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Overview
It was the legendary home of baseball immortals, World Series champions, and classic moments in sports history, but after eighty-five years the House that Ruth Built is feeling her age, and the time has come to say good-bye. So as a new Yankee Stadium opens, Ray the Batboy and the Boss summon some of the greatest players who have worn the pinstripes to this hallowed field for one last game. And what a game it is!
In One Last Time: Good-bye to Yankee Stadium, Ray Negron and Laura Seeley, the New York Times bestselling team that created The Boy of Steel and The Greatest Story Never Told: The Babe and Jackie, pay tribute to the ballpark that housed so many Yankee greats and welcome the new stadium that will be home to future baseball heroes.
Synopsis
It was the legendary home of baseball immortals, World Series champions, and classic moments in sports history, but after eighty-five years the House that Ruth Built is feeling her age, and the time has come to say good-bye. So as a new Yankee Stadium opens, Ray the Batboy and the Boss summon some of the greatest players who have worn the pinstripes to this hallowed field for one last game. And what a game it is!
In One Last Time: Good-bye to Yankee Stadium, Ray Negron and Laura Seeley, the New York Times bestselling team that created The Boy of Steel and The Greatest Story Never Told: The Babe and Jackie, pay tribute to the ballpark that housed so many Yankee greats and welcome the new stadium that will be home to future baseball heroes.
Children's Literature
Author Negron has written a fiction account of the gathering of legendary players at the old Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York, before it was torn down. Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner wants a batboy named Ray to gather the old players and tell them the fate of their beloved stadium. Ray's job is hard because players such as Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig and others are deceased. Using the technique of fiction, the author enables Ray, through a magic door or shutter, to gather the players together one last time before the stadium is destroyed. When told about the fate of their stadium, the players debate this decision through dialogue. Facts about hits, records, etc. are woven throughout conversations among the players. The players then decide to play one last game in the old Yankee Stadium. Play-by-play descriptions are given of the players as they get up to bat. As the game goes on, the bulldozers begin to knock down the stadium. It is time for the players to say goodbye, and they hurry away into their magic room before the stadium tumbles down. Babe is sad but Lou assures him that people will remember them. Then it is time for them to leave. Babe wishes Steinbrenner good luck with the new stadium. Then Ray, the batboy, wants to leave with them and Steinbrenner tells him it is not his time. The players agree and as Ray and Steinbrenner lower the shutter, Steinbrenner says to Ray, "It's time to go home. To our new home." The concept of deceased players returning to the stadium through a magical door may be difficult younger readers to grasp. Illustrations are bold and life-like. Reviewer: Della A. Yannuzzi