Beginning with his early years as a St. Louis teenager, Elston tells of Elston Howard’s love of baseball and his encounters with racism. His three decades with the New York Yankees include numerous anecdotes about fellow Yankee legends such as Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, and Yogi Berra. Written with a wife’s compassion and a sportswriter’s eye for detail, and with countless personal moments and rarely seen photographs, Elston is the touching story of one of baseball’s great players.
"Arlene and Elston were in many ways the "First Family" of the great Yankee teams of the '50s and '60s. So much was asked of them—integrating a historically white franchise while dealing with the racial issues in a changing America—all while winning championships and forming lifelong friendships through basic goodness and kindness. Their story is an American story we all need to know better."
"Elston Howard played in ten World Series and was a member of nine All Star teams. And yet, from reading Arlene Howard's bittersweet memoir, her husband Elston's career was badly hurt by his becoming the first African-American to play for the New York Yankees. He had to wait too long to become a Yankee. He had to wait too long to become the starting catcher. He had to wait—in vain—to be named the Yankee manager. As he explained segregation to his five-year-old son: 'It's like a private club,' Ellie told him, 'and we aren't members.'"
