

Buying Links:

https://www.amazon.com/Strangers-Bronx-DiMaggio-Mantle-Changing-ebook/dp/B00YLQU9MI/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=