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Title: Five OClock Lightning: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and the Greatest Baseball Team in History, The 1927 New York Yankees
ISBN: 0471778125
Author:
Harvey Frommer
Publicate Date: 2007-10-26
Publish: 2007-10-26
List Price: $24.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $9.40
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $7.99
Amazon Merchant Price: $16.47
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| Customer Review: |
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1: A Yankee History Must Have
Say what you will about the Philadelphia Phillies "Wiz Kids", or the old St. Louis "Gas House Gang", the fact remains that this Yankee team of 1927 is probably the greatest baseball team ever to take the field. Five O'clock Lightening" is the story of this Yankee team, the larger than life players from "Murder's Row", such as Ruth and Gehrig, who terrorized the baseball world, and what they accomplished. A great baseball story that I would highly recommend to anyone.
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2: A Solid Three Stars
This is the second book on the New York Yankees entitled Five O'Clock Lightning. The first came out a few years ago and was written by former Yankee Tommy Henrich and Bill Gilbert. This new version on the 1927 Yankees provides us with an introduction to each of the players on the roster including Manager Miller Huggins and batboy Eddie Bennett. We are provided with anecdotes regarding Ruth, Gehrig, Lazzeri, Joe Dugan, Bob Meusel, Urban Shocker, manager Miller Huggins, and others, but if you have done some significant reading on baseball history you will find many of the same stories repeated here. The regular season is covered with more statistics than I care to read about. The World Series against the Pirates follows, but it is hard to jazz up a four game route. To me the best part of the book was the final section regarding what happened in the future to each of those involved. The reader will know about Ruth, Gehrig, and Huggins, but the demise of the remaining members of the team is covered as well. The book is a quick read depending on your background. Writer Damon Runyon's name is misspelled (Runyan) three times on pages 74 and 75. Regarding the 1927 Yankees St. Louis pitcher Milt Gaston is quoted as saying, "There isn't a moment's mental rest for a pitcher against that batting order." It sounds like this also will apply to the 2008 Detroit Tigers. I rate this book a solid three stars. It isn't a classic by any means, and I'm sure it wasn't meant to be.
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3: Most Everything You Want To Know About The 1927 Yankees
The author puts together about as much as anyone might want to know about this great team. From the super stars to those who filled out the roster. He recaps the season as well as most of the individual player accomplishments. He even includes the death dates of those participants as well as excerpts from Babe Ruth's final Will and Testament. A good read for anyone interested in this important aspect of baseball history.
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4: A fresh look at an old favorite
The 1927 New York Yankees assembled perhaps the greatest collection of athletes in history. Frommer, who has made something of a cottage industry out of New York baseball, reaffirms that claim with this latest offering.
The subtitle represents a problem that fans have had for generations. Everyone knows about Ruth, Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri and a handful of other regulars. But a team is made up of 25 players, and Frommer gives them all their due. Using team photos from that year, he gives more than a passing glance at the "spear carriers" who fill out the Yankees' roster.
Frommer reports on the games, as the reader witnesses the Yankees building their reputation as the Bronx Bombers; Ruth's 60 home runs were more than the combined totals of most other teams. But the author makes the players more human, more accessible. Gehrig, for instance, endured a two-week slump towards the end of the regular season because he was so distraught over his ailing mother. But Joe Giard, Paul Krichell and Walter Beall? Not exactly household names but Frommer includes their stories, supplementing their contributions on the field with substantial background material, including their lives in post-baseball retirement and a chronological necrology. Such intimate details are unusual in the rough-and-tumble genre of sports books.
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5: A solid four-bagger
Harvey Frommer brings the 1927 New York Yankees to life in Five O'Clock Lightning. While Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were the stars of the club, readers will learn a lot about the rest of the roster, including little-known players such as Benny Bengough, George Pipgras, Mark Koenig, Wilcy Moore, Mike Gazella and others. Frommer fleshes out the players with information about their backgrounds, personalities and careers.
Commenting on the '27 club, considered by many to be the greatest in baseball history, Yankees pitcher Sam Jones said, "The Yankees were more than a great offensive club. They were the best defensive club in both leagues. That outfield, terrific pitching and a great infield. It was a well balanced club in every way."
Frommer covers the regular season and the World Series with just the right touch, making it a very readable account. Interestingly, he addresses whether the Yankees demoralized the Pirates with their batting exhibition prior to the start of the '27 World Series, which they swept in four straight. That story has been often told, but Frommer presents several dissenting views of what some regard as a myth.
Frommer ends the book by telling what happened to each player after the 1927 season as well as how and when they died.
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