Just Out of Reach: The 1980s New York Yankees

by Greg Prato

The 1980s New York Yankees were loaded with talent - their always-outspoken owner made sure of that. But somehow, someway, it did not all add up - resulting in one of the few decades in Yankee history that did not include at least one World Series championship. However, the '80s weren't a complete washout, as it contained quite a few classic Yankee moments, including a no-hitter, a 300th win for an eventual Hall of Fame pitcher, welcoming two of the biggest stars in all of baseball aboard, and the emergence of a popular, homegrown first baseman. 'Just Out of The 1980s New York Yankees' is the first-ever book to focus solely on this decade of the team. Featuring nearly 30 all-new, exclusive interviews with players and those close to the team, the book is a fly-on-the-wall view of what was going on behind the scenes and on the field. Set up in the oral history format, 'Just Out of Reach' reads like a documentary, but in book form.

Genres: Baseball

346 pages, Paperback

First published January 8, 2014

About the author

Greg Prato is a Long Island, New York-based journalist, whose writing has appeared in such renowned publications as Rolling Stone. He is the author of several popular books, 'A Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on the Other: The Story of Shannon Hoon and Blind Melon,' 'Touched by Magic: The Tommy Bolin Story,' 'Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music, 'No Schlock . . . Just Rock!,' 'The Eric Carr Story,' 'MTV Ruled the World: The Early Years of Music Video,' 'Sack Exchange: The Definitive Oral History of the 1980s New York Jets,' 'Too High to Die: Meet the Meat Puppets,' 'Dynasty: The Oral History of the New York Islanders, 1972-1984,' and 'The Faith No More & Mr. Bungle Companion.'

Reviews

[J. Herman · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Just Out of Reach" is an interesting read for baseball fans, particularly '80s baseball fans. Yankees fans from that era should particularly enjoy it.

It's a compilation of interviews with many of the key figures, organized by topic. It's fun to hear from people like Goose Gossage, Tommy John, Steve Balboni, Dave Righetti, Andre Robertson and others.

There's very little narrative so it's not great literature or anything, but it works. For me it brought back lots of good memories, and I learned a lot of things, too.

[Jackchristopherhill · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring

I'm a huge Yankee fan, but this book was boring. I had hoped it told a story and not just 100's of quotes or short interviews. I would not recommend this to anyone.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good book by Greg Prato. He covers a time period that a lot of Yankee fans deny existed. This was George Steinbrennr at his maniac best. In my opinion he was the sole reason the Yankees did not reach a World Series from 82 thru 89.