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Tony Lazzeri: Yankees Legend and Baseball Pioneer
2022 SABR Baseball Research Award
Before there was Joe DiMaggio, there was Tony Lazzeri. A decade before the “Yankee Clipper” began his legendary career in 1936, Lazzeri paved the way for the man who would become the patron saint of Italian American fans and players. He did so by forging his own Hall of Fame career as a key member of the Yankees’ legendary Murderers’ Row lineup between 1926 and 1937, in the process becoming the first major baseball star of Italian descent.
An unwitting pioneer who played his entire career while afflicted with epilepsy, Lazzeri was the first player to hit sixty home runs in organized baseball, one of the first middle infielders in the big leagues to hit with power, and the first Italian player with enough star power to attract a whole new generation of fans to the ballpark.
As a twenty-two-year-old rookie for the New York Yankees, Lazzeri played alongside such legends as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. He immediately emerged as a star, finishing second to Ruth in RBIs and third in home runs in the American League. In his twelve years as the second baseman for Yankee teams that won five World Series, he was their third-most productive hitter, driving in more runs than all but five American Leaguers, and hitting more home runs than all but six.
Yet for all that, today Lazzeri is a largely forgotten figure, his legacy diminished by the passage of time and tarnished by his bases-loaded strikeout to Grover Cleveland Alexander in Game Seven of the 1926 World Series, a strikeout immortalized on Alexander’s Hall of Fame plaque. Tony Lazzeri reveals that quite to the contrary, he was one of the smartest, most talented, and most respected players of his time, the forgotten Yankee who helped the team win six American League pennants and five World Series titles.
Before there was Joe DiMaggio, there was Tony Lazzeri. A decade before the “Yankee Clipper” began his legendary career in 1936, Lazzeri paved the way for the man who would become the patron saint of Italian American fans and players. He did so by forging his own Hall of Fame career as a key member of the Yankees’ legendary Murderers’ Row lineup between 1926 and 1937, in the process becoming the first major baseball star of Italian descent.
An unwitting pioneer who played his entire career while afflicted with epilepsy, Lazzeri was the first player to hit sixty home runs in organized baseball, one of the first middle infielders in the big leagues to hit with power, and the first Italian player with enough star power to attract a whole new generation of fans to the ballpark.
As a twenty-two-year-old rookie for the New York Yankees, Lazzeri played alongside such legends as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. He immediately emerged as a star, finishing second to Ruth in RBIs and third in home runs in the American League. In his twelve years as the second baseman for Yankee teams that won five World Series, he was their third-most productive hitter, driving in more runs than all but five American Leaguers, and hitting more home runs than all but six.
Yet for all that, today Lazzeri is a largely forgotten figure, his legacy diminished by the passage of time and tarnished by his bases-loaded strikeout to Grover Cleveland Alexander in Game Seven of the 1926 World Series, a strikeout immortalized on Alexander’s Hall of Fame plaque. Tony Lazzeri reveals that quite to the contrary, he was one of the smartest, most talented, and most respected players of his time, the forgotten Yankee who helped the team win six American League pennants and five World Series titles.
352 pages, Hardcover
Published April 1, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 14, 2021
When one thinks of the 1927 New York Yankees, the first names that come to mind are Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. However, they were far from the only two fine baseball players on that historic team. One was Tony Lazzeri, whose main claim to fame prior to 1927 came the previous October when he struck out in the World Series against Grover Cleveland Alexander with the bases loaded. Unfortunately, history was not kind to Lazzeri for many years afterward because of that one strikeout but that was eventually corrected and Lazzeri became a member of the baseball Hall of Fame in 1991, 45 years after his untimely death at age 42. Lazzeri's life and career is captured in this book by Lawrence Baldassaro.
The structure is the same basic format as most sports biographies – accounts of Lazzeri's family and his childhood in the hometown. In his case, that is San Francisco. Then it covers his career and important personal events, a detailed account of not only the baseball on the field but also important events and implications off the field and finally his life after baseball. Some parts of this are short, such as the latter because he died soon after his baseball career was over but overall the book is well organized and reads well.
There are two big takeaways from reading this book, especially if the reader knows little about Lazzeri. One is that no matter how good his statistics were (and they were VERY good for an extended period in the 1920's and 1930's) there was always something to overshadow them. If not the strikeout in 1926 mentioned earlier, it would be the success of his teammates like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, or it would be the press coverage that would make slurs of his Italian heritage. At the time, as Baldassaro reminds the reader, slurs like "dago" and "wop" were common in putting down Italians.
However, the second big takeaway from the book is that despite this negative press, Lazzeri's success was an inspiration to Italian-Americans and gave them a baseball hero they could look up to, follow in the newspaper or in the stands and point out with pride that he was one of theirs. Lazzeri never shied away from this, despite being mostly private. While he was considered an excellent teammate by those he played with, he always preferred to keep his personal life private, something that wasn't always successful.
Despite all of this, many do agree, then and now, that Lazzeri deserves his place in baseball history both for his representation of his ethnicity and his performance on the field. Even though he did not complete his career as a Yankee, playing briefly for the Cubs, Giants and the minor league Toronto Maple Leafs before ending his playing days, he is considered to be one of the all time Yankee greats. After reading this book, the reader will understand why that is the case.
I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
The structure is the same basic format as most sports biographies – accounts of Lazzeri's family and his childhood in the hometown. In his case, that is San Francisco. Then it covers his career and important personal events, a detailed account of not only the baseball on the field but also important events and implications off the field and finally his life after baseball. Some parts of this are short, such as the latter because he died soon after his baseball career was over but overall the book is well organized and reads well.
There are two big takeaways from reading this book, especially if the reader knows little about Lazzeri. One is that no matter how good his statistics were (and they were VERY good for an extended period in the 1920's and 1930's) there was always something to overshadow them. If not the strikeout in 1926 mentioned earlier, it would be the success of his teammates like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, or it would be the press coverage that would make slurs of his Italian heritage. At the time, as Baldassaro reminds the reader, slurs like "dago" and "wop" were common in putting down Italians.
However, the second big takeaway from the book is that despite this negative press, Lazzeri's success was an inspiration to Italian-Americans and gave them a baseball hero they could look up to, follow in the newspaper or in the stands and point out with pride that he was one of theirs. Lazzeri never shied away from this, despite being mostly private. While he was considered an excellent teammate by those he played with, he always preferred to keep his personal life private, something that wasn't always successful.
Despite all of this, many do agree, then and now, that Lazzeri deserves his place in baseball history both for his representation of his ethnicity and his performance on the field. Even though he did not complete his career as a Yankee, playing briefly for the Cubs, Giants and the minor league Toronto Maple Leafs before ending his playing days, he is considered to be one of the all time Yankee greats. After reading this book, the reader will understand why that is the case.
I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
September 24, 2021
I have always wanted to learn more about Tony Lazzeri, and Mr. Baldasssaro does a very good job giving the reader insight into the man. Considering that "Push em up Tone" only lived forty-two years, there is still plenty of information to infer that Antonio was a Hall of Fame man as well as a player. Lazzeri was the bridge between two great Yankee dynasties: Murderer's Row, and the DiMaggio championships. There are some very good examples of Lazzer's prankster-side(loved the post Yankee trip with Pete Reiser to Yankee spring training)) as well as the more well known serious and leadership roles that Lazzeri assumed at such a young age of twenty-two. Because Tony was quiet with the press and with the public, I was very impressed with how the author pieced together the puzzles to his off years, the contract disputes, the reluctance of major league clubs to hire him as a manager, etc. Tony overcame many obstacles in life and became the first Italian baseball hero of America. The biggest obstacle may very well have been his epilepsy. One recalls the secret of Ron Santo and his diabetes, and his constant battle to play ball with that infirmity. One can only imagine the courage, tenacity, and guts of Lazzeri in playing with the stress of epilepsy throughout his career. He was beloved by fans, teammates, and admired by opponents. He may have lived a short life, but he was a role model for so many, especially Italian Americans. I was very touched by this book.
April 20, 2021
Since so little is known about Lazzeri's life away from baseball, this book is really "Lazzeri by the numbers", packed with statistics and game anecdotes ... still, it is a fond reflection on the greatness of the early Yankees and the skills of the early ballplayers like Lazzeri ... the book is a diamond in the rough, revealing things about baseball, society and Lazzeri's mostly-overlooked major league achievements that have been lost to time
June 29, 2023
Loved this book. He was truly a hero. Not only for his baseball prowess but also for his patience, leadership, personality, endurance. I love reading stories about these baseball pioneers. Shocked he didn’t make it in the Hall of Fame during his eligibility via the normal route, but I get some of the reasons the author gives. Really glad that he’s made it now. Wonder if there’s a similar path for Dale Murphy? Kind of makes you wonder if there would have been as successful a Joe DiMaggio if it weren’t for Lazzeri. I was also intrigued by his Salt Lake days, and the home run record season pre-Babe Ruth. And how he proved his detractors wrong by parlaying his PCL success into success at the major league level. Impressed by his ability to not be too good for an ending to his career at levels below his prime. Player-managing in the minors with teams of much less ability than his Yankee years, he showed integrity and love of the game. Author put a lot of emphasis on the potential impacts of his epilepsy on his career without much to show for it. But you wonder how much impact that may have had. At the height of his career, he must have been an incredible infielder alongside Crossetti at short. And super impressed at how there’s so much more to remember about him than his strikeout in the 1926 World Series to Grover Cleveland Alexander and how he quietly made his case. But he could still laugh at the situation and relive it for the fans’ entertainment. Ironic that his plaque is so near Alexander’s at the hall of fame, where Alexander’s references the moment heavily. Can’t believe the two grand slam game, 11 RBI AL record that still stands.
Highlights:
1. 85; In his sophomore season, Lazzeri got almost as much attention for his defense as he did for his hitting. He made early headlines by opening the season with his twenty-one-game errorless streak. After the streak ended on May 9, he was quoted as saying: “That run of perfect fielding was beginning to get on my nerves. It isn’t human to play errorless baseball, and I’m a human being.”
2. Look up Carl Hubbell
3. 257; “Funny thing,” he said, “but nobody seems to remember much about my ball playing, except that strikeout. There isn’t a night goes by but what some guy leans across the bar, or comes up behind me, at a table in this joint, and brings up the old question. Never a night. Nobody ever remembers that two years later, under the same circumstances, the same Alexander, same Lazzeri, same bases filled, I cleaned the sacks with a double. I never can get anybody to remember the 1937 series, either. We were playing the Giants, you, know, and I came up with the bases filled. Terry brought in Dick Coffman to pitch to me and I put one in the stands in right center at the Polo Grounds. I got a wire that night from Elmer Smith, the old Cleveland outfielder who’s the only other guy who ever did that in a series. Still got it…But nobody wants to see it, I guess. All they want to talk about is that dam’ time I struck out.”
4. 258; Nor did he hesitate to recount his historic World Series strikeout. “In hospital tours with this writer during the war,” Grieve wrote, “the modest and unabashed Lazzeri proved tremendously popular when he provided the war wounded with a pitch by pitch account of his darkest moment.”
5. Look up Cesare Rinetti (SLC restauranteur who was close to Tony) - burial/life in SLC?
6. 268; “It was Lazzeri’s misfortune that although he was as great a player as ever lived, the most vivid memory he left in most minds concerned the day he failed.” Lazzeri “was the man who made the crowds”-a reference to the new fans who flocked to see him play—“and who made them roar.” Recalling the time the New York writers chose Lazzeri as the “Player of the Year” in 1936, Smith succinctly summed up all the qualities that he brought to the game: “They could just as well have made it ‘Player of the Years,’ for in all his time with the Yankees there was no one whose hitting and fielding and hustle and fire and brilliantly swift thinking meant more to any team.”
7. 269; White Sox manager Jimmy Dykes understood that Lazzeri, even at the end of his career, brought valuable intangible assets to the Yankees: “He was the brains of the ball club. Whenever some pitcher got into a jam, whenever Catcher Bill Dickey was undecided what to call for, or whenever the outfielders needed directions on where to play for a certain hitter-they went to Lazzeri. He was the dynamo that ran that club.”
8. Look up Maye Lazzeri acceptance speech at hall of fame, 21 Jul 1991
9. 275; Like most children of immigrants, Lazzeri lived a dual existence. At home he was immersed in the Old World culture of his parents, but on the playgrounds and in school he was exposed to a very different way of life by teachers, by more assimilated playmates, and by textbooks that depicted a distinctly American way of life. At that time baseball was such a significant cultural institution that it became a metaphor for the melting pot, a living textbook to help newcomers assimilate. In 1923 Frederick Lieb, president of the BBWAA, wrote that other than the schoolhouse, “there has been no greater agency in bringing our races together than our national game, baseball.”
10. 275; John Thorn, who came to America as an immigrant child born to Holocaust survivors and went on to become the official historian of Major League Baseball, knew what it was like to feel different: “As an immigrant boy myself, I wished for nothing more fervently than to be one of the gang. Baseball eased the transition, permitting me to be that contradiction in terms describing each member of an American minority: the same but different. As a game emphasizing individual accomplishment within the context of unified effort, baseball offered a model of how one might become part of the team…how an outsider might be an American.”
9-10 offer a nice insight into how we could help our immigrant struggles even in 2023.
Highlights:
1. 85; In his sophomore season, Lazzeri got almost as much attention for his defense as he did for his hitting. He made early headlines by opening the season with his twenty-one-game errorless streak. After the streak ended on May 9, he was quoted as saying: “That run of perfect fielding was beginning to get on my nerves. It isn’t human to play errorless baseball, and I’m a human being.”
2. Look up Carl Hubbell
3. 257; “Funny thing,” he said, “but nobody seems to remember much about my ball playing, except that strikeout. There isn’t a night goes by but what some guy leans across the bar, or comes up behind me, at a table in this joint, and brings up the old question. Never a night. Nobody ever remembers that two years later, under the same circumstances, the same Alexander, same Lazzeri, same bases filled, I cleaned the sacks with a double. I never can get anybody to remember the 1937 series, either. We were playing the Giants, you, know, and I came up with the bases filled. Terry brought in Dick Coffman to pitch to me and I put one in the stands in right center at the Polo Grounds. I got a wire that night from Elmer Smith, the old Cleveland outfielder who’s the only other guy who ever did that in a series. Still got it…But nobody wants to see it, I guess. All they want to talk about is that dam’ time I struck out.”
4. 258; Nor did he hesitate to recount his historic World Series strikeout. “In hospital tours with this writer during the war,” Grieve wrote, “the modest and unabashed Lazzeri proved tremendously popular when he provided the war wounded with a pitch by pitch account of his darkest moment.”
5. Look up Cesare Rinetti (SLC restauranteur who was close to Tony) - burial/life in SLC?
6. 268; “It was Lazzeri’s misfortune that although he was as great a player as ever lived, the most vivid memory he left in most minds concerned the day he failed.” Lazzeri “was the man who made the crowds”-a reference to the new fans who flocked to see him play—“and who made them roar.” Recalling the time the New York writers chose Lazzeri as the “Player of the Year” in 1936, Smith succinctly summed up all the qualities that he brought to the game: “They could just as well have made it ‘Player of the Years,’ for in all his time with the Yankees there was no one whose hitting and fielding and hustle and fire and brilliantly swift thinking meant more to any team.”
7. 269; White Sox manager Jimmy Dykes understood that Lazzeri, even at the end of his career, brought valuable intangible assets to the Yankees: “He was the brains of the ball club. Whenever some pitcher got into a jam, whenever Catcher Bill Dickey was undecided what to call for, or whenever the outfielders needed directions on where to play for a certain hitter-they went to Lazzeri. He was the dynamo that ran that club.”
8. Look up Maye Lazzeri acceptance speech at hall of fame, 21 Jul 1991
9. 275; Like most children of immigrants, Lazzeri lived a dual existence. At home he was immersed in the Old World culture of his parents, but on the playgrounds and in school he was exposed to a very different way of life by teachers, by more assimilated playmates, and by textbooks that depicted a distinctly American way of life. At that time baseball was such a significant cultural institution that it became a metaphor for the melting pot, a living textbook to help newcomers assimilate. In 1923 Frederick Lieb, president of the BBWAA, wrote that other than the schoolhouse, “there has been no greater agency in bringing our races together than our national game, baseball.”
10. 275; John Thorn, who came to America as an immigrant child born to Holocaust survivors and went on to become the official historian of Major League Baseball, knew what it was like to feel different: “As an immigrant boy myself, I wished for nothing more fervently than to be one of the gang. Baseball eased the transition, permitting me to be that contradiction in terms describing each member of an American minority: the same but different. As a game emphasizing individual accomplishment within the context of unified effort, baseball offered a model of how one might become part of the team…how an outsider might be an American.”
9-10 offer a nice insight into how we could help our immigrant struggles even in 2023.
October 21, 2021
Tony Lazzeri was a Hall of Fame second baseman, who starred for the Yankees in the 1920's and 1930's.He is not well-known to us today. Baldassaro's book is especially good in pointing out Lazzeri's contribution as an Italian-American baseball pioneer. I really enjoyed reading about baseball in San Francisco and the Pacific Coast league in the 1920;s,
November 29, 2021
Solid, if at times repetitive story of a forgotten star who died young. Most interesting was the constant quoting of sportswriters whose obsession with Lazzeri's Italian heritage pushed them to use language that today would be considered racist. Also interesting was the speculation of Lazzeri's epilepsy and whether or not it (and its treatment) held him back and killed him.
April 8, 2023
Never knew about him
He was I think one of the underappreciated players of his era. He could slug ferociously as one of the best second baseman of the first half of the 20th century. The sad fact that he died so young probably cost him an earlier time at Cooperstown than when he went in (1991).
He was I think one of the underappreciated players of his era. He could slug ferociously as one of the best second baseman of the first half of the 20th century. The sad fact that he died so young probably cost him an earlier time at Cooperstown than when he went in (1991).
April 23, 2021
Great book about a member of the New York Yankees. Highly recommend.
June 28, 2021
Excellent...
April 20, 2022
Lawrence Baldassaro's biography of Tony Lazzeri, entitled "Tony Lazzeri: Yankees Legend and Baseball Pioneer" is a well researched and well written biograpy of a hall of fame baseball player who was one of the first Italian Americans to play for the Yankees. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Ed Abbaticchio, in 1887, was probably the first Italian American to play in the big leagues.
The book chronicles Lazzeri's formative years in San Francisco, his minor league career, his adjustment to the major leagues and his major league career. Information about his friendships with Yankee teammates is also present in the book. The book informs the reader about some of the Yankee teams from the 1920's, one of the best eras in the history of the team.
Lazzeri had good character, spent time with his family and was a true leader for the Yankees during this time period. Additionally, Lazzeri, like Babe Ruth, was an avid golfer who promoted the sport. He was also a member of different Italian clubs.
At age 18, Lazzeri played mnor league baseball for the Salt Lake City Bees. He actually hit 60 home runs one season in the minor leagues. He was the youngest player on the team.
As a rookie with the Yankees in 1926, Lazzeri played in 155 games. He was composed, confident and had a successful debut. Lazzeri had 18 home runs in his rookie season. The author points out that Lazzeri began his big league career in the "roaring 20's" a time of predjudice towards ethnic minorities and a time of social change.
Lazzeri played for the Chicago Cubs in 1938 and then played for the Brooklyn Dodges and New York Giants in 1939 before he retired. He played third base with the Giants. After his career was over, Lazzeri managed in the minor leagues.
One gets a good understanding of Lazzeri's personaliy and Italian American heritage as one reads the book. It was not easy for Italian Americans to gain acceptance in American culture or big league baseball at this time. Some Italian players changed the spelling of their name presumably to avoid dealing with ethnic predjudice. However, Lazzeri never changed the spellling or the pronunciation of his name.
Lazzeri struggled with epilepsy. However, he did not let it detour him during his major league career. The book points out that he played before large crowds and dealt well with the anxiety of playing before crowds. He courageoulsy battled his epilepsy.
I would recommend this book for anyone who is interested in the history of major league baseball or the New York Yankees. I would also recommend this book for someone who is interested in the history of Italian Americans.
The book chronicles Lazzeri's formative years in San Francisco, his minor league career, his adjustment to the major leagues and his major league career. Information about his friendships with Yankee teammates is also present in the book. The book informs the reader about some of the Yankee teams from the 1920's, one of the best eras in the history of the team.
Lazzeri had good character, spent time with his family and was a true leader for the Yankees during this time period. Additionally, Lazzeri, like Babe Ruth, was an avid golfer who promoted the sport. He was also a member of different Italian clubs.
At age 18, Lazzeri played mnor league baseball for the Salt Lake City Bees. He actually hit 60 home runs one season in the minor leagues. He was the youngest player on the team.
As a rookie with the Yankees in 1926, Lazzeri played in 155 games. He was composed, confident and had a successful debut. Lazzeri had 18 home runs in his rookie season. The author points out that Lazzeri began his big league career in the "roaring 20's" a time of predjudice towards ethnic minorities and a time of social change.
Lazzeri played for the Chicago Cubs in 1938 and then played for the Brooklyn Dodges and New York Giants in 1939 before he retired. He played third base with the Giants. After his career was over, Lazzeri managed in the minor leagues.
One gets a good understanding of Lazzeri's personaliy and Italian American heritage as one reads the book. It was not easy for Italian Americans to gain acceptance in American culture or big league baseball at this time. Some Italian players changed the spelling of their name presumably to avoid dealing with ethnic predjudice. However, Lazzeri never changed the spellling or the pronunciation of his name.
Lazzeri struggled with epilepsy. However, he did not let it detour him during his major league career. The book points out that he played before large crowds and dealt well with the anxiety of playing before crowds. He courageoulsy battled his epilepsy.
I would recommend this book for anyone who is interested in the history of major league baseball or the New York Yankees. I would also recommend this book for someone who is interested in the history of Italian Americans.
July 26, 2021
Great authors write history in a way that makes it seem like a novel. Lawrence Baldassaro does this in his great book. Tony Lazzeri: Yankees Legend and Baseball Pioneer is an outstanding read. I recommend this book highly. It is outstanding and will prove to be one of the definitive texts on the Yankees of this era.
OUTSTANDING! 5-Stars (out of 5)!
You can read my entire review here: https://startspreadingthenews.blog/st...
OUTSTANDING! 5-Stars (out of 5)!
You can read my entire review here: https://startspreadingthenews.blog/st...
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews