Bronx Bummers

Whether you love the Yankees or loathe them, even the most casual baseball fan is well versed on the team's nearly 100-year lineage of legends that span the decades from Ruth to DiMaggio to Mantle to Jeter. Most every book on the Yankees, therefore, heralds the unparalleled winning tradition of the famed Bronx Bombers.This is not that kind of book.In Bronx Bummers: The Unofficial History of the New York Yankees' Bad Boys, Blunders and Brawls, authors Robert Dominguez and David Hinckley shine a light on the dark side of the team's otherwise illustrious history. In 50 lighthearted chapters, Bronx Bummers begins with the tale of the Yankees' first colorful owners in 1903 — one was a former New York police chief widely considered the most corrupt cop in city history, the other was Manhattan's biggest owner of illegal gambling dens — and continues through the sordid exploits of some of the team's earliest stars, including a slick-fielding first baseman run out of baseball for throwing games; a good-hitting pitcher who derailed his Hall of Fame-bound career with his brawling and boozing ways; and even the great Babe Ruth himself, who regularly led the league in HRs, RBIs and STDs.And while most baseball teams have a history of bench-clearing brawls, Dominguez and Hinckley, veteran New York City tabloid reporters, chronicle how the Yankees hold the unofficial record for most fights between teammates — not to mention the most front-office blunders