Yankee Miracles: Life with the Boss and the Bronx Bombers

by Ray Negron, Sally Cook, Hank Steinbrenner (Introduction)

“You don’t have to be a Yankees fan to love Yankee Miracles.”―Yogi Berra If it was not all so true, you’d think it was a fairy tale. A seventeen-year-old from Queens spray paints graffiti on Yankee Stadium and gets nabbed by George Steinbrenner himself. Contrary to his gruff public image, the Boss―driven by a compassionate inner voice―reclaims the teen at a time when the Bronx is literally burning. Thus begins the unlikeliest of baseball stories, one in which Ray Negron is transformed from street kid to batboy and beyond. Befriending many of major league baseball’s greatest stars―Billy Martin, Reggie Jackson, Munson, Mantle, Catfish, A-Rod, Jeter, even Mrs. Lou Gehrig―Negron ultimately emerges as a dynamic community leader, dedicating his own life to helping the sick and rescuing generations of city kids from unfulfilled lives. Yankee Miracles is a book about the power of baseball to transform lives, about all those miracles on 161st Street we never knew were there. 8 photographs

Genres: Baseball, Sports

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 3, 2012

About the author

Ray Negron is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Boy of Steel: A Baseball Dream Come True, as well as two other children's picture books. He was a Yankees batboy, played minor league ball, and worked for the Cleveland Indians. He currently works with the Yankees as a special advisor on community relations for Hank Steinbrenner and Randy Levine. In addition, he is the producer of the animated film Henry & Me. He lives in Florida with his four children.

Reviews

[Karry Vanherreweghe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this as a Goodreads, first reads. First, I want to say that I pride myself on being a die hard St. Louis Cardinals fan. Second, I highly recommend this to ANY baseball fan. I recently moved to New York City and most people love the Yankees. While I'll never be a Yankee fan, I love the feeling I got when reading this book. Once a Yankee, always a Yankee was said more than once and it has such a similar feeling in St. Louis. I can definitely appreciate the greatness of past and present Yankee players and reading about different things they did to help the community is just amazing!! Great read and I now I look forward to going to a game to really feel the joy in the stadium!

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yankee Miracles is about the miracles that Ray Negron the author witnessed and experienced himself while working in the Yankee organization. He was picked up off the streets of NYC by the Boss (George Steinbrenner), offered a job by him and then built a career in the Yankee organization. Some great inside stories about legendary Yankee players in the ‘70s through 2010. What was most interesting was to hear how George Steinbrenner helped so many and took such an active role in helping those less fortunate. You read all of the negative press about him but after reading this book you realize the big Herat he had and all of the good that he did.

[Ted Hinkle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not just another story about the New York Yankees, YANKEE MIRACLES is a special tribute to our guys in pinstripes and the "Boss", George Steinbrenner. I've read quite a few books over the years highlighting the Yanks, but none as heartwarming and intimate as Ray Negron's remarkable story filled with personal anecdotes and behind the scene details of growing up with the Yankees. As a lifelong fan, I treasured every page. Thanks for the heartfelt memories, Ray Negron.

[Dan Bukowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice quick read. Interesting even for someone like me who is not a Yankee fan. Fortunately I was in my teens and followed baseball avidly when much of what Ray depicts occurs. I found the first half of the book much more interesting than the later sections given Ray's greater direct involvement.

[Joseph Marzella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was fortunate enough to meet Ray Negron and brought me around for spring training during a make a wish trip. So many of the stories were relatable to the experience I had in 2014. Ray gifted me this book and has been a great read.

[Kristie Kelty · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 to 4 stars

[Ana Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being a Yankee fan almost all my life and excited to say I enjoyed reading, ”Yankee Miracles.” Ray Negron a seventeen year old teen who was obsessed with the game of baseball. On June 29, 1973, Ray’s journey began. Spraying graffiti on the Yankee Stadium and being caught by security and meeting George Steinbrenner himself .
Ray was now in a Yankee uniform and working as a bat boy. Reading Ray’s journey
of baseball games as a bat boy. Meeting famous Yankee players like, Thurman Munson, Bobby Maurcer, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Roger Maris, and many other greats. I enjoyed reading all of Ray’s club house experiences with the players. This is novel for a Yankee fan to enjoy. I sure did.

[Don Gorman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great literature? No. A great and entertaining memoir? Absolutely. Especially if you are a Yankees fan over the age of 30. Over the age of 40 and a Yankees fan it goes up a star or two. The story of how Ray Negron became part of the Yankees is amazing enough but his extended career with The Boss and the Yankee organization and the portraits of some of the star players he paints are big fun.

[Bill S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Negron, an employee of the Yankees off and one for nearly 40 years, has written a book at times very moving, at other times a bit saccharine, about some of the Yankee players past and present who have made a difference in his life. The author enables us to see a side of these athletes usually not seen. Included are many kind words for George Steinbrenner and the many charitable deeds he did for the people around him. Well worth the read.

[Jerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is probably in my top 3 of books I've read about the New York Yankees. I've been a fan since 1956, and have read a ton of books and articles on this franchise, not to mention all the games, visits to the stadium and documentarys.

So, if you think you know the team from the 1970s to the present, read this and be surprised.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though I don't make it to many baseball games, I devour newspaper articles, books and movies about baseball (Right now I'm reading "The Cubs and The Kabbalist.") Ray Negron's story has the enjoyable trappings of a fairy-tale with enough reality to keep the sentimentality in check. He and co-author Sally Cook have created a memoir with a hopeful trajectory and a big heart!

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book . Must read for Yankees fans. Gives different. Picture of a caring Steinbrenner

[Mark Slattery · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tremendous story of a Bronx kid picked up off the streets and immersed in the Yankee clubhouse. Tremendous chapter towards the end will have me rooting extra hard for Brett Gardner from now on

[MelAnnD · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great story (memoir) of a Bronx kid picked up off the streets and immersed in the Yankee clubhouse. You'll love this book especially if you are a Yankees fan>

*Won on Goodreads*

[Bernadette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I reviewed this on my baseball blog. Read it here.

[Steve Beilharz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Along with Bobby Murcer's "Yankee For Life" , are the best baseball books I ever read.

[Michael Dsupin · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a Yankee fan, I would recommend it.

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a Yankee fan this is a good book. The story of his life chaning and the other stories of Yankee players he became friends with. A good story.

[Jason Palatsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that takes us behind the scenes of being a Yankees. Was really hard to put down

[Corinne Driscoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read, especially for a Yankee fan.