A columnist for the Daily News shares interviews with eighteen prominent Yankee players including Yogi Berra and Paul O'Neill to convey their experiences of playing on one of Major League Baseball's top teams. In his years of writing about the Yankees for the Daily News, columnist the author has earned the reputation as one of the premier journalists covering the team. Now, he combines his unprecedented access with his unique insight to provide an insider's look at America's most revered sports team. He sits down with 18 prominent Yankee players, from legends like Yogi Berra to recent greats like Paul O'Neill, and gets them to open up about what it's like to play for the sport's most loved, most hated, and most successful franchise. Introspective chapters include profiles of Phil Rizzuto, Whitey Ford, Don Mattingly, and Lou Piniella; Jerry Coleman, who explains why the Yankees to him are?not just a team but a religion? and Ralph Houk, the manager of the 1961 Yankees team who rarely gives interviews. Other revealing portraits include Bobby Murcer, Reggie Jackson, and Joe Pepitone. Bill Madden, award-winning columnist for the Daily News, collaborated with Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer on his bestselling biography Zim: A Baseball Life (Total Sports, 4/01), which sold more than 60,000 hardcover copies and spent several weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Madden's access to the Yankees is unparalleled, and he has far-reaching media contacts in the baseball world, which will provide opportunities for promotion and publicity. The book will also include a number of behind-the-scenes photos.