The New York Game

Baseball and the Rise of a New City

By: Kevin Baker

Narrated by: L.J. Ganser

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • Sports Illustrated #1 Book of 2024 • A hugely entertaining history of baseball and New York City, bursting with larger-than-life figures and fascinating stories from the game’s beginnings to the end of World War II.

"You’re going to beg for extra innings. Without missing a scandal or a sensation, with an eye on how assimilation transforms the picture, Kevin Baker has written a buoyant, double coming-of-age story. "—Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize-winning author

Baseball is “the New York game” because New York is where the diamond was first laid out, where the bunt and the curveball were invented, and where the home run was hit. It’s where the game’s first stars were born, and where everyone came to play or watch the game. With nuance and depth, historian Kevin Baker brings this all vividly back to life: the still-controversial, indelible moments—Did the Babe call his shot? Was Merkle out? Did they fix the 1919 World Series? Here are all the legendary players, managers, and owners, in all their vivid, complicated humanity, on and off the field.

In Baker’s hands the city and the game emerge from the murk of nineteenth-century American life—driven by visionaries and fixers, heroes and gangsters. He details how New York and its favorite sport came to mirror one another, expanding, bumbling through catastrophe and corruption, and rising out of these trials stronger than ever.

From the first innings played in vacant lots and tavern yards in the 1820s; to the canny innovations that created the very first sports league; to the superb Hispanic and Black players who invented their own version of the game when white baseball sought to exclude them. And all amidst New York’s own, incredible evolution from a raw, riotous town to a new world city. The New York Game is a riveting, rollicking, brilliant ode to America’s beloved pastime and to its indomitable city of origin.

Magnificent

What a magnificient listen this was.

A great baseball book and a great history of New York form the 1870's to the 1940's. I cant recommend this more hightly.

Sure.. Baseball… but so much more!

This book was an absolute delight to surrender to. A sweeping history of not just baseball in NY through WWII, but of the city and its people. LJ Ganser’s narration captured the sense of the times perfectly… he passed my test of listening at 1.0 speed and maintaining the proper tempo. A must listen for baseball fans and for those of us who hanker for simpler times!

Places baseball in historical context

Wonderful interweaving of baseball history within context of NYC and U.S. history. Great story and analysis.

The great writing. The facts, humor and descriptions are fantastic!

All great listening including the reader's voice and pronunciations. Loved this book! The way the facts combined with humor and great descriptions.

Baseball, Broads, and Badasses

This book was amazing. The best baseball book I’ve ever read. It’s well written and the narration is superb. It filled with interesting details about the players and teams of New York baseball. If you are a fan of baseball history this is an absolute must read.