One Last Time: Good-bye to Yankee Stadium
Grade 1–4—This is not the kind of tribute that Yankee Stadium deserves. Postgame, George Steinbrenner calls Ray, the batboy, to his office to tell him that Yankee Stadium will be torn down, and he asks Ray to tell the good ol' boys—Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, et al—that they can return to the stadium "one last time and say good-bye." At this point, it's unclear how Ray will do this or what the Boss is talking about; then, they wax poetic about the "old lady" and about how the greats will be carried in fans' hearts forever. Ray fulfills his assignment. The guys are gathered in a "magic room," and he lets them out to play one last time. Naturally, it's the game of a lifetime. As they are playing, they hear bulldozers, and Steinbrenner gets a call that the stadium is coming down immediately. Everyone has to run to the magic room or risk never being able to leave. The text is overlong and maudlin. The color illustrations are static, and there are jarring close-ups of Ray's face. Even New York City libraries should be wary of purchasing this title.—Laura Lutz, formerly at Queens Borough Public Library, NYCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.