Yankee Miracles

Baseball might be considered America's favorite pastime, but to a 17-year-old graffiti artist from Queens, it also became a saving grace. While spray-painting his "art" on Yankee Stadium in the Bronx on June 29th, 1973, Ray Negron was caught in the act by George Steinbrenner, the Yankees' infamous owner. But instead of prosecuting the vandal, "The Boss" showed uncharacteristic compassion and offered the young Negron a way to work off his transgression by helping out the team. This begins a moving story of how a fatherless street kid and vandal, given a chance by an unlikely savior, transformed himself from batboy to gofer to batting practice pitcher, ultimately becoming a much beloved and trusted inner-circle member of the Bronx Bombers.

With an assist from Sally Cook (Another Season), Negron--a loyal Yankee employee for nearly four decades--pays tribute to the powerful and oft-maligned Steinbrenner for his role in changing his life, while also presenting a plethora of surreal moments and memories shaped by baseball greats like Billy Martin, Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, Bobby Murcer, Phil Rizzuto, Catfish Hunter, A-Rod and Derek Jeter. Told with candor and admiration, Yankee Miracles is an inspirational mosaic detailing Negron's unusual relationship with each of his heroes and the wisdom and lessons they imparted--and of how Negron, now a community adviser for the team, has dedicated himself to helping sick and needy city kids find joy, fulfillment and hope in their own lives.

Yankee Miracles by Ray Negron

Liveright, $25.99, Hardcover, 9780871404619,  288 pp

Publication Date: September 3, 2012

To order this book via INDIEBOUND link HERE

Please note: This review is a reprint and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition (9/7/12), click HERE.

Damn Yankees

The New York Yankees have come to symbolize "everything good and strong and true about baseball and America and the human race in general. Either that, or avarice and unrepentant evil," writes Rob Fleder (former Executive Editor of Sports Illustrated) in the introduction to Damn Yankees: Twenty-Four Major League Writers on the World's Most Loved (and Hated) Team. In this collection of diverse, original essays, an all-star lineup of writers from the fields of sports (Tom Verducci, Sally Jenkins from Sports Illustrated), literature (Nathaniel Rich, novelist) and  finance (James Surowiecki, The New Yorker) share their own unique feelings and experiences about this quintessential sports dynasty.

The array of pieces resonate with immortals, legacies and personal stories. Some are crafted with lyricism and sensitivity and a select few showcase conflicted feelings by blending a mixture of back-handed compliments with tongue-in-cheek and a bone-to-pick tone. Passion and insight fuel each essay and shed light into the historical Yankees from the Babe, Mantle and DiMaggio to Derek Jeter; the price of wearing the pinstripes and winning at all costs; rivalries and the grueling duels between teams, players and fans; and the foibles and scandals that have rocked the team. Other essays explore the more human side of the game including a visit with Catfish Hunter in his final days; the story of Jim Abbott (Rick Telander, Chicago Sun-Times), a one-handed pitcher whose rise to fame was snuffed out by the 1994 Baseball Strike; and how rooting for or against the Yankees can transcend generations (J.R. Moehringer, memoirist) and continents (Colum McCann, novelist).

The essays, as a whole, render a multi-faceted portrait of the New York Yankees and why the team evokes such strong, often polarized, feelings. The book is capped by a section that offers facts, figures and statistics which support the many reasons why the Yanks--whether revered or loathed--are considered an American institution and a symbol of greatness.

Damn Yankees: Twenty-Four Major League Writers on the World's Most Loved (and Hated) Team edited by Rob Fleder

Ecco Press (A Division of Harper Collins Publishers), $27.99, Hardcover, 9780062059628, 304 pp

Publication Date: April 3, 2012

To order this book via INDIEBOUND link HERE

Please note: This review is a reprint and is being posted (in a slightly different form) with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition (4/13/12), click HERE.

The Life Lessons of Baseball

"Get your peanuts, Cracker Jacks, hot dogs, beer... and books?"

There is so much more to the game of baseball than stats or what's witnessed via your TV or even among a crowd of thousands cheering in the stands. Baseball embodies universal stories and life lessons that can be found on the field and off--especially in the pages of baseball-inspired books.

The theme of "life isn't always fair" is the idea captured in Nobody's Perfect: Two Men, One Call, and a Game for Baseball History by Armando Galarraga and Jim Joyce with Daniel Paisner. The story is a detailed, factual retelling of a first-base umpire's call that shattered a historical, almost perfect game played between the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians on June 2, 2010.

"You win some, you lose some" resounds in The Game from Where I Stand. Doug Glanville's memoir, now in paperback, is an eye-opening, gritty, insider's perspective of a life spent working toward building a career in the Major Leagues and rubbing elbows with a host of big-name ballplayers.

"Practice makes perfect, but be careful what you wish for" is the embodiment ofThe Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach's debut novel about baseball. A small, scrawny high school kid, with a major league talent for playing short stop, is recruited by a private college on the shores of Lake Michigan. But when a throw by the young infielder goes dreadfully awry, his life and the lives of those around him are suddenly changed in unexpected ways.

"Money talks--but not always" is the overriding theme in Moneyball, a mega-hit on page and screen. Michael Lewis details the story of how the Oakland Athletics reinvented their baseball team on a budget. And in Hot Stove Economics: Understanding Baseball's Second Season, economist J.C. Bradbury examines what constitutes a first-rate ball club and how the worth of baseball players--and success--is calculated. 

Note: This article is a reprint and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this piece as published on Shelf Awareness for Readers (4/13/12), link HERE