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The Best Team Money Could Buy
Chronicles the interwoven personal, business, and athletic struggles that created the 1977 Yankees and led to their victory in the World Series
359 pages, Hardcover
First published July 5, 1978
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 11, 2026
Exactly what I want from a sports book. Could read these endlessly
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June 8, 2016This book has mostly been forgotten, but that is a shame. This was written in the wake of the circus that was the 1977 New York Yankees season. They won the World Series for the first time in fifteen years, but they fought amongst themselves the whole way. Manager Billy Martin hated owner George Steinbrenner and new multi-million dollar free agent acquisition Reggie Jackson. Catcher Thurman Munson felt betrayed by Steinbrenner and resented Jackson. Jackson was a hyper-sensitive narcissist, which certainly didn't ingratiate himself to his new teammates. And Steinbrenner was pretty much just plain crazy. It was a drama not to be missed for anyone who enjoys a sports soap opera.
Most people would point to Spark Lyle's The Bronx Zoo as the defining text of the period in Yankee history now mostly named after his book. But Lyle was writing during the the '78 season, and '77 was where are the real action was. Plus Lyle kind of annoys me. Then you've got Jonathan Mahler's recent look back Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Bruning, which is excellent and spawned an ESPN miniseries (haven't watched that yet). But that is a work of cultural history and divides time between the squabbling Yankees and other things going on in New York City that year.
But Jacobson, publishing before the 1978 season, provides a contemporary account with the insight that position provides and also boasts a surprising amount of perspective and reflection on the broader cultural issues and changes represented in all this Yankee drama--the way free agency changed and would continue to change sports, the decline of heroism in sport and in American culture in general, and "the Me decade" phenomenon.
A sports journalist for Long Island's major newspaper, Newsday, Jacobson pulls from both his personal Yankee clubhouse experience as well as giving a nice synopsis of all the tabloid headlines and inflammatory quotes from the city's papers during the course of the season. This is a hidden gem for baseball nerds.
Have I mentioned I'm not a Yankee fan? I'm not.
Most people would point to Spark Lyle's The Bronx Zoo as the defining text of the period in Yankee history now mostly named after his book. But Lyle was writing during the the '78 season, and '77 was where are the real action was. Plus Lyle kind of annoys me. Then you've got Jonathan Mahler's recent look back Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Bruning, which is excellent and spawned an ESPN miniseries (haven't watched that yet). But that is a work of cultural history and divides time between the squabbling Yankees and other things going on in New York City that year.
But Jacobson, publishing before the 1978 season, provides a contemporary account with the insight that position provides and also boasts a surprising amount of perspective and reflection on the broader cultural issues and changes represented in all this Yankee drama--the way free agency changed and would continue to change sports, the decline of heroism in sport and in American culture in general, and "the Me decade" phenomenon.
A sports journalist for Long Island's major newspaper, Newsday, Jacobson pulls from both his personal Yankee clubhouse experience as well as giving a nice synopsis of all the tabloid headlines and inflammatory quotes from the city's papers during the course of the season. This is a hidden gem for baseball nerds.
Have I mentioned I'm not a Yankee fan? I'm not.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews