Now Pitching for the Yankees: Spinning the News for Mickey, Billy, and George [Hardcover]

Martin Appel (Author), Yogi Berra (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2001

For nearly ten years, Marty Appel was part of the New York Yankees’ public relations team, serving as its director from 1974 to 1977. In this book he paints intimate portraits — by turns hilarious and poignant — of the superstars and the benchwarmers of that era, both on and off the field. The lineup of colorful characters includes tempestuous owner George Steinbrenner, managers Casey Stengel and Billy Martin, and future Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, and Reggie Jackson. Appel’s job was to keep the Yankees in the news. And given the team’s high profile, that task was rarely difficult, sometimes disastrous, and often gratifying.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Appel worked for many years in public relations for the Yankees. He also has authored or coauthored 15 books, including Slide, Kelly, Slide (Scarecrow, 1999), a well-received volume on a 19th-century baseball hero. His love of baseball shines through here, and Yankee fans will lap up his humorous stories of Yankee greats and not-so-greats. New York libraries should consider.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Total Sports (May 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1930844182
• ISBN-13: 978-1930844186
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,805,353 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inside the Yankee Front Office, June 26, 2001

By 

Nathan A. Gordon (WESTPORT, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Now Pitching for the Yankees: Spinning the News for Mickey, Billy, and George (Hardcover)

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to work for George Steinbrenner in the front office? Marty Appel had the "pleasure" as the key P.R. guy for a couple of very important years when George "re-entered" baseball and the "new" Yankee stadium opened. I could not put this book down. My only regret is that Marty quit around the early part of 1977 and not 1997. This book is a "must" for anybody who wants to know what goes on when the press is not looking!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read For All Yankee Fans!, June 10, 2001

By 

Eric Paddon (Morristown, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Now Pitching for the Yankees: Spinning the News for Mickey, Billy, and George (Hardcover)

Unlike Maury Allen's disappointing "All Roads To October", which presented itself as a comprehensive overview of the Steinbrenner era but was just a dull, lackluster personal memoir with skimpy rehashings of old info, Marty Appel doesn't pretend to offer us anything more than his own personal memoir of working with the Yankees from 1968 to 1977, where he rose from a college student given the job of handling Mickey Mantle's fan mail, to the demanding position of director of Public Relations. And what a fascinating memoir it is, offering an up-close look at the Yankees from the latter days of the dreary CBS years of the early 70s, through the return to glory in the early years of George Steinbrenner's tumultuous ownership. Appel offers anecdotes that range from the spellbinding (being present when Gabe Paul made his phone call to Bobby Murcer telling him he'd been traded) to the poignant (running after Horace Clarke to say goodbye to him following Clarke's trade, and being the only member of the Yankee organization to so much as say goodbye to the perpetual symbol of 1965-74 Yankees mediocrity) to the comical (Willie Randolph's insistence on wearing #30 when Appel and clubhouse man Pete Sheehy had been trying to keep it unofficially retired after Mel Stottlemyre's release).

This book is a must for all Yankee fans who grew up in the 70s and ranks as a great supplement to Philip Bashe's comprehensive overview of the era "Dog Days." Don't miss this one!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Appel pitches a strike, June 29, 2001

By 

a reader in NY "a reader in NY" (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Now Pitching for the Yankees: Spinning the News for Mickey, Billy, and George (Hardcover)

The best behind the scenes look at the Yankees since Bronx Zoo and Ball Four. Appel is the author of a number of baseball books but this is his best as he goes back to his earlier days to recount the tales of toiling for George and the Yanks. Many stories are brand new here, at least for me, and it is a pleasure for Yankee fans and Yankee haters to recall them. A great beach or bleacher summer read.