Connie MacK's '29 Triumph : The Rise and Fall of the Philadelphia Athletics Dynasty
Long before the 1997 world champion Florida Marlins were dismantled to reduce the payroll, Connie Mack, the legendary owner-manager of the Philadelphia Athletics, used the same strategy. Far from ruining the game, Mack's sell-off in 1915 helped him build a dynasty in the 1920s. Kashatus makes a compelling case for the proposition that Mack's 1929 A's were the best team of all time, better than the 1927 Yankees. He rehashes the once-great debate over the relative merits of the two teams' stars--Jimmy Fox and Al Simmons for the A's versus Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig--and he supplies fascinating historical background on the franchises, the respective cities, and the men who headed the franchises, Mack and Yankee manager Joe McCarthy. Fascinating baseball history with dozens of black-and-white photos, extensive notes, and a great bibliography.Wes Lukowsky