The Golden Age

From the author of The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City comes the story of baseball and New York post-WWII—a rise-and-fall tale of dominance, explosive wealth, and the cultural forces changing the sport, the city, and the country

After World War II, New York—the most significant Western city to emerge from the war untouched by bombing and violence—seemed indestructible, the undeniable hub of finance, fashion, art, diplomacy, and athletics.

In The Golden Age, Baker transports readers through the next three decades: an era where legends still played for the Giants and Dodgers and Yankees, were paid not-yet-exorbitant salaries, and walked the streets of Washington Heights, Brighton Beach, and Staten Island; the era of Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, Yogi Berra, Casey Stengel, Sandy Amoros, and more. But, as Baker tells, hubris and changing global economics pushed New York to the edge, and soon, deindustrialization, street crime, drug addiction, white flight, Black flight, riot, and near ruin descended upon the city. The Giants and the Dodgers fled as well, convinced that New York was another aging eastern city that would never recover.

Onto this stage appeared the Mets, a “satire of a baseball team,” Baker writes. Their dark horse run to the 1969 World Series injected a new energy and hope into the city plagued by despair, and the sport has never been the same since.

In this riveting and rollicking ode to America’s favorite pastime, paying homage to the sport’s indomitable home city, Baker paints in vivid detail the vibrant, evolving cityscapes that were backdrops to baseball’s rapid changes, including a huge influx of money to the sport and the desegregation of the game in 1946, when Jackie Robinson signed with the Dodgers. From the diamonds and bleachers, to the streets of Jackson Heights and Bensonhurst, to the radio stations and clubs and restaurants where ballplayers spent their off-field hours, Baker’s character-driven portrayal of baseball’s golden years will leave fans and novices alike charmed, curious, and nostalgic.