Here is the fascinating account, rich in nostalgia, of the greatest minor league team in the history of baseball. Ronald Mayer recounts the wonderful early years of the Newark Bears when millionaire beer baron Jacob Ruppert, owner of the New York Yankees, purchased the team from the newspaper publisher Paul Block in 1931. Mayer traces the Bears' exciting first five seasons under Ruppert and the building of a farm system that eventually produced the great Yankee dynasty. These colorful early seasons were sprinkled with some of the great names of the American pastime: Ed Barrow, Paul Kritchell,...

The 1923 Yankees started the dynasty. With stars like Babe Ruth, Wally Pipp, Joe Dugan and Bob Meusel, they won the pennant by 16 games before claiming the franchise's first World Series title. Five Yankee pitchers won 16 games that year, led by Sam Jones (21-8), and the team finally defeated McGraw's Giants after losing to them in the Series two years in a row. This book covers that first Yankees championship team in great detail, taking the reader through the entire season, game-by-game.