My Favorite Yankee Miracles

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“You don’t have to be a Yankees fan to love Yankee Miracles.”—Yogi Berra If it was not all so true, you’d think it was a fairy tale. A seventeen-year-old from Queens spray paints graffiti on Yankee Stadium and gets nabbed by George Steinbrenner himself. Contrary to his gruff public image, the Boss—driven by a compassionate inner voice—reclaims the teen at a time when the Bronx is literally burning. Thus begins the unlikeliest of baseball stories, one in which Ray Negron is transformed from street kid to batboy and beyond. Befriending many of major league baseball’s greatest stars—Billy Martin, Reggie Jackson, Munson, Mantle, Catfish, A-Rod, Jeter, even Mrs. Lou Gehrig—Negron ultimately emerges as a dynamic community leader, dedicating his own life to helping the sick and rescuing generations of city kids from unfulfilled lives. Yankee Miracles is a book about the power of baseball to transform lives, about all those miracles on 161st Street we never knew were there.

Throughout its illustrious history, the New York Yankees have produced some of the most memorable highlights in baseball annals. Babe Ruth’s “called shot” home run, Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak, Derek Jeter’s amazing “Flip Play.” Most Yankees fans have seen newsreel footage of Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech, watched highlights of a young Mickey Mantle, and have heard the story of Billy Martin’s five managerial hirings and firings. But what makes the Yankees the world’s most celebrated sports franchise goes beyond sheer headlines? it is the stories of the men behind the headlines who have thrilled and enchanted New York fans since 1903. Miracle Moments in New York Yankees History is the ultimate tribute book for die-hard fans of the Bronx Bombers. Whether you’re a passionate booster from the days of Yogi Berra or a newly minted supporter of Alex Rodriguez, author David Fischer has compiled a supreme collection of 50 of the most prominent and relevant team successes, player feats, and award-winning accomplishments from the Yankees’ incredible past and present. And, much like the team itself, Miracle Moments in Yankees History is about far more than just miracle moments; in-depth player profiles, exciting game details, and the perspective of time bring the greatest achievements of history’s greatest Yankees to life. Miracle Moments in New York Yankees History is much more than just a comprehensive resource. It recounts the hidden stories behind the most storied franchise in baseball.

Happy the Man Happy he, and happy he alone, is the man who can call today his own, the man who, secure within, can say: Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today. Whether fair or foul or rain or shine, all my days, in spite of fate, are mine. Not even Heaven upon the past has power: What has been, has been, and I have had my hour. Horace First Century, B.C.

No origin story of the New York Mets is complete without Ed Kranepool. The lefty first baseman known as "Steady Eddie" made his major-league debut at age 17 during the team's inaugural season and would eventually depart, nearly two decades later, with his name written throughout the franchise's record books. In this definitive autobiography, Kranepool shares a remarkable life story, including early years playing stickball in the streets of the Bronx, the growing pains the Mets endured as an expansion club, his offseasons working as a New York stockbroker, and of course the miracle 1969 season that ended in an unforgettable World Series victory. He also opens up about the personal miracle which came 50 years after that famous championship: a lifesaving kidney transplant made possible by a Mets fan donor. A month after the surgery, Kranepool threw out the first pitch at Citi Field and boldly offered his services as a pinch hitter. Affable, open, and brimming with knowledge of the game, this thoroughly New York tale will delight baseball fans in Queens and beyond.

It was one perfect moment, one singular feat unparalleled in the half a century of baseball that followed. It was Game 5 of the 1956 World Series. In an age when nobody spat in anyone’s face, strikes were called only on the field, and New York was baseball’s battlefield, Don Larsen pitched the only no-hitter ever recorded in the World Series. Joe DiMaggio called it the best-pitched game he ever saw as a player or spectator. Yogi Berra said he felt like a kid on Christmas morning. And Mickey Mantle said, “For one day, Don Larsen was the greatest pitcher in baseball history.” Now readers can relive that moment of greatness in The Perfect Yankee. With a deft pen and an announcer’s enthusiasm, Larsen walks readers through each inning of that miraculous game. A must-read for any baseball fan.

How did Reggie Jackson go from superstar to icon? Why did Joe DiMaggio's nickname change from "Deadpan Joe" to "Joltin' Joe"? How did Seinfeld affect public perception of George Steinbrenner? The New York Yankees' dominance on the baseball diamond has been lauded, analyzed and chronicled. Yet the team's broader impact on popular culture has been largely overlooked--until now. From Ruth's called shot to the Reggie! candy bar, this collection of new essays offers untold histories, new interpretations and fresh analyses of baseball's most successful franchise. Contributors explore the Yankee mystique in film, television, theater, music and advertising.

By all accounts, the perfect game pitched by New York Yankees right-hander Don Larsen in the 1956 World Series qualifies as a true miracle. No one knows why it happened, or why an unlikely baseball player such as Larsen was the one who tossed it. In The Perfect Yankee Larsen describes the facts surrounding one of the most famous games in baseball history and details the complete story behind the amazing "Walter Mitty" performance. A former Baltimore Orioles pitcher who lost 21 games in 1954, the freespirited Larsen reveals how comic book "Ghoulies" told him he should experiment with a no-windup pitching delivery just prior to the '56 World Series. Knocked out in Game Two, the man known as Gooney Bird to his teammates regrouped to record a miracle win that propelled the Casey Stengel-led Yankees to the world championship over the defending champion Brooklyn Dodgers.