Steinbrenner's Yankees

by Ed Linn

A veteran reporter's account of the New York Yankees baseball team from 1977 to 1981.

Genres: Baseball

Hardcover

First published May 1, 1982

About the author

Edward A. "Ed" Linn (November 14, 1922 - February 7, 2000) was an American sportswriter, author, and biographer who wrote extensively on baseball. During his career, he wrote or co-wrote 17 books, ranging from novels to non-fiction.

He is best known for being the co-author of baseball owner Bill Veeck's three autobiographies: Veeck As in Wreck, The Hustler's Handbook, and Thirty Tons A Day.
-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Ken Heard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ed Linn writes of the Yankees' 1981 World Series run and events that led up to it, focusing mostly on George Steinbrenner's reign. There's his involvement with illegal campaign contributions, his suspension, his battle with baseball commissioners and his constant criticizing managers and players.

There's also moments of the team that show the insanity of playing for the Bronx Zoo... Reggie Jackson and Billy Martin trying to fight in the Boston dugout after Martin pulled Jackson from the outfield after he supposedly lagged after a fly ball, Steinbrenner's sneaky way of dealing with the press and leaking info about players and then saying they did it, etc.

Linn also includes insights into the team and Steinbrenner. The Boss may have been horrid to employees, but he also helped pay for medical expenses for children and helped other employees with financial issues. He is an enigma.

The stories were fine, but I found Linn's writing a bit annoying. It sounded at times like he was talking more than writing and a lot of the stuff was almost second reference. The book is very dated. If you didn't know about the Yankees during that era, you may be lost reading some stories for the first time. Linn would write some sarcastic jest, but again you had to know the context of what he was doing in order to follow.

As a huge baseball history fan, I enjoyed reading this okay. I think Bill Madden's book on Steinbrenner "The Last Lion in Baseball," is a far better read.

[Marshall Merims · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just finished another baseball book. After having read books by many Yankees players of the Steinbrenner era like Lyle, Jackson, Nettles, Martin, Guidry, Hunter, and Munson, I thought it was time to read one about The Boss. This book was named Steinbrenner’s Yankees. He made life miserable for so many people on the team and behind the scenes because he wanted everything perfectly executed and demanded success all the time. No one was boss-ier than this Boss. Here’s a great excerpt from the book during the final months of Reggie Jackson’s Yankees tenure and being stressed out by George. August 17, 1981. Reggie batting against Britt Burns of the White Sox. After being called out on a questionable third strike, Reggie offered his bat to the umpire saying “Here, you take the bat. Maybe you can do better with it.” That gets him thrown out of the game. Doesn’t bother him at all. “Thirty-five more days,” he says, “and I’ll be free (of George).” I dont know if all the turmoil was worth it even though the Yankees had some very successful years under George. I don't think I'll read this book a second time.