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Billy Martin: Baseball's Flawed Genius by Bill Pennington

Second baseman for the Yankees during the 1950s, then a major league manager for 16 seasons, Billy Martin was known for his incredible baseball smarts and his fiery temper—he was fired by Yankees owner George Steinbrenner five times. Pennington once served as the Yankees beat writer at the Bergen County Record and knew Martin well: "I was threatened by him. I was almost beaten up by him. I was also so charmed by him and enjoyed being in his charismatic presence for countless hours on the baseball trails. (Library Journal Reviews)

Pedro by Pedro Martinez

In Pedro we relive it all in Technicolor brightness, from his hardscrabble days in the minor leagues clawing for respect; to his early days in lonely Montreal, where he first struggled with the reputation of being a headhunter; to his legendary run with the Red Sox when start after start he dazzled with his pitching genius; to his twilight years on the mound as he put the finishing touches on a body of work that made him an icon. (Publisher Summary)

The Rivals by the Baseball Writers of the New York Times and the Boston Globe

This collection of original essays is a natural: not only does the same parent corporation own both newspapers, it also has a significant stake in the Red Sox. But the anthology isn't just hype; the New Yorkers in particular gladly point out that this is "a Potemkin Village of a rivalry," and that whether Babe Ruth cursed the Sox or not, the Yankees have been able to win 26 World Series in the 84 years since Babe arrived in the Bronx because they consistently fielded a better team. Dreamy-eyed paeans to the "religion of baseball" are thankfully kept to a minimum, as the writers focus on major Sox-Yankees confrontations through the decades (including last year's championship series brawl) and anecdotes starring players from both teams many of whom may go unrecognized by baseball fans in other cities. If the book does have a fault, it's that its writers often wind up repeating the same stories, though the differing perspectives can be illuminating. Globe writers fess up to the Sox's sorry legacy as the last Major League team to hire an African-American player, for example, while Times columnists use the fact as one more opportunity to hammer home their team's superiority. (Publisher Weekly Reviews)