Pride of October: What It Was to Be Young and a Yankee

by Bill Madden

In his years of writing about the Yankees for the Daily News, columnist the author has earned the reputation as one of the premier journalists covering the team.

Genres: Baseball, Sports

464 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2003

Reviews

[Jane]

this is my treadmill book

[Gregory Van Den Berg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pride of October: What It Was to Be Young and a Yankee is a book by award-winning New York Daily News columnist Bill Madden. Published in 2003, it offers an intimate history of the New York Yankees through the eyes of the legends who lived it.Key Features of the BookUnique Perspectives: Madden interviews 17 former players and one Yankee widow to capture the "spirit of the pinstripes".Spanning Generations: Stories range from the mystery of Babe Ruth's "called shot" to the heartbreak of the 2001 World Series.Inside Details: Features personal accounts from icons like Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Don Mattingly, and Reggie Jackson.Behind the Scenes: Includes dozens of vintage and contemporary photographs of the players.You should read this book if you want a first-person history of the New York Yankees that feels like sitting in a dugout with legends. Unlike standard biographies, Bill Madden lets the players tell their own stories, making it feel deeply personal and authentic.Why It’s Worth Your TimeThe "Human" Side of Icons: You get to hear Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, and Reggie Jackson explain what it actually felt like to be "young and a Yankee."Myth-Busting Moments: Madden explores legendary debates, such as whether Babe Ruth actually "called his shot" in 1932, using accounts from those who were there.Emotional Range: It covers everything from the sheer joy of the 1950s dynasty to the raw heartbreak of the 2001 World Series following 9/11.Columnist’s Insight: As a Hall of Fame writer, Madden has a "no-nonsense" style that cuts through the PR and gets to the real locker room chemistry (or lack thereof).The "Pinstripe Aura": It explains why the Yankees are both the most loved and most hated team, focusing on the weight of expectation that comes with the uniform.

[Matthew Tessnear · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baseball history has always fascinated me. The sport is essential to the American understanding. To not know baseball is to not know America. And to not know the Yankees is to not know baseball. This book does not feature Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle or Jeter specifically. But it touches deep into Yankee fabric through guys who knew them and played with them, who know baseball and who’ve lived it all in America. I love how each chapter focuses on a living (at the time) Yankee the author interviewed about their Yankee and life story. This is essential sports biographical reading.

[Marc Friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable step back into Yankee baseball history. You'll probably want to be a big baseball fan to read this, and better yet if the Yankees are your team. Which in my case, they are! Brought back lots of memories of seasons when I was a kid growing up in Queens, the home of the Mets, but I was raised a Yankees fan and I can never be more thankful for that. It was hike to get there when I took a bus and then two subways, but it was always well worth it.

Go Bombers!

[Hugh Atkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bill Madden wrote profiles on former Yankee players to get their take on what it meant to be a Yankee. It was good to learn what some of the players did after baseball. But, overall, Madden tends to exaggerate the accomplishments of most of the players and reports very little negative aspects of the organization. For instance, he makes it sound as if the firing of Yogi Berra as manager in 1964 sent the Yankees on a downward spiral. Madden is correct when he notes the spiral, but an aging roster and the Yankees' refusal to sign young black players is what led to their demise. Also, he makes Bobby Murcer out to be the last player with ties to the Yankee teams of Mantle, Ford, Maris, Howard, and Richardson and laments that Murcer came back too late to get in on their championships of the late 70s'. Madden never once mentions Roy White, who was a regular before Murcer, stayed with the Yankees through the lean years, and was on their championship teams of the late '70s. And even though Madden doesn't have a chapter on Derek Jeter, he still manages to waste two pages on the most overrated play in the history of baseball--Jeter's flip of the throw from right field in playoffs. Madden even manages to gloss over Roger Clemens throwing the bat at Mike Piazza in the World Series against the Mets. I'm not a Yankee hater, but man this Madden is quick the nonobjective homer.