YANKEES ANNUAL 2010

Each Spring I look forward to the warm summers, Spring Training, Opening Day and a new Yankee team. Over the last couple of years one additional thing I look forward to is the Maple Street Press Yankees Annual (formerly Bombers Broadside). When I see the YA on the shelves I know Opening Day is not far away.

It is a great publication that paves they way for the upcoming Bombers season in a way no "one" publication has done before. It is full of analysis by some of the greatest Yankees minds you can find. Chock full of writers that don't pull punches and leave no stone unturned. It stresses the current and upcoming team without forgetting the past season or the vast history that has paved its way through the Bronx.

The writers range from some of the best known Yankee beat writers to the renown webmasters on the Internet. Webmasters and publishers of the web are today unsung heroes, many of them do it for the love of the team. Writer and editor Cecilia Tan, who once again has put together another fine collection, got the proverbial ball rolling with a roster/2010 preview which you will want to keep by your remote control once the season starts. It is loaded with stats, charts and photos in addition to her fine writing style. It has some of my favorite writers in it as well as some of the writers that I love to hate. But here they can say no wrong! What YA would be complete without a contribution form Take Him Downtown's Dan McCourt.

This publication is for the die hard fan, the casual fan or just the rookie that wants to learn the game. Just reading this publication will prepare you for any office water cooler conversation that can be dished out. It would make you smarter than the guy that sits behind you during the game, you know the one I mean. So I couldn't recommend it more. Buy two copies someone is bound to borrow it and not return it. Pick up your copy at your local bookstore or newstand or order it here.

Hughes Named #5 Starter

As reported on BehindtheBombers.Com Tuesday the Yankees manager Joe Girardi officially announced Thursday that Phil Hughes will serve as the club's fifth starter in 2010. that mean that Joba Chamberlain will be joining the Yankees bullpen in a move that many people felt he was stronger in.

In sadder news Dwight Gooden, who once held the heart of New York by his right arm, was arrested on Tuesday for the umpteenth time for essentially the same crime. For too many years, he has spent as much time on the police blotter as on the pitcher’s mound, because of the influence of drugs and his inability to stop taking them.

Summers in the Bronx: Attila the Hun and Other Yankee Stories

by Ira Berkow

ISBN: 978-1-60078-392-0256

This book could have easily been called The Best Of Ira Berkow, and it really is. It is Mr Berkow's finest Yankee articles from his illustrious career. You can read it from cove to cover ( I bet you will) or you can read whatever tickles your fancy first and make the tough decision what to read next.

As a NY Daily News reader myself this collection on Berkow's NY Times articles was entirely new to me. But you couldn't make a better scrapbook if you clipped them all yourself.

Ira Berkow warms up the way-back machine and takes you with him into the clubhouse and onto the field as he observes, interviews and comments on America's team over his long and distinguished career writing and reporting on them.

He takes you through the lives of the Mantles and DiMaggios throughout the Steinbrenner Era. He paints a picture with his words that no fan should do without. So warm up for the 2010 season and put this book on your "To Read" list.