Subtitle: A Baseball Legend
Author: Ronald A. Mayer
Subject: New Jersey and the Region/Sports
Paper ISBN 0-8135-2153-X
Pages: 300 pp. 29 b&w illus.

"Thoroughly engaging . . . a fine baseball book."--Sports Collector's Digest

Here is the fascinating account, rich in nostalgia, of the greatest minor league team in the history of baseball. Ronald Mayer recounts the wonderful early years of the Newark Bears when millionaire beer baron Jacob Ruppert, owner of the New York Yankees, purchased the team from the newspaper publisher Paul Block in 1931. Mayer traces the Bears' exciting first five seasons under Ruppert and the building of a farm system that eventually produced the great Yankee dynasty. These colorful early seasons were sprinkled with some of the great names of the American pastime: Ed Barrow, Paul Kritchell, Al Mamaux, Red Rolfe, Babe Ruth, Shag Shaughnessey, Bob Shawkey, and George Weiss.

The Bears' finest hour, however, came in 1937 with a team that many experts consider the greatest in the history of the minor leagues. This book captures all the thrilling moments of that memorable season--action-packed Spring training at Sebring, Florida, the day-to-day excitement of the pennant race, the vivid play-by-play action of the semifinal playoff against the Syracuse Chiefs, the final playoof against the Baltimore Orioles, and finally, the spellbinding, unforgettable Little World Series against the powerful Columbus Red Birds.

This book is packed with photos and colorful profiles of Babe Dahlgren, Atley Donald, Joe Gordon, Charley Keller, George McQuinn, manager Oscar Vitt, and the rest of the great Newark players. It's all here, in the most comprehensive and thoroughly researched book every published about the Newark Bears.

Ronald A. Mayer is a baseball enthusiast and member of the Society for American Baseball Research who lives in East Hanover, New Jersey. He is also the author of Perfect! Biographies and Lifetime Statistices of 14 Pitchers of "Perfect" Baseball Games and Christy Mathewson: A Game-by-Game Profile of a Legendary Pitcher.