Top
of
the Heap is not just a
metaphor of excellence, but a literal description.
I don’t collect baseball cards or uniforms or autographs or
other memorabilia, and quite frankly I don’t understand those
who do. But I do collect the sentences and paragraphs that provide the
language of this game; the words vibrate between my ears in a way
nothing else does. Ever since I was a kid I’ve stashed away
the newspapers and magazines that spoke to me, and I have the nightmare
of a basement, contact lenses, an understanding spouse, and the
occasional bad back to prove it.
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The
Yankees,
at first by accident and more recently by plan, have often been the
subject of this passion. Several years ago I realized that this book
already existed, that it lay buried somewhere in those piles of paper.
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To create Top of
the Heap I culled through
that collection, supplemented by suggestions and submissions from some
trusted colleagues to make sure I hadn’t missed anything
essential. While other anthologies of this type have tended to exhaust
the same familiar material again and again or to favor book excerpts
over work from other sources, I wanted this volume to be not only
better but different. So with only a few exceptions, I have chosen not
to reprint work too well known, instead giving prominence to writing
from newspapers, magazines, and other sources.
--
from the Introduction by Glenn Stout
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Top of the Heap
A Yankees Collection
by Glenn Stout
Mariner
Books, 2003
Order
a copy
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