Product Description
A biography focusing on the childhood of one of the greatest professional baseball players, who is remembered for playing 2,130 consecutive games in 14 seasons with the New York Yankees. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Good book, except for the Santa spoiler
My 10-year-old son greatly enjoyed this classic story of Lou Gehrig's childhood.It is an engaging story of inspiration and hard work.However, there is a Santa spoiler in the first chapter that could create a very big problem for some younger children and their beliefs.I

Childhood of American Heroes
This book covers the childhood of Lou Gehrig, with little discussion of his years as a Yankee. It is a good starting point for youngsters already familiar with Gehrig's baseball accomplishments, as it describes the poverty and difficulties of his upbringing. The child should already ubderstand Gehrig's baseball on field accomplishments and his heroism in the face of his incurable disease for the book to have the greatest impact.

Awesome book
I am a HUGE yankee fan, and I thought I knew about Lou Gehrig and his Yankee career days. After reading the book, I found out what he was like to be a kid and growing up. It was super. I really enjoyed it - it was very informative and very exciting.
I highly recommend it!!!

Lou Gerig's the Luckiest Man
THis is a good book for baseball fans all over. It's more of a kid's book, but it's got great info. It even has his "luckiest man in the world" speech in it! ... Read more

Product Description
Discusses the personal life and baseball career of the famous Yankee first baseman, Lou Gehrig. ... Read more

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Advance Praise for Five O'Clock Lightning

"Come along with Harvey Frommer on a jaunty stroll through baseball eighty years ago. The 1927 Yankees may or may not have been the best team ever, but surely this is the best book about that wonderful concentration of talent."
--George F. Will

"Harvey Frommer brings the perceptive eye of a historian to what was arguably the most feared batting order of all time. Add to that his contagious enthusiasm for classic baseball and you have a most enjoyable book."
--Roger Kahn

"An engrossing and entertaining look at a mythical baseball team. Ride the trains, chew the tobacco, and have fun."
--Leigh Montville, author of The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth

"How great were the '27 Yankees? So great that even now, eighty years later, they still have the power to astonish and entertain. Reading Five O'Clock Lightning, I felt almost as if I were on the road with the Babe, Lou, and Miller Huggins. Harvey Frommer has a great eye for detail and a wonderful ability to bring his characters to life. The book is a delight."
--Jonathan Eig, author of Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig and Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season

"Harvey Frommer hits a home run in this sweet look back at a time when baseball was the only game and the Yankees seemed to be the only team."
--Dan Shaughnessy, author of Senior Year

"Baseball's greatest team as recounted by baseball's greatest author, Harvey Frommer. A surefire classic!"
--Seth Swirsky, author of Baseball Letters and Something to Write Home About ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

The Greatest Team Of All-Time...Revealed
If you start a conversation with a baseball scribe about the greatest baseball teams of all-time, the 1927 Yankees will be mentioned within a few moments.This book is a very detailed history of that club.

The biggest reason to keep turning pages in this book is the incredible detail that you won't find anywhere else.For a year's worth of events that took place nearly 90 years ago, it is amazing that such specific information is still available.Whether it is the day-to-day grind of the regular season or the biographies of all the team's players, author Harvey Frommer gives you nuggets of information that even the most seasoned of baseball fans will be reading for the first time.

Also, Frommer does a great job of, if not debunking, then at least shedding new light on some of that season's biggest myths, including the Ruth/Gehrig relationship, the unsung starting pitching, and the World Series "demolition" of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

However, the overall material could be interpreted as a bit dry by the non-zealous baseball fans among us.It is just a very straightforward, little-frills approach to writing that might not be for everyone.Thus, I highly recommend this book to the hard-core baseball fan set, but maybe not for the more casual fan.

A Yankee History Must Have
Say what you will about the Philadelphia Phillies "Wiz Kids", or the old St. Louis "Gas House Gang", the fact remains that this Yankee team of 1927 is probably the greatest baseball team ever to take the field. Five O'clock Lightening" is the story of this Yankee team, the larger than life players from "Murder's Row", such as Ruth and Gehrig, who terrorized the baseball world, and what they accomplished. A great baseball story that I would highly recommend to anyone.

A Solid Three Stars
This is the second book on the New York Yankees entitled Five O'Clock Lightning.The first came out a few years ago and was written by former Yankee Tommy Henrich and Bill Gilbert.This new version on the 1927 Yankees provides us with an introduction to each of the players on the roster including Manager Miller Huggins and batboy Eddie Bennett.We are provided with anecdotes regarding Ruth, Gehrig, Lazzeri, Joe Dugan, Bob Meusel, Urban Shocker, manager Miller Huggins, and others, but if you have done some significant reading on baseball history you will find many of the same stories repeated here.The regular season is covered with more statistics than I care to read about.The World Series against the Pirates follows, but it is hard to jazz up a four game route.To me the best part of the book was the final section regarding what happened in the future to each of those involved.The reader will know about Ruth, Gehrig, and Huggins, but the demise of the remaining members of the team is covered as well.The book is a quick read depending on your background.Writer Damon Runyon's name is misspelled (Runyan) three times on pages 74 and 75.Regarding the 1927 Yankees St. Louis pitcher Milt Gaston is quoted as saying, "There isn't a moment's mental rest for a pitcher against that batting order."It sounds like this also will apply to the 2008 Detroit Tigers.I rate this book a solid three stars.It isn't a classic by any means, and I'm sure it wasn't meant to be.

Most Everything You Want To Know About The 1927 Yankees
The author puts together about as much as anyone might want to know about this great team. From the super stars to those who filled out the roster. He recaps the season as well as most of the individual player accomplishments. He even includes the death dates of those participants as well as excerpts from Babe Ruth's final Will and Testament. A good read for anyone interested in this important aspect of baseball history.

A fresh look at an old favorite
The 1927 New York Yankees assembled perhaps the greatest collection of athletes in history. Frommer, who has made something of a cottage industry out of New York baseball, reaffirms that claim with this latest offering.

The subtitle represents a problem that fans have had for generations. Everyone knows about Ruth, Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri and a handful of other regulars. But a team is made up of 25 players, and Frommer gives them all their due. Using team photos from that year, he gives more than a passing glance at the "spear carriers" who fill out the Yankees' roster.

Frommer reports on the games, as the reader witnesses the Yankees building their reputation as the Bronx Bombers; Ruth's 60 home runs were more than the combined totals of most other teams. But the author makes the players more human, more accessible. Gehrig, for instance, endured a two-week slump towards the end of the regular season because he was so distraught over his ailing mother. But Joe Giard, Paul Krichell and Walter Beall? Not exactly household names but Frommer includes their stories, supplementing their contributions on the field with substantial background material, including their lives in post-baseball retirement and a chronological necrology. Such intimate details are unusual in the rough-and-tumble genre of sports books.



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Product Description
The parents and widow of Lou Gehrig were so concerned about the potential desecration of his grave that they considered moving his ashes to the Hall of Fame. Officials embraced the idea of creating a mausoleum for baseball greats, but the idea was killed by Gehrig’s wife—whose cryptic remarks leave us wondering to this day about the disposition of his remains. Kirst’s essay on Gehrig’s ashes and numerous other essays are put together from dozens of personal interviews with baseball characters.

Babe Dahlgren claims he was blacklisted for rumors of marijuana use; Babe Ruth sends a note to a child stricken with polio—a note nearly lost when the family moved, and the first physical confirmation obtained by the Hall of Fame of the slugger’s legendary kindness to children; a black cat is brought to the ballpark as a gesture of contempt when Jackie Robinson plays against Syracuse, a team he felt treated him as badly as any in the International League. The collection contains new information about the father of baseball card collecting, about a bat company whose accomplishments were lost in baseball lore, and about the murder trial of the first African American to play in the Major Leagues. Beautifully written, filled with fresh facts and revelations, these essays will appeal. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Essays from the Heart
This is a fantastic group of columns written by Sean Peter Kirst, a columnist at one point with the Syracuse Post Standard. While the book has a focus on Syracuse baseball and issues pertaining to the minor league ballclub there, the book is by no means limited to this subject. Many topics are covered; they are interesting, thought provoking, and fun. Topics include Lou Gehrig's ashes as the title suggests, the "King of Baseball Card Collecting" (among many, many others) and most enjoyable, the nostalgic looks back at the game. I fondly find myself agreeing and remembering many of Kirst's looks back at the game and what it means to our country. You'll enjoy this book - it's well worth the money spent. ... Read more

Product Description
A look at the remarkable career and tragic death of Lou Gehrig discusses the Iron Horse's well-publicized rivalry with Babe Ruth, his years with the Yankees, and his sad retirement from baseball due to illness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

One of Baseball's Greatest
Lou Gehrig, a young boy growing up in the Great Depression, is faced with problems with life and baseball.While Lou is growing up he is faced with many challenges and it intrigues readers on how he deals with them.For instance, while Lou's dad gets laid of three jobs, Lou has to go about getting a job at a very young age.This book keeps me hooked by adding facts about the Great Depression as well as including much about baseball.Such as, while the young boys discuss baseball cards, the boys would consider themselves very lucky to come across a Ty Cobb or Honus Wagner baseball card.Lou has to endear much struggle in order to work his way to a better life then he was born into.

Guernsey Van Riper, Jr., the author, has written about famous sports players such as Babe Ruth and Jim Thorpe.Guernsey really knows how to make the book enjoyable, but also how to include many facts and pieces of history.This book includes both and has kept me reading it over and over again since 5th grade.I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves baseball or learning about the history of America's great athletes.Anyone that lived during the Great Depression can relate to Lou Gehrig and his history.This biography inspired me to work hard and be thankful for what I have.



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Product Description
Lou Gehrig's record for consecutive games played stood for decades until Cal Ripken, Jr. broke it in 1995. Most people remember Gehrig for this record, or for the disease that claimed his life (and which now bears his name). But what many forget is how prolific a hitter he was. The son of German immigrants, Gehrig rose from inauspicious beginnings to become a scholar-athlete at Columbia University, and then to Major League Baseball, where he knocked in almost 2,000 runs and helped his team win six world championships. William Kashatus recounts the perserverance and poise of a life which ended tragically yet heroically. Written in cooperation with George Pollack, the lawyer for the Gehrig estate, this biography provides a valuable addition to the study of an enduring American sports legend. ... Read more

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A Biography of "Larrupin Lou", the Star first baseman of the Yankees. The chronological narrative of the most durable performer in the annals of baseball and the teams of which he was a vital part. This fast moving biography follows Gehrig through his early years, through his starring days at high school and college, and then on to his major league career where his name appeared on every Yankee score card for 15 seasons. ... Read more

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The life of the Yankee player voted "the greatest first baseman of all time" by the Baseball Writers' Association. ... Read more

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Story of the Yankee's great first-baseman, who appeared in more consecutive games than any other player in history. ... Read more

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