Customer Reviews

Summer in the City: New York Baseball 1947-1957

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You don't just have to be a fan of New York baseball to enjoy this wonderful photo-filled book showcasing the great Big Apple teams of the late 1940's to the late 1950's. This wonderful book containing superb photographs from the baseball archives of the New York Daily News, is like a mirror through time. The large photos, (dont you just hate small photos in large books), showcase the players, (stars or not), stadiums, but above all action surrounding the great New York teams of 1947-1957 with a small but no less interesting text explaining each one. The most enjoyable thing about the book for me were the full-page sized photos showing all the action in ballparks, some unfortunately no longer with us (Ebberts Field and the Polo Grounds) and the pre-renovated Yankee Stadium. The nuances of these parks with their crazy outfield angles and advertising boards gives us an appreciation of what it was like to play or watch baseball in them back then. The shots of the fans who populated these parks also tells a story, of rabid fan allegience and spirited optimism. Any baseball fan will love this book as part of their collection. There is a brief text opening the selection of photos for each year that may be short but this book let's the photos do the describing. A fabulous book!

There have been numerous books written on New York baseball, but, at least for me, it is the photographs that make this a unique baseball book. I have vivid memories of the World Series of the 1950's, and all except 1959 involved at least one of the teams in New York City. The New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers series were classics, and will always be remembered. I enjoyed the descriptive writing of New York Daily News writer Dick Young. When Duke Snider made a wide turn at 3rd base in coming home, Young wrote, "Duke, who is a poor base-runner for a man of his superior speed, took the scenic route home...He was out by some 20 feet." Many of the photos brought back the names of players and umpires of my youth. The photographs illustrate how small the dugouts were in that era. Fans are predominantly dressed in suit coats, ties, and fedoras. Also of interest are photos of fans leaving the park via the playing field, and photographers near home plate photographing the action. Photographs of Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds show views from above the playing field in addition to close ups of the center field area of the Polo Grounds and the center and right field areas of Ebbets Field with the advertising on the wall are also of interest. I am a fan of the Detroit Tigers, but I will always have precious memories of those historic New York teams in addition to the arenas they played in. The text is nice, but it is the photos that make this book unique.

For those of you who grew up in New York City in the late 1940's and throughout the 1950's, "Summer in the City" will transport you back in time to a place when Baseball was indeed the City Game, and New York City was the home office for that great national pastime. For those of you born after that long-gone era, like myself, this book will serve as an excellent primer on the New York Yankees, the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants, their famous and not-so-famous players and the legendary ballparks they called home. The photos, which comprise the bulk of the book, are more than mere "in-action" photographs of the players. They are for the most part off-beat takes on the action beyond the game, such as a young New Yorker, attempting to gain entry to the ballpark without paying for a ticket, being chased by a member of the New York City Police Department and a Brooklyn Dodgers game at Ebbets Field being "fogged out". These are just a few of the gems you will see in this book. The pictures of the crowds at Yankee Stadium, the Polo Grounds and Ebbetts Field will also give you a window into what baseball was like in the golden era of baseball in New York City. The fans for the most part are dressed in what today we would call business attire, although the expressions on their faces, save for the antiquated hairstyles are timeless. If you are one of those avid baseball fans who still believe that baseball was played in black and white back in the day, well this book is for you. This book serves as a great conversation piece, a wonderful coffee table book, and if you are a teacher, a great introduction to what baseball was like for the grandparents of today's youngest generation. I highly recommend "Summer in the City"!

The seminal book about the Golden Age of Baseball in New York. A must have for any baseball fan. The photograph selection by Claus Guglberger is sublime. I eagerly anticipate another release containing the photographs selected by this gifted photographer.

WHEN A KID, IT WAS ALL YANKS AND DODGERS. I LOVE BASEBALL AND THOUGHT IT WOULD TAKE ME BACK TO WONDERFUL TIMES. WELL, IT DID IN PICTURES BUT LITTLE IN REALLY TELLING THE STORY.