The author, who spent two seasons with the Yankees when he was a high school student in the early 1990s, is evenhanded in describing the job's ups (hanging around the players) and downs (doing menial chores like cleaning sinks and polishing baseball spikes, and putting up with the players' egos). McGough, now a Fordham Law School graduate, chooses to dwell on the positives and tells his story without too much fawning over or dish on the players. He loved getting paid cash tips, meeting girls and becoming famous in a minor way by association. But he also had to deal with outsiders who sought to gain an "in" with players like Don Mattingly and bigwigs like George Steinbrenner by cozying up to peripheral personnel like McGough and other clubhouse workers. The teenager tried to balance all this glamour with a hectic school life, which, naturally, wasn't always easy, much to the chagrin of his parents and teachers. Since Yankee policy dictates that bat boys can work a maximum of two years, McGough matured from "rookie" to old hand in a short time, losing a degree of innocence as he learned how to take advantage of his "veteran" status, which he describes in honest and self-effacing terms. Agent, Heather Schroeder at ICM. (On sale May 10) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Lawyer McGough is not a writer, but what he experienced few sportswriters of the modern age can imagine: unguarded friendly moments with star players like Don Mattingly, Danny Tartabull, and others while serving as batboy to the Yankee teams of the early 1990s, a job he won on the basis of a heartfelt letter. A memoir that appreciates instead of dishing dirty; for readers young and old. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 1/05.] Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Adult/High School-McGough was 16 when he wrote a letter to the Yankees and asked for a position as a batboy. After persistently calling their switchboard over a period of weeks, he was finally granted an interview with the clubhouse manager. He got the job and spent 1992 and 1993 in the position. The author focuses on the positives and tells his story with immediacy, humor, and heart. While he met famous ballplayers and cute girls, he also had to deal with outsiders who sought to gain an in with such folks as Don Mattingly and George Steinbrenner by cozying up to peripheral personnel. This memoir is much more than an all-access pass to Yankee Stadium and baseball-it is an exquisitely written and observed book about growing up and the beauty of the game. The author is honest and self-effacing in his recounting-he almost failed high school when he placed his job before his studying-and he later mentions that being a batboy gave him confidence as he fulfilled his childhood dream. The book is a quick, fast read, full of amusing anecdotes involving spring training, bat stretchers, a pyramid scheme, and 50 illegal CDs.-Erin Dennington, Fairfax County Public Library, Chantilly, VA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

A winsome little reminiscence of two years spent at the Bronx Zoo. McGough had no connections to the New York Yankees organization when he sat down and wrote them for a job as batboy as he was about to enter his junior year in high school. But out of the blue he got the job, a plum for any young Yankees fan. Well, a plum until he found himself swabbing filthy sinks, shining shoes, gathering up dirty laundry, and lugging overstuffed trash bags leaking tobacco juice to the Dumpster. Still, it was a small price to pay for getting to know so many of his heroes, and most of them were real bricks to McGough, making him welcome and making him feel like a necessary cog in the great machine. Now a 29-year-old lawyer, the author writes with polish but manages to maintain a tone of innocence and awe in his narrative. Naturally, not all his time was spent rubbing shoulders with the players in the dugout, but a handful of stories relate adventures only someone in McGough's unique position could experience. He got to drive a player's car home from a Florida training camp and had amusingly thwarted encounters with college girls on spring break. He was ensnared in a pyramid scheme trying to cash in on box seats. He went on a couple of chaste dates with girls in the stands, lured by the pinstripes. By his second year, McGough was getting dumber rather than wiser. He concocted a scam to trade phony player autographs for CDs, and it backfired (though he didn't get burned). Anyone who ever harbored an unmitigated distaste for the Yankees front office will be somewhat mollified by learning that the Yankee Foundation gave the author a critical $10,000 scholarship to attend Williams College. Only a kid on theloose in a candy store would display more sheer joy than McGough at his great good luck.

Imagine spending two of your teenaged years living baseball madness every day, being asked to run errands that snag you great tips, and driving a player’s Cobra because you’re a bat boy for the Yankees. While McGough’s stories vary from the expected to the compelling, his audio presentation chokes. He reads his own work in a one-dimensional voice that lacks any performance style, offers no vocal characterizations, and truly fails to enhance his own text. One can only imagine how gripping these adventures might have sounded read by a professional narrator. For true Yankee fans, this audio presentation strikes out. M.R.E. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine