New York Yankee media guides

[Denny]

I'm collecting New York Yankee yearbooks and media guides. Does anyone know how far back the Yankees yearbooks and media guides go? My earliest yearbook is 1950 and my earliest media guide is 1960.

[YankeeFan]

The first year for the yearbooks is 1950.

I have most of the media guides from the 1960's - 1980's, and a few after that. I have had Yankees media guides from the mid-to-late 1950's, so I know they exist, but I don't know exactly when they started. They started publishing their own, official Yearbook in 1955, so that may be the year for the media guides too.

I also have an unofficial one, published by a sports writer if I remember correctly, from 1937. I'll look for it and post a few pictures.

[Hot Springs Bathers]

The first true Yankee Media Guide was issued in 1955. That is multi-page, stapled guide.

Prior to that the Yankees issued tri or quad fold Roster Guides. The earliest I have ever seen is 1932 but I have no idea if the run was continuous or when it started.

The absolute "king of Media Guides" was the late Joe Cronin. Joe designated what he considered each teams first guide and also listed their earlier Roster Guides when he found one.

At times over the past 30 years I disagreed with Joe as to what constituted a guide vs. a roster. The Cubs and several other teams had multi-page stapled guides back to the mid-30s but because they only contained a roster and no bio's Joe did not call them guides.

I guess each of us can designate what we consider a guide, for me it contains multiple pages and is stapled (of course new guides are perfect-bound.)

I collect all 30 MLB teams and the NFL, at this time I am working on the insane task of obtaining media guide from what I consider the top 68 college football schools from the 1960s and 70s. That is when I followed them growing up!

[YankeeFan]

40 pages, mostly player bios. A few other informational pages, including the 1937 schedule and annual standings.

http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af98/jtorsiello/Sports_Memorabilia/1937_Yankees_Guide_Cover_zpsb970b465.jpg (http://s997.photobucket.com/user/jtorsiello/media/Sports_Memorabilia/1937_Yankees_Guide_Cover_zpsb970b465.jpg.html)

http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af98/jtorsiello/Sports_Memorabilia/1937_Yankees_Guide_Back_zpsa513dec9.jpg (http://s997.photobucket.com/user/jtorsiello/media/Sports_Memorabilia/1937_Yankees_Guide_Back_zpsa513dec9.jpg.html)

http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af98/jtorsiello/Sports_Memorabilia/1937_Yankees_Guide_Gehrig_zps52e4e954.jpg (http://s997.photobucket.com/user/jtorsiello/media/Sports_Memorabilia/1937_Yankees_Guide_Gehrig_zps52e4e954.jpg.html)

http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af98/jtorsiello/Sports_Memorabilia/1937_Yankees_Guide_JoeD_zps7b10d205.jpg (http://s997.photobucket.com/user/jtorsiello/media/Sports_Memorabilia/1937_Yankees_Guide_JoeD_zps7b10d205.jpg.html)

http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af98/jtorsiello/Sports_Memorabilia/1937_Yankees_Guide_HOF_zpsb4c8dce5.jpg (http://s997.photobucket.com/user/jtorsiello/media/Sports_Memorabilia/1937_Yankees_Guide_HOF_zpsb4c8dce5.jpg.html)

[Hot Springs Bathers]

Jack- I have always loved those NY Mirror books, I have seen several for both the Dodgers and Giants too.

They were premiums given out by the newspapers in the highly competitive New York market. That was really a cool time to be a baseball fan.

[JayZim13]

I have a 1937 Daily Mirror guide (its basically a mini yearbook) for all three New York teams

[YankeeFan]

Very nice Jay. How many pages? Does it have a full page for every player?

And the original purchaser even got a 5 cent discount! :)
The cover price on Yankee guide is 10 cents. Hard to see because it is white. Bottom right corner.

[arcadekrazy]

Denny,

Having completed the run of NYY yearbooks, I can tell you that it is a rewarding experience. As stated above, 1950 is the first year the NYY yearbook was published. "Official" NYY yearbooks (those not published by Jay) made their appearance in 1955. Certain years contain multiple revisions (roster changes, etc.), so a "complete" collection will contain ~130 yearbooks (I focused on the primary editions and did not worry about the revisions, so I guess my collection is not "complete" in the truest sense of the word).

With respect to the yearbooks, patience is key - do not overpay for the 1950s books (especially the ones from the early 50s). A lot of folks think that because the yearbook is associated with the early 1950s NYY it is worth more than it really is. Plenty of nice copies pop up at auctions (and card shows) at very reasonable prices (indeed, a near run of 68 books dating from 1950-2010 just sold in the most recent H&S auction for $800). If buying on eBay, do not hesitate to ask the seller as many questions as possible (Some of the books I purchased via eBay ended up having pages cut out, pictures cut out, etc - Sellers are often not aware of these issues). When possible, I purchase either in person or via a trusted auction house.

[Hot Springs Bathers]

That is a wonderful run! Are you tempted to add some of the revised editions?

[YankeeFan]

A guy named Mike Squire published a nice spiral bound book "The Definitive New York Yankees Yearbook Guide". I bought it on eBay a few years ago. I just searched and it's still there and updated - see the link below.

It lists every edition, every year, including the Big League Books \ Jay Publishing editions. It explains the differences between each edition, in detail. I recommend it as a good reference, especially if you do decide to collect every edition.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Definitive-NY-Yankees-Yearbook-Guide-1950-2011-/360911880439?pt=Vintage_Sports_Memorabilia&hash=item54080640f7

[arcadekrazy]

That is a wonderful run! Are you tempted to add some of the revised editions?

I vacillate about walking down that path....I don't think I have the wherewithal to try and track them all down. Maybe one day.

[Gary Dunaier]

There have also been private, presumably unauthorized, reprints of the early Yankee yearbooks on Ebay. Sometimes they can be pricey - $25 and up (I've never paid that much for the ones I have) - but they allow you to actually read the things without the fear that you might be inadvertently damaging your expensive original.