Yankee Miracles: Life with the Boss and the Bronx Bombers

On the afternoon of June 29, 1973, young Negron opened his can of spray paint and commenced to cover one of the walls of Yankee Stadium with graffiti. Suddenly, a car pulled up and out stepped a large man who grabbed Negron by the scruff of the neck. Negron soon found himself in a holding cell deep inside the offices of the stadium, worried and waiting to discover his fate. When the man who grabbed him returned, he introduced himself as George Steinbrenner. Rather than pressing charges against Negron, the Yankees’ owner gives the young boy a job as a batboy, and before long Negron is meeting all the players he’s followed and idolized for years. In this adulatory memoir, Negron, a community adviser for the Yankees, recalls his encounters with players and managers from Mickey Mantle, Billy Martin, and Reggie Jackson to Alex Rodriguez, Billy Murcer, and Thurman Munson. Negron recalls the time that Mantle, in the clubhouse to prepare for playing in an old-timers’ game, angrily lashed out at him for continually asking Mantle to sign baseballs; Negron cries openly in embarrassment and shame until Billy Martin smooths over the situation and teaches Negron in that moment to embrace mistakes and move on. Full of fondness and good memories, Negron’s affectionate memoir reveals that his love for the Yankees and his affection for Steinbrenner haven’t diminished over these many years. (Sept.)