Pride of October
What It Was to be Young and a Yankee
Prologue
"Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the
earth."
-Lou Gehrig, 1939
"I'd like to thank the Good Lord for making me a Yankee."
-Joe DiMaggio, 1949
"It's great to be young and a Yankee."
-Waite Hoyt, 1927
On a chilly, sun-splashed mid-December afternoon in 2001, almost
exactly 100 years from the day American League President Ban Johnson
finalized plans to transfer his Baltimore Orioles franchise to New
York City, Jason Giambi strode to the microphone at the center of
the podium in the Great Moments Room of Yankee Stadium and held
aloft the size 50, No. 25 New York Yankees jersey he had just
contracted to wear for the next seven seasons. Looking down the dais
at his father, John, Giambi was suddenly overcome with emotion and,
in a barely audible, choking voice said: "Look, Pop ...
pinstripes."
Although he had grown up in Southern California, John Giambi had
been a lifelong Yankee fan and, in particular, a devotee of Mickey
Mantle. "During the '50s, the only major league baseball we got was
the Saturday after ... read full excerpt from Pride of October ebook
