When Baseball was King The New York Yankees were King of Baseball

When Baseball Was King, The New York Yankees Were Kings of Baseball by Dr. Len Bergantino is the full recounted story of the popular sport and its greatest players. From baseball’s history to its player’s stats and respective journeys throughout their careers. And while the main focus is the New York Yankees, there is also mention of other great teams and their players.

The peculiarity of this book is that it’s visually graphic. It includes texts and images from other sources such as magazines and newspapers. This adds a unique touch to back up the author’s quotes and citations. However, at times it seems like the author simply copied and pasted the pages of the books he thought relevant without summarizing and citing the information correctly. The book is fifty-three pages, almost a third of these being scans or excerpts from other books.

The story is narrated through Dr. Bergantino’s point of view as he discovers baseball and dives further deeper into its history and greatest stars. He tells the story of how his father introduced him to the sport and how he then fell in love with it; this gives it a nostalgic touch that I’m sure old baseball fans will very much appreciate.

While this book is non-fiction and primarily informative, having a “character” narrate gives it a storylike quality that makes it more enjoyable and feels less of an educational text and more like something to read for fun. This book gives readers a general insight into the sport and exciting facts about the most prominent players. It’s perfect for any baseball fans or as an introduction for anyone looking to get into the sport. It’s short and easy to read and quickly captivates the reader’s attention.

When Baseball Was King, The New York Yankees Were Kings of Baseball is an exciting historical look at the game with illuminating facts and entertaining stories.

- Literary Titan Review

When Baseball was King The New York Yankees were King of Baseball recounts some of the greatest baseball players ever. Author Dr. Len Bergantino is able to recount many of their stats, from how fast pitchers could throw and how fast the greatest players could hit! From Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and Jackie Robinsons, we get to read about how great each player was. While mostly discussing great Yankee players, Dr. Bergantino also discusses some of the other great players from other teams, such as the Cleveland Indians and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

I enjoyed reading about some of baseball’s greatest players in this enlightening book. The author is correct about baseball not being such a loved sport anymore. Most people seem to enjoy football now. While I have personally heard about most of the players mentioned, I didn’t know their stats. Reading about the batting averages from back then compared to the players now was eye-opening. It makes me wonder what has changed in the players between then and now.

I enjoyed reading the letters that Dr. Bergantino wrote to Carl Erskine. It was nice to see that Mr. Erskine replied to his letters as well. He even sent a copy of his book. While he originally disliked Carl Erskine because he was a great pitcher for the Dodgers, he realized he did like him in the end because he was such a great player.

There are scans of other books that Dr. Len Bergantino wrote inside this book. There are excerpts from those books as well. They are printed multiple times as well leaving the actual story to be about 45 pages. The rest is from the other books.

This is an illuminating book that conjures a nostalgic feeling while providing readers with interesting facts about great baseball players. I enjoyed this story, especially when the author talked about watching baseball as a kid. This is a great read for any fan of the New York Yankees and anyone interested in baseball history.

- Literary Titan Review