Despite the ongoing story regarding Kobe, I've been hankering to write a baseball-related entry. So, I'm changing gears for today and presenting the following book review:
I purchased Buster Olney's The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty a couple of years ago and finished re-reading it recently. Yes, re-reading it. It's a great book about the pressure on the New York Yankees to win a World Series every year. The thing that makes the book work is that no one is made to be the villain, but rather people with significant flaws. Each chapter focuses on one person (everybody from pitcher Roger Clemens to centerfielder Bernie Williams to general manager Brian Cashman) while giving snippets of the game that brought the Yankee dynasty to an end: Game 7 of the 2001 World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. But the most intriguing aspect of the book is its portrayal of team owner George Steinbrenner. What drives Steinbrenner is an insatiable hunger for World Series championships every year,so much so he is willing and very capable to spend any amount necessary to make his dream of never-ending championships possible. Olney doesn't portray Steinbrenner as bad, just having an unbridled passion and craving for victory with the power and pocketbook to match. Even though I am not a Yankees fan, I strongly recommend this book to anybody that is a baseball fan. This book is available on Amazon.
