Chumps to Champs
- Author Bill Pennington
- Narrator Christian Baskous
- Publisher Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date 7 May 2019
- Run Time 13 hours and 34 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Baseball, History of sport.
Click to open directly in the xigxag app.
Flexible Pricing & Rewards For Listening
At xigxag, the more you read, the less you pay* on select audiobook and x-book® titles, as in the table below. Pricing updates automatically in the app and resets one year after your first purchase. And you can always find a selection of brilliant titles available for only $7.95.
*Only the full price titles you buy count toward your personal pricing tier. Full price titles don’t include Listen for Less or other books bought with a voucher or discount code.
Titles Purchased
- 1-5
- 6-10
- 11-15
- 16-20
- Over 20
Price p/Title
- $13.95
- $12.95
- $11.95
- $10.95
- $9.95
Listen to a sample
What to expect
The untold story of the time when the New York Yankees were a laughingstock—and how out of that abyss emerged the modern Yankees dynasty, one of the greatest in all of sports
The New York Yankees have won twenty-seven world championships and forty American League pennants, both world records. They have twenty-six members in the Hall of Fame. Their pinstripe swag is a symbol of “making it” worn across the globe. Yet some twenty-five years ago, from 1989 to 1992, the Yankees were a pitiful team at the bottom of the standings, sitting on a fourteen-year World Series drought and a 35 percent drop in attendance. To make the statistics worse, their mercurial, bombastic owner was banned from baseball.
But out of these ashes emerged the modern Yankees dynasty, a juggernaut built on the sly, a brilliant mix of personalities, talent, and ambition. In Chumps to Champs, Pennington reveals a grand tale of revival. Listeners encounter larger-than-life characters like George Steinbrenner and unexplored figures like award-winning manager Buck Showalter, Don Mattingly, and the crafty architect of it all—general manager Gene Michael, who assembled the team’s future stars—Rivera, Jeter, Williams, O’Neill, and Pettitte.
Drawing on unique access, Pennington tells a wild and raucous tale.
Critics Review
“A book that—much like those Yankees—will be talked about for decades.”
“Bill Pennington spins a richly detailed narrative of the fall and rise of the Yankees…The pages sparkle with forgotten and previously untold nuggets.”
“[Pennington’s] attention to the critical details of the lives of both the players and the front-office personnel is unusually penetrating. The title is snarky, but the book is intelligent and memorable.”
“A fast-paced, insider history…a must for Yankees fans but also an exciting history for any baseball aficionados.”
“This well-written account of the building of a new Yankee dynasty in the 1990s is deeply informed by the author’s extensive interviews and will be enjoyed by all baseball fans.”
“Pennington writes a mixture of interviews, biographies, on-the-field action, and fierce front-office politics.”
“Christian Baskous narrates this compelling slice of recent baseball history…Though this account is a potentially unwieldy combination of interviews, history, and play-by-play action, it sounds entirely seamless as read by Baskous. He turns the work into a well-articulated, easy-to-follow story. Baskous also skillfully captures the personalities of the players, coaches, and front-office executives listeners meet along the way.”
More from the same
Narrator
About xigxag
Experience the best audiobooks with xigxag, an innovative and user-friendly audiobook platform designed for seamless discovery, purchase, and enjoyment of your favorite titles. Our flexible pricing model offers bestselling audiobooks for less, providing affordable prices and the best audiobook deals without requiring a subscription. Perfect for gifting, xigxag also features convenient audiobook gift cards and in-app audiobook gifting options.
Beyond the listening experience, xigxag stands as an exciting alternative to big tech, embodying a strong commitment to sustainability and ethical practices. As the only B Corp certified UK audiobook service, we ensure a guilt-free listening experience from a leader in audiobook innovation.
Effortlessly search audiobooks, access honest audiobook reviews that evaluate both the content and narration, and easily discover hidden gems. Whether you prefer to download or stream top audiobook titles, xigxag provides the best possible listening experience anytime, anywhere, on the UK’s best independent audiobook app. Discover the future of audiobooks today.