TAKING ON THE YANKEES: Winning and Losing in the Business of Baseball, 1903–2003

The success of the Yankees has been built on management techniques that include innovation, strong leadership and the ability to spend money wisely, argues Fetter in his absorbing account of the relationship between good business practices and winning baseball. Although they are now regarded as the most successful franchise in sports, that distinction was far from certain when the Yankees began life as the Highlanders in 1903. It was not until Col. Jacob Ruppert acquired the team in 1914 that the organization was put in place that would produce perennial winners rather than constant losers. Ruppert's business acumen prompted him to purchase Babe Ruth in 1919, and his organizational structure allowed him to separate himself from the day-to-day operations of the Yankees in favor of Miller Huggins and Ed Barrow, manager and general manager, respectively, of Ruppert's teams. The Yankees' rise in the 1920s was at the expense of the New York Giants, which had ruled the National League and New York baseball in part by acquiring players from money-losing teams. Managerial squabbling led to the Giants' demise, and weak leadership later resulted in the resurrected Giants' move to San Francisco. As the Giants sank, the St. Louis Cardinals, led by Branch Rickey, became the Yankees' National League challenger. But a fallout between Rickey and Cardinal ownership resulted in Rickey's move to Brooklyn, where he, along with Walter O'Malley, would provide another foil for the Yankees. Fetter's telling of the rivalry with the Dodgers in the 1950s, along with the machinations that forced the Dodgers to move West, are particularly riveting. With the departure of the Dodgers and Giants in 1958, the Yankees stood alone as New York's baseball team, and despite the creation of the Mets in 1962, the Yankees continue to rule the baseball world. With its historical sweep, Fetter's work stands as a solid companion to Michael Lewis's Moneyball on how to build a winning baseball organization. (Sept.)