This was an absolutely excellent recap of the Yankees in the early nineties. A must-read for any Yankee fan!

Veteran baseball writer Bill Pennington has delivered another hit with his 2019 release Chumps to Champs.

Pennington, author of an outstanding 2015 biography on Billy Martin, has turned his considerable talents towards an overlooked period in New York Yankees history, the early to mid 1990s.

In 1990 the Yankees were the worst team in baseball, compiling the worst record in the major leagues and finding embarrassment in new and unusual ways. To cap it all off, mercurial owner George Steinbrenner was banished from baseball during that same year.

But the Yankees didn't stay down for long. Taking advantage of the skills and insights of those throughout the baseball side of the organization, the team began to change long-term habits that led them to futility and began to try to build rather than look for the quick fix. The absence of Steinbrenner's meddling no doubt allowed for this operational shift to take place.

Pennington focuses his story on both sides of the developmental process, spending considerable time with general manager Gene "Stick" Michael and the young field manager Buck Showalter. On the player side Pennington deftly avoids the historical trap of only following the players that turned into highly productive big leaguers and chronicles the internal deliberations that existed in real time; who would become a better outfielder for the Yankees, Gerald or Bernie Williams? Which left-handed pitcher will become a rotation building block, Andy Pettitte or Sterling Hitchcock? The baseball tragedy of Brien Taylor is covered in depth as well.

The strongest parts of the book deal with Michael and Showalter. Both men were there for the turning of the ship, and each left their respective roles before the World Series wins started piling up. Countless recent interviews with both provide insight to what happened in those days and how time has changed- or not- their view of their time with the Yankees.

The only real downside to this book, and it is admittedly petty and not the author's fault, but there are already countless books about the New York Yankees and their various iterations and characters. Even this can actually be seen as a strength, as the early '90s is not a well covered area in the Yankee canon. The so-called "Core Four" years have already produced several titles and will produce more, but Pennington gives a definitive account of the years that set the stage for that group's tremendous success. The flip side of this argument is that this book would never have been written if a team in Houston or Milwaukee, rather than New York, had become the dominant team in the game at the end of the 20th century. But the fact is the Yankees did win five pennants and four World Series between 1996 and 2001, and the process of that team's rise is worthy content for examination.

Pennington has turned in another outstanding addition to Yankees literature. Chumps to Champs is a can't miss for Yankees fan, and an enjoyable book for all baseball fans.

Thanks to Net Galley for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Mr. Pennington takes you back in time when the Yankees were not the place to be. Not only was their owner banned from the game, but free agents also did not want to come and play in New York either. Some like Greg Maddox was offered more money by the Yankees but signed with the Braves. Who could blame him? I remember going to a Yankee game in the old stadium in the early ’90s and for the most part, it was not packed. By the end of the ’90s and into the 2000’s it was difficult to get a ticket to see a game. What was good about this book really is you get a behind the scenes look at what took place in the organization that played in the 81 series against the Dodgers but would not be back in the series until 96 the longest such drought in Yankee history. The good with George Steinbrenner gone the team began to hold on to their young talent instead of trading them away, Willie Magee, and Fred McGriff to name just two and in return nothing. Now Gene Michael in charge the minor leagues was being restocked and they were holding on to the homegrown players. Then adding players like Paul O’Neil, Jimmy Key, David Cone. Then the author takes you through the rise of Bernie Williams and the drafting of what would become the core four. He also goes into the story of number 1 overall pick Brien Taylor who was looking like he was on his way to the big leagues until a fight ruined his shoulder and his career. You see the rebuild, the strike of 94, and the playoff loss in 95, bringing in Tino Martinez, Joe Torre as the new manager and then the World Series victory of 96 then the other ones in 98, 99, 2000 and then 2009. Overall I found this to be an excellent book and I was glad the author was able to talk with so many people which added to the story. Very much worth the read.

There was nothing about the New York Yankees teams of the early 1990s that suggested a dynasty was on the horizon. They had not won a World Series since the early 1980s and endured a succession of managers (some of whom had multiple stints), and a series of trades for aging veterans at the expense of young prospects that didn’t pay off for the Yankees as they fielded teams that looked nothing like the Yankee dynasties of previous decades.

From Chumps to Champs by Bill Pennington takes the reader through a four to six year period to show how they went from worst to first. There are a series of what social scientists might call critical junctures from the hiring of Buck Showalter who instilled new ideas and techniques to the banishment of George Steinbrenner that allowed a remarkable group of scouts, coaches, and front office staff to operate with less worry about trading away the future for the present.

This book follows parallel processes of sorts in that yes we spend plenty of time with the New York Yankees, but we also spend a great deal of time in the minors with future Yankee legends: Jeter, Posada, Rivera, Pettite, and Brien Taylor who is now known for other reasons. So in a way: we had Yankee present unfolding as Yankee future and the dynastic core wait in the shadows.

But to say that everyone lived happily ever after would be a lie. Just as the young core that would spawn a dynasty were ready to go, most of the people who had worked so hard to make the core were fired or otherwise reassigned and their successors had the privilege of watching World Series bloom.

Bill Pennington made me care about the Yankees because it’s written in such a way that we are able to see many of the principals as people who were going through something—a banishment from baseball, struggles at the major/minor league level, being fired, etc.

Highly recommended for those who like baseball and/or want to understand something about the management of sports franchises.

Believe it or not, there was a time – the early 1990’s to be precise – when the New York Yankees were among the worst teams in baseball. Star players who became free agents, such as Greg Maddux and Barry Bonds, turned down more money from the Yankees to sign with other teams. Attendance was plummeting. The owner and a star player were engaged in a conflict that led to the expulsion from baseball (rescinded after two years) of owner George Steinbrenner. How the team rose from those depths to become the best team in the game later that decade is captured in this informative but fun book by veteran sportswriter Bill Pennington.

More known for his golf writing, Pennington covered the Yankees for a northern New Jersey newspaper in the early 1990’s and therefore had inside information about those woeful Yankee teams and players. The book starts with one of the most infamous games in the team’s history, a 4-0 loss to the Chicago White Sox in which the starting pitcher, Andy Hawkins, did not give up a hit. The no-hitter was removed from the official records the next year, but the writing about that game and the subsequent information on those Yankee teams was some of the best reading in the entire book.

Pennington then goes on to write about the banishment of Steinbrenner and the circumstances with him and Dave Winfield that led to that suspension. Many believe, including Pennington, that the lack of Steinbrenner’s meddling with the general manager, field manager, scouts and other personnel, turned to be the best thing to happen to the team. I enjoyed reading about Steinbrenner’s interference, especially when Pennington notes that the press called him “Mr. Tunes” This came about because, like a jukebox that will play music when you put in a quarter, Steinbrenner was sure to “sing” when a press member would call him.

There are stories about the general manager of the team during this time when Steinbrenner was away, Gene “Stick” Michael. Not only did Michael put the team together, especially with the “Core Four” of Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettite and Mariano Rivera, Michael was also the one person who could argue against one of the owner’s orders and not only keep his job, but also have his idea put into effect. This is important because even after Steinbrenner’s return to the team in 1993, Michael still ran the show and Pennington’s writing reflects that.

There are plenty of stories about the Core Four and also Bernie Williams, who also played a key role in the Yankees’ success in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Readers who have read other sources on these players will not learn much new information on them, but for readers who want to learn more about how Jeter, Posada, Pettite and Rivera rose through the minor league system of the Yankees to become the dominant players they became, this book is a very good source for that.

There are many “what if” situations that came close to fruition that seem very implausible to think about now. Steinbrenner threatened to move the Yankees without a new stadium (that became a reality in 2009). There were several times where the team was going to trade either Jeter or Rivera. This is especially true for Rivera when he was a middling starting pitcher and hadn’t yet become the dominant closer he would become. Also, the transformation of Posada from a second baseman to a catcher is something that seems hard to believe now – Posada turning the double play ball at second. These passages were also excellent parts to read, as was the thrilling 1995 Divisional Series playoff against the Seattle Mariners. While the Yankees ultimately lost that series, it was compelling reading. Nearly 24 years after those games, I was getting goose bumps while reading about game five, even though I knew the outcome.

Yankee fans will especially want to read this excellent account about the team. It is complete in every way – from the action on the field to the maneuvering in the front office, this is an outstanding account of restoring the luster of the most successful franchise in the four major sports.

I wish to thank Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this book. Great read. As someone who attended college in NYC during the early 90s siting in the Stadium bleachers watching the ugly Mel hall teams was awful. This book is great because it covers so much behind the scenes machinations that is fans knew little about. It is a quick read and any true yanks fan could not put this book down.