Harvey Frommer / Players Yankees
Havrey's Podcast on CBS Radio Meet Harvey in Person! Fall 2008 Book Tour Reviews of "Remembering Yankee Stadium", published September 1, 2008 See Images and Learn More Buy the book
Sneak previews and extra content:
Remembering
Yankee Stadium: Opening Day 1923
Yankee
Stadium Firsts
Barnstorming
Around America with the 1927 New York Yankees
Remembering
Yankee Stadium: All-Star Games
Roll
out the Barrel: The 1927 Yankees
An
Oral and Narrative History of The House That Ruth Built
Yankee
Stadium Prisms and Sidebars (A Very Partial List)
Yankee
Stadium By The Numbers
Remembering
Yankee Stadium:
Thirties
/
Forties
/
Fifties
/
Sixties
/
Seventies
/
Eighties
/
Nineties
Harvey Frommer on Sports
*Remembering Yankee Stadium: EIGHTIES
(For your reading
pleasure adapted from REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM: AN ORAL AND
NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT, on sale everywhere, buy it
now)
The 1981 World Series was
Yankees versus Dodgers, the third match-up between the two storied franchises
in five years. A 9-2 win at Yankee Stadium in Game Six gave the world
championship to Los Angeles.
KEITH JACKSON (GAME CALL, ABC-TV):
Watson hits it high in the air for the
center fielder
Ken Landreaux, this should do it...and
the Dodgers are the 1981 champions of baseball.
PRESS RELEASE
(BOX)
I want to sincerely apologize to the people of New
York and to the fans of the
New York Yankees everywhere for the performance of the Yankee team in the
World Series. I also want to assure you that we will be at work immediately
to prepare for 1982. George Steinbrenner
FRED
CLAIRE: Steinbrenners apology came in the form of a release
which he passed out after we won the series. I though it was strange. The
Yankees had given all they could to win. There was really no need to apologize
for an all out effort by your team.
The Boss did much more than apologize. He kicked ass and
rolled heads. He demeaned Dave Winfield, who had managed but one hit in 21
at-bats in the Series. Having signed him to a huge contract, Steinbrenner
was furious at "Winny," dubbing him Mr. May, a sarcastic reference
to Winfields peak performance in May and poor performance in the Fall
Classic.
On January 22, 1982,
Reggie Jackson irritated
by Steinbrenner putdowns, signed
as a Free Agent with the
California
Angels.
The commencement of the 1982 season at the Stadium was a hard time
coming and as far as Yankee fans were concerned largely not worth
waiting for. Bob Lemon, who had managed the final 25 games in 1981 last only
through 14 games in 1982.
On April 6th, almost a foot of snow cancelled Opening Day against
Texas and the next game, too. It was April 11th before the ballpark
was finally in shape for playing
baseball. In recognition of
how hard the grounds crew worked to make the field ready, crew chief Jimmy
Esposito was given the honor of throwing out the first ball. The Yankees
lost both games of an Easter Sunday doubleheader to Chicago. But at least
their season was finally underway.
The roster had what Yogi Berra would call deep depth
with a pitching staff featuring
splendid southpaws Ron Guidry, Tommy John, and Dave Righetti. Goose Gossage
was a flame-throwing stopper.
Still, even with all that talent, the Yankees could not get it going.
In June, they were 9 1 /2 games out.
On August 3rd,
the White Sox took two from the Yankees at the Stadium and the Boss
fired Gene Michael, who had replaced Bob Lemon, replacing him with Clyde
King.
All season long Steinbrenner
kept his circus jumping, seeking quick
fixes. Beyond a trio of managers,
he went through a merry-go-round of three hitting coaches, five pitching
coaches, and 47 players. The chaos and the musical chairs did not make for
an environment that suited a winning ball club.
The 1982 Yankees were not
a winning club. They ended the season in fifth place, 16 games behind Milwaukee.
They would not return to post-season play for the next 13 years. From that
season until 1991, with George Steinbrenner having his say and having his
way, the Stadium would become a mix and match of players and
pilots. Highlighting the mayhem
of the era were eleven managerial changes
including the hiring and firing
of Billy Martin six times. They know what the bottom line is,
Steinbrenner said. . . .
Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year
of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including the classics:
"New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball,"
his REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart,
Tabori and Chang) was published September 1, 2008 as well as a reprint version
of his "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball.".
Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and
autographed.
FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million
and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.
# # #
Harvey Frommer "Dartmouth's own Mr. Baseball" Dartmouth Alumni Magazine//
# # #
EMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM (Definitive Book)
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