The New York Game

Ever wonder how New York City became the capital of the world? The secret might not be in its skyscrapers or stock market, but on its baseball diamonds. Discover how a simple game shaped a city's destiny and forged its modern identity. You'll go beyond the box scores to see how baseball was the field where New York’s biggest battles over race, class, and power were fought. Uncover the untold stories of immigrant players, political bosses, and forgotten heroes who used the sport to build a new kind of city.

Kevin Baker is an acclaimed historian and novelist whose work has earned him the Guggenheim Fellowship, the James Fenimore Cooper Prize, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award. A lifelong New Yorker and devoted baseball fan, he grew up steeped in the city's lore and the game's rich history, from stickball on the streets to the legendary teams at the Polo Grounds. This unique combination of scholarly rigor and personal passion allows him to vividly narrate how baseball shaped the very identity of modern New York.