The Yankees in the Early 1960s

by William J. Ryczek

This is a history of the New York Yankees over a decade which saw them at the top of the American League and at the bottom. Based upon thorough background research and interviews with over 100 former players, the book covers the major stories of the period as well as some not seen elsewhere. The seventh games of the 1960 and 1962 World Series are described in detail, replete with the remembrances of many of the participants. The infamous Phil Linz harmonica incident, the fruitless search for another Mickey Mantle and the surprising emergence of Mel Stottlemyre are some of the stories that make the early '60s such a fascinating era in Yankee lore.

267 pages, Paperback

First published September 6, 2007

About the author

William J. Ryczek is a finance professional in Wallingford, Connecticut, who writes about early baseball, football, the Yankees, and the Mets.

Reviews

[Judd Vance · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grew up in the 70s a 2nd-generation Yankees fan, but thanks to my father, I did have some knowledge of the 1961 Yankees and certain highlights (Mazeroski and the bottom dropping out in 1965).
I wondered how a team that won 5 pennants dropped so suddenly and now I know.
The book does a good job of covering the flow of the season but the negative is that it goes down way too many side roads, telling the back story of players and managers on other teams that frankly, I don't care about. Maybe if you were from that time you do. I suspect that may be the case and that I am far from the target audience.
But if you want to know about Mantle, Maris, Berra, Howard, Bouton, Ford, Terry, Tresh, Stengal, Richardson, Kubek, Pepitone, Houk and a host of others, it is a good place to start.