* Author profile: Frank Strauss

Another book about the Yankees? Why not. This one, though, focuses on the beginnings of the juggernaut squad that ran roughshod over baseball from 1949-53. The profile of Frank Strauss ran in the Danbury (CT) News-Times. He will be appearing at the Kent Memorial Library on Aug. 23.

Google books runs substantial “preview” of Strauss’ Dawn of a Dynasty: The Incredible and Improbable Story of the 1947 New York Yankees, which you can read here. You can also visit the book’s Web site here.

* 202 reasons to be annoyed

In 2006, Roy Green published 101 Reasons to Love the Yankees and 101 Reasons to Love the Red Sox. Released by Stewart, Tabori, and Chang, these were nice little books (a similar book about the Mets also came out that year), full of pictures and brief texts about the author’s favorite moments and people for each team.

This year, he has evidently changed his mind, adding, rearranging, and deleting some of the “reasons,” which are mostly listed in chronological order.

I won’t go into detail, won’t list every one, but let’s just look at the top 10 for the Yankees:

	2006 edition	2008 edition
1	Pinstripes	Pinstripes
2	The Highlanders	The Highlanders
3	Jack Chesbro	Jack Chesbro
4	The Polo Grounds	The Polo Grounds
5	Babe Ruth	Babe Ruth (including his numbers)
6	The Babe’s Numbers	The Curse of the Bambino
7	The Curse of the Bambino	Bobby Veach
8	Bobby Veach	Yankee Stadium
9	Yankee Stadium	The Bat (in front of the stadium)
10	The Facade	The short porch

2008 edition

2006 edition

The author obviously wants to update the books to include events and personnel from the last couple of years, thereby juggling the rest of the content, but is this really worth the effort, not to mention warranting the expense for those who bought the first edition? The differences aren’t that great; the cynic in me sees this as merely an attempt to wheedle more money from the book-buying public. These are not not one of those statistical encyclopedias that are updated annually (and even those aren’t 100 percent necessary these days, thanks to the availability of data on the Internet).

Buyer beware! Fortunately, 101 Reasons can be read quickly enough at the bookstore, although the reader/buyer can’t be expected to remember every detail of the previous version when deciding whether to plunk down the $14.95 (at least they didn;t increase the price).

* The dark side of the Yankees’ Sun

Leave it to the NY Sun to cast a cloud over the final season of Yankee Stadium, castigating the ball club for what it didn’t do rather than highlight just the bright spots.

* Deceased memorabilia king keeps giving

The late Barry Halper was acknowledged to be perhaps the king of collectors. His holdings were sold at Sotheby’s, raising millions of dollars.

One of his pet charities was the burn unit at St. Barnabas in New Jersey. In that spirit, there will be an auction for a “package” of Yankees goods and services for young athletes (Halper was a “silent partner” of the team). The :Barry Halper’s Hitters Go to Bat” event includes:

• Opportunity to hone pitching, fielding, and hitting skills under the supervision of distinguished New York Yankees Coaches
• Commemorative photograph of clinic taken by the Yankees team photographer
• Private breakfast in the Yankee Stadium Sidewalk Café for the clinic participant and three guests
• Opportunity to stand on the field during the National Anthem
• Four seats in a luxury suite to watch the Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays game
• Personalized welcome message on Yankee Stadium Centerfield message board
• Commemorative video of the opening ceremony and National Anthem
• New York Yankees gift bag
• Customized Yankees Jersey
• Personalized autographed baseball by Yogi Berra

As you can imagine, such a deal does not come cheap. Bidding, which opens on July 20 at MLB.com/auction, begins at $500. For more information, click here.

* A little slice of heaven from Roger Angell

From the July 7 issue of The New Yorker, a piece about a statistical anomaly and the New York Yankees.

* Another one bites the dust

From the NY Daily News, this article about the demise of Paperbacks Plus, the last independent bookstore in the Bronx.

…every Yankee baseball player-cum-author has held a book signing at Paperbacks Plus, including Yogi Berra, Paul O’Neill and Derek Jeter.

“Every Yankee player who’s ever come through here has been super nice to everyone, especially the kids,” Jaffe recalled. “They made you proud.”

* Review: The Greatest Game

This blogger at Soxlinks does a better job than I at parsing the anti-Bradley review from the Boston Phoenix.

* Column: The Real Jerry Coleman

Not a review of the former big leaguer’s new autobiography, per se, but a testimony to the man by Tom Shanahan of the Voice of San Diego.

* Happy Birthday, Joe McCarthy

Born this day in 1887, McCarthy, one of the few managers in the Hall of Fame, led the Yankees to eight pennants and seven world championships. he also led the Chicago Cubs (one pennant) and the Boston Red Sox.

The Amazon Report on Joe McCarthy:

Joe Mccarthy: Achitect of the Yankee Dynasty

* Happy birthday, Vic Raschi

Born in 1919, Raschi won 120 games for the Yankees during their juggernaut years, averaging 20 wins from 1948-51, including three straight 21-victory seasons. He also pitched briefly for the Cardinals and K.C. Athletics. Not bad considering he didn’t become a major leaguer until 27, and didn’t join the rotation full-time until he was 29.

The Amazon Report on Vic Raschi:

Reynolds, Raschi and Lopat: New York’s Big Three and Great Yankee Dynasty of 1949-1953

Happy Birthday, Elston Howard

The Yankees first African-American player would have been 70 today.

One of Casey Stengel’s great — if not politically correct — lines was, “As Peter Golenbock noted in Dynasty, “When I finally get a [black player], I get the only one who can’t run.”

After his death, Howard’s wife, Arlene, published Elston and Me: The Story of the First Black Yankee, with Ralph Wimbish, in which she tells the distaff side: Not only were African-American players isolated, so were their wives and families.

The Amazon Report:

Elston and Me: The Story of the First Black Yankee (Sports and American Culture Series)