About the FIFTY GREATEST YANKEE GAMES The idea for this book came about when one day I was having a business lunch with my agent, Lori Perkins, in New York. I live in Boston so I only get to New York for two reasons--business meetings and baseball games. I mentioned that while I was in town I would be going to see the Yankees. Turns out Lori grew up a huge Yankees fan also. her specialty, as a literary agent, is in fiction genres like fantasy, horror, and erotica. I write erotic fantasy and science fiction also, which is why we were getting together. She mentioned she had a sport writer friend and that she had been trying to get him to write a book on the "Top Fifty" Yankees games ever played. "But he couldnever get the list together," she told me, "so I quit naggin him." Well, that got me thinking about what games would make my top fifty list. Some forty eight hours later I sent her a list of fifty games. At the time I still wasn't thinking of it as a serious book project, just a fun exercise for a devoted baseball nut like me. But then came an editor who wanted to see the proposal for the book, and the next thing you know, I'm formalizing the list and writing an introduction. John Wiley and Sons bought the book and will be publishing it in spring 2005. The book will consist of fifty chapters, one on each game on my list. The games are grouped into various sections, including great World Series games, great rivalry games with the Red Sox, great individual achievements (like no hitters and hitting four homers in a game), and of course, heartbreakers. In addition to bringing some forgotten games to life, I am creating trivia questions and adding other cool "extras" to the book. My main source of information on the older games are newspaper accounts. I am spending a lot of time looking at microfilm of old New York Herald Tribune and St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Washington Post stories. Often it takes reading two to three different game recaps before a complete picture of what went on emerges. It's especially helpful to read both the home and away papers as they emphasize sometimes quite disparate points of view. Games played in the latter half of the century, especialy World Series games, are also written about in many books, player biographies and autobiographies. There is no shortage of Yankees history books right now, either. And of course the games that were played by players who are still living are being enhanced by my interviews with the players. To date I have already done Bucky Dent, Tommy Byrne, and Ralph Terry, with many more on my list to speak to in the coming months. And of course the Yankees are playing in October even as I type this, which means that a great game might yet come along and knock another one off the list. So I am being flexible, still taking suggestions on games to add, and the like. News and updates about the book's progress will be posted on the main page. Copyright © 2003 Cecilia Tan

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