Phil Pepe spent years as the New York Daily News Yankee beat reporter, rubbing shoulders with countless Yankee greats, from Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra to Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. While he was there to report on the action that occurred on the field, as well as the many disruptions occurring in the locker room—especially during the tumultuous seventies when Billy Martin and the “Boss” were constantly at one another’s throats—that directly affected the team’s performance on the field, Pepe also saw a world that never made the papers.

Yankee Doodles humanizes the legends we have come to love and worship. We get to know the players as Pepe did, once the lights and cameras were turned off. For instance, Pepe recounts the story of Jackson’s miraculous three homerun World Series game when, in his exhilaration, Jackson literally gave Pepe the pants off his butt! This simple story shows a side of Reggie Jackson—a Yankees superstar—that reminds us that these men are often nothing more than boys playing a game they love.

Other favorites include the time Pepe went shopping with Berra, who was looking for a birthday present for his wife; the day Yankees pitchers Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich swapped wives, children, homes and even pet dogs; when Mantle graciously paid for a stranger’s dinner; and so much more!

This book offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse at some of the greatest Yankee heroes. It is a must-read for Yankee fans and baseball lovers alike!

Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team.

Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.