Pride of October: What It Was to Be Young and a Yankee

Description

No other team has come close to dominating baseball like the New York Yankees, with 26 World Series wins and 38 American League championships. No wonder no other team has a frac tion of baseball books published about them. Bill Madden adds another to the lengthy list with Pride of October: What it Was to Be Young and a Yankee. From Phil Rizzuto and Whitey Ford to Lou Piniella and Paul O'Neil, 17 former Yankees and one Yankee widow, reveal their memories about their careers. The wide range ofYankee seasons is reflected in all the players selected, so questions range from the reality of Babe Ruth's "called home run," to Pichardthe shocking final inning of the 2001 World Series loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks with the "unbeatable" Yankee reliever Mario Rivera on the mound. In the pregame clubhouse meetings, the normally reserved Rivera surprised his team mates by saying "We're going to win, but no matter what happens, it's in God's hands." Don Mattingly reflects on his 13 fine seasons with the Yanks without a single World Series ring to show for it. Yogi Berra, Madden claims, when asked directions to his home for the interview replies, "When you get to the house, you'll see it."

Bill Madden is the author of several books about the Yankees, including the New York Times bestseller Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball. For more than 30 years, he has covered the Yankees and Major League Baseball for the New York Daily News. Madden is also the 2010 recipient of the Baseball Hall of Fame's J.G. Taylor Spink Award. He lives in New Jersey.

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