Great Baseball Books

Taking on the Yankees: Winning and Losing in the Game of Baseball
Fetter, Henry
Norton, 2005 (orig. 2003)

The author looks at the storied franchise from its early days, charting the reasons for its success, both on and off the field. He contrasts them with their three great rivals over the 20th century—the Giants, the Dodgers, and the St. Louis Cardinals—and how they competed against the Yankees. While this book covers a greater time period than the Murphy book, it too looks at the Dodgers and Giants leaving New York. A book on the business of baseball and how it evolved over the century, it comes alive because of the focus on the powerful Yankees and its leading rivals.