The novel's protagonist, mild-mannered, middle-aged Joe Boyd, is depicted as a lifelong fan of the hapless Washington Senators. As the novel begins, the Senators are losing ground in the American League to their longtime nemesis, the New York Yankees.
The discouraged Boyd runs into an unexpected offer from a fast-talking confidence man, who introduces himself as "Mr. Applegate." "Applegate" offers to transform Joe Boyd into Joe Hardy, a young baseball superstar, and facilitate his signing with the Senators' front office so that Hardy can help salvage the Senators' lost season. Boyd, suspicious, negotiates with "Applegate" and extracts a promise that the transformation will only be temporary and, after helping the Senators win a suitable number of games, Hardy will be able to re-transfer himself back to his Joe Boyd personality.
The transformation takes place, Hardy joins the Senators, and all begins to develop as "Applegate" had predicted. However, the new baseball superstar begins to realize that his deal with "Applegate" may not be so temporary and he may have let himself in for more than he had expected. As Hardy's doubts grow over his predicament, "Applegate" presents Hardy with love interest Lola, depicted as a glamorous temptress in the style of the 1950s.
year, yankees, lost, pennant, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jsto. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2011 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant is a 1954 novel by Douglass Wallop It adapts the Faust theme of a deal with the Devil to the world of American baseball in the 1950s The Year the Yankees Lost the PennantFirst edition coverAuthorDouglass WallopCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishPublisherW W Norton amp Co Publication dateSeptember 9 1954 1 Media typePrintPages250 Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Adaptations 3 Reception 4 See also 5 ReferencesPlot summary EditThe novel s protagonist mild mannered middle aged Joe Boyd is depicted as a lifelong fan of the hapless Washington Senators As the novel begins the Senators are losing ground in the American League to their longtime nemesis the New York Yankees The discouraged Boyd runs into an unexpected offer from a fast talking confidence man who introduces himself as Mr Applegate Applegate offers to transform Joe Boyd into Joe Hardy a young baseball superstar and facilitate his signing with the Senators front office so that Hardy can help salvage the Senators lost season Boyd suspicious negotiates with Applegate and extracts a promise that the transformation will only be temporary and after helping the Senators win a suitable number of games Hardy will be able to re transfer himself back to his Joe Boyd personality The transformation takes place Hardy joins the Senators and all begins to develop as Applegate had predicted However the new baseball superstar begins to realize that his deal with Applegate may not be so temporary and he may have let himself in for more than he had expected As Hardy s doubts grow over his predicament Applegate presents Hardy with love interest Lola depicted as a glamorous temptress in the style of the 1950s Adaptations EditThe novel was adapted into the 1955 musical Damn Yankees The musical s book was written by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop its music and lyrics were written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross The musical starred Ray Walston as Applegate Stephen Douglass as Joe Hardy and Gwen Verdon as Lola The 1958 film adaptation featured Tab Hunter as Joe Hunter was the sole actor who had not been in the stage play Reception EditAnthony Boucher dismissed the novel as just another Pact with the Devil story somewhat brightened by its Major League baseball setting 2 See also EditDeal with the Devil Deals with the Devil in popular cultureReferences Edit List of the Books Published Today The New York Times 29 September 9 1954 Recommended Reading F amp SF April 1955 pp 82 This article about a 1950s fantasy novel is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it See guidelines for writing about novels Further suggestions might be found on the article s talk page vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant amp oldid 1110506573, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
