Before the feuding owners turned to Ed Barrow to be general manager in 1920, the Yankees had never won a pennant. They won their first in 1921 and during Barrow’s tenure went on to win thirteen more as well as ten World Series. This biography of the incomparable Barrow is also the story of how he built the most successful sports franchise in American history. Barrow spent fifty years in baseball. He was in the middle of virtually every major conflict and held practically every job except player. Daniel R. Levitt describes Barrow's pre-Yankees years, when he managed Babe Ruth and the Boston Red Sox to their last World Series Championship before the “curse.” He then details how Barrow assembled a winning Yankees team both by purchasing players outright and by developing talent through a farm system. The story of the making of the great Yankees dynasty reveals Barrow’s genius for organizing, for recognizing baseball talent, and for exploiting the existing economic environment. Because Barrow was a player in so many of baseball’s key events, his biography gives a clear and eye-opening picture of how America’s sport was played in the twentieth century, on the field and off. A complex portrait of a larger-than-life character in the annals of baseball, this book is also an inside history of how the sport’s competitive environment evolved and how the Yankees came to dominate it.

Ed Barrow: The Bulldog Who Built the Yankees' First Dynasty

Levitt, Daniel R.

Biographies & Memoirs

University Of Nebraska Press

Before the feuding owners turned to Ed Barrow to be general manager in 1920, the Yankees had never won a pennant. They won their first in 1921 and during Barrow’s tenure went on to win thirteen more as well as ten World Series. This biography of the incomparable Barrow is also the story of how he built the most successful sports franchise in American history. Barrow spent fifty years in baseball. He was in the middle of virtually every major conflict and held practically every job except player. Daniel R. Levitt describes Barrow’s pre-Yankees years, when he managed Babe Ruth and the Boston Red Sox to their last World Series Championship before the “curse.” He then details how Barrow assembled a winning Yankees team both by purchasing players outright and by developing talent through a farm system. The story of the making of the great Yankees dynasty reveals Barrow’s genius for organizing, for recognizing baseball talent, and for exploiting the existing economic environment. Because Barrow was a player in so many of baseball’s key events, his biography gives a clear and eye-opening picture of how America’s sport was played in the twentieth century, on the field and off. A complex portrait of a larger-than-life character in the annals of baseball, this book is also an inside history of how the sport’s competitive environment evolved and how the Yankees came to dominate it.

Bison Books

In Pursuit of Pennants: Baseball Operations from Deadball to Moneyball

The 1936 Yankees, the 1963 Dodgers, the 1975 Reds, the 2010 Giants—why do some baseball teams win while others don’t?
General managers and fans alike have pondered this most important of baseball questions. The Moneyball strategy is not the first example of how new ideas and innovative management have transformed the way teams are assembled. In Pursuit of Pennants examines and analyzes a number of compelling, winning baseball teams over the past hundred-plus years, focusing on their decision making and how they assembled their championship teams.
Whether through scouting, integration, instruction, expansion, free agency, or modernizing their management structure, each winning team and each era had its own version of Moneyball, where front office decisions often made the difference. Mark L. Armour and Daniel R. Levitt show how these teams succeeded and how they relied on talent both on the field and in the front office. While there is no recipe for guaranteed success in a competitive, ever-changing environment, these teams demonstrate how creatively thinking about one’s circumstances can often lead to a competitive advantage.
Purchase the audio edition.

Business & Money

Armour, Mark

Industries

The 1936 Yankees, the 1963 Dodgers, the 1975 Reds, the 2010 Giants—why do some baseball teams win while others don’t? General managers and fans alike have pondered this most important of baseball questions. The Moneyball strategy is not the first example of how new ideas and innovative management have transformed the way teams are assembled. In Pursuit of Pennants examines and analyzes a number of compelling, winning baseball teams over the past hundred-plus years, focusing on their decision making and how they assembled their championship teams. Whether through scouting, integration, instruction, expansion, free agency, or modernizing management structure, each winning team and each era had its own version of Moneyball, where front-office decisions often made the difference. Mark L. Armour and Daniel R. Levitt show how these teams succeeded by relying on talent both on the field and in the front office. While success is never guaranteed in a competitive, ever-changing environment, these teams demonstrate how creatively thinking about one’s circumstances can often lead to a competitive advantage. This paperback edition includes an epilogue and a list of the top thirty general managers of all time.

Looks at the formation of championship baseball teams, identifying what factors contributed to their success, along with reasons some teams have failed.

Paths to Glory: How Great Baseball Teams Got That Way

Sports & Outdoors

Armour, Mark L.

Baseball

Potomac Books Inc.

An essential experience of being a baseball fan is the hopeful anticipation of seeing the hometown nine make a run at winning the World Series. In Paths to Glory, Mark L. Armour and Daniel R. Levitt review how teams build themselves up into winners. What makes a winning team like the 1900 Brooklyn Superbas or the 1917 White Sox or the 1997 Florida Marlins? And how are these teams different? What makes each championship team a unique product of its time? Armour and Levitt provide the historical context to show how the sport's business side has changed dramatically but its competitive environment remains the same. Utilizing new statistics to evaluate a player’s value and career patterns, Armour and Levitt explore the teams that took risks, created their own opportunities, and changed the game. How did the Washington Senators achieve the unthinkable and blow past Babe Ruth’s Yankees in 1924 and 1925? How did the 1965 Minnesota Twins quickly rise to the top and why did they just as suddenly fall? Did Charlie Finley assemble the last old-fashioned championship team before free agency, or was the Moustache Gang another example of winning by building from within? Why did the star-laden Red Sox of the 1930s keep falling short? In exploring these teams and more, Armour and Levitt analyze the players, the managers, and the executives who built teams to win and then lived with the consequences.

POTOMAC BOOKS

The Federal League formed in 1913 as an “outlaw league” in six cities across the Midwest. In 1914 it added two teams and declared itself a major league. The league’s owners “stole” players from the two existing major leagues and put teams in some of the same cities. Both the American and National Leagues struck back. After the 1915 season, with several Federal League teams struggling financially, the two more-established leagues bought out several teams. This caused the collapse of the Federal League.The impact of the Federal League on baseball is still felt today. The league filed one of the first antitrust lawsuits against Organized Baseball. The case ended up in the court of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who looms large in baseball history. Although that case was settled, a later lawsuit went all the way to the Supreme Court. The Court decided that baseball is entertainment and thus not subject to antitrust law. This decision has had a wide-ranging effect on the business of baseball. For a physical reminder of the Federal League, one can still see the ballpark built for the Chicago Whales, now known as Wrigley Field.This book contains biographies of a number of the key players and executives, and game accounts of some of the most interesting games during the league’s brief existence. The book represents the collaborative work of many SABR members. The enthusiasm for this book on the Federal League was so great that 54 members quickly signed up to make the book a reality. BIOGRAPHIESSelected ExecutivesJames A. Gilmore by Dan LevittPhil Ball by Steve Steinberg by Robert B. Ward by Joel RippelCharles Weeghman by Dan LevittPLAYERS (including some player/managers)Indianapolis Hoosiers / Newark PeppersJimmy Esmond by Anne KeeneGeorge Kaiserling by Harry SchogerAl Kaiser by Bob BarrierHarry Moran by Harry SchogerChicago Chi-Feds/Chicago WhalesMax Flack by Joel RippelGeorge McConnell by Mark S. SternmanMike Prendergast by Chris RaineyJoe Tinker by Bob WebsterArt Wilson by Bob LeMoineDutch Zwilling by Maury BouchardBaltimore TerrapinsVern Duncan by Brian WoodBenny Meyer by Mike HuberGeorge Suggs by Chad MoodyHarry Swacina by Kevin LarkinJimmy Walsh by Phil WilliamsBuffalo BluesCharlie Hanford by Joel RippelGene Krapp by Chris RaineyBaldy Louden by Matthew CleverAl Schulz by Steve WestBrooklyn Tip-TopsHappy Finneran by Thomas BrownDan Marion by Cindy ThompsonAl Shaw by Adam FoldesTex Wisterzil by Chris RaineyKansas City PackersTed Easterly by Adam KlinkerGrover Gilmore by Joanne HulbertPete Henning by Rich BogovichGeorge "Chief" Johnson by Steve SchmittDuke Kenworthy by Bill NowlinGeorge Perring by Rich BogovichPittsburgh RebelsFrank Allen by C. Paul Rogers III Elmer Knetzer by Bob WigginsEd Lennox by Matt AlbertsonTex McDonald by Skip NipperRebel Oakes by Phil WilliamsAl Wickland by Kevin LarkinSt. Louis TerriersDave Davenport by Gregory H. WolfDel Drake by Tom DrakeWard Miller by Bill JohnsonDoc Watson by Gregory H. WolfEd Willett by Paul HofmannJUDGEKenesaw M. Landis by Dan BusbyUMPIRESUmpires in the Federal League by Bill NowlinSELECTED GAMESIndianapolis Hoosiers June 20, 1914 by Harry Schogerune 20, 1914 by Harry SchogerJuly 7, 1914: by Kevin Larkin July 19, 1914 by Harry Schoger July 27, 1914 by Frederick C. BushAugust 24, 1914 by Kevin LarkinOctober 7, 1914: by Jerrod CotosmanNewark PeppersMay 31, 1915 by Bill NowlinAugust 7, 1915 by Maury BouchardSeptember 6, 1915 by John ZinnSeptember 6, 1915 by John ZinnChicago Chi-Feds / Chicago WhalesJuly 12, 1914 by Benjamin SabinJuly 14, 1914 by Bill JohnsonSeptember 9, 1914 by Brian M. FrankMay 15, 1915 by Sean KolodziejSeptember 19, 1915 by Richard CuicchiOctober 3, 1915 by Mark S. Sternmanand many more!

Whales, Terriers, and Terrapins: The Federal League 1914-15 (The SABR Digital Library)

Sternman, Mark S.

West, Steve

Larkin, Kevin

Frank, Brian M.

Schoger, Harry

Zinn, John

Society for American Baseball Research

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Levitt, Daniel R.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Levitt, Daniel R.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Levitt, Daniel R.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Ed Barrow: The Bulldog Who Built the Yankees' First Dynasty

Ed Barrow: The Bulldog Who Built the Yankees' First Dynasty

In Pursuit of Pennants: Baseball Operations from Deadball to Moneyball

In Pursuit of Pennants: Baseball Operations from Deadball to Moneyball

Paths to Glory: How Great Baseball Teams Got That Way

Paths to Glory: How Great Baseball Teams Got That Way

Whales, Terriers, and Terrapins: The Federal League 1914-15 (The SABR Digital Library)