In the spring of 1933, with a new president in office and a banking crisis narrowly averted, there was optimism in Washington, D.C., even among the baseball fans. The hard-luck Senators, who topped 90 wins in each of the previous three seasons only to finish well in back of the pennant winner, seemed full of promise. They secured a "new deal" of their own with 26-year-old Joe Cronin, their peppery shortstop, who had emerged as one of the best players in the American League. Newly signed as the youngest manager in the majors, Cronin was determined to lead the Senators to the pennant, though...

The stage was set for excitement in baseball throughout the 1920s when Babe Ruth was sold by the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees. With Ruth on board, the Yankees, under manager Miller Huggins, became America's most popular team, and forged a dynasty by winning three consecutive American League pennants from 1921 to 1923. In 1923, they won the World Series championship. One season later, their period of dominance ended when they finished second to the Washington Senators.
Favoured to win the pennant in 1925, the Yankees dynasty crumbled to the bottom of the league. During that...