Marty Appel

Like it says, it's a life-and-times centered around the career of baseball's first superstar, Mike 'King' Kelly, from the 1880's. This is a friendly book, written in a breezy, occasionally flippant, style. Given that documentation on Kelly's life is sparse, the book basically boils down to a narrative of baseball in the eighties viewed through the prism of the teams Kelly was on in any given year. The missing links, even ones so obvious as the fate of his widow and the gender of his child, show more are extremely frustrating. The book is nonetheless overdue and seems to have been thoroughly researched, especially in the newspapers of the day. show less

I normally don’t read many nonfiction books but this one is an exception. Casey Stengel was a tough solid ball player but it was as a manager that he
truly excelled. It was with the NewYork Yankees and their 5 consecutive World Series cha,pionships that put him e record books as well as enshrinement into baseballs hall of fame in Cooperstown. Marty Appel, Yankees historian and former director of public relations, is an excellent writer and this is a wonderful narrative of a unique and well show more loved baseball character. show less

Appel did a good job here. Not a great deal of new info—this isn't a history book, most of the sources are secondary, making this more of a summary of other peoples' work. However, there is enough new material from his own interviews and private discussions over his years working for the Yankees to make it at least a little enlightening. Written in a very straightforward, although occasionally apologetic, manner. Definitely worth reading for the Yankee fan.

It's been some time since I read this, but I remember enjoying it immensely. I saw Casey Stengel as a manager of the Yankees and later the Mets when I was growing up and he seemed magic then, still does. What a character