Mr. Book just finished The Yankee Way: The Untold Story of the Brian Cashman Era, by Andy Martino.

I was excited when I found out from a colleague that Andy Martino was going to be coming out with a book on Brian Cashman and his time with the Yankees. However, I did give Martino’s book on the 2017 Astros a D. So, I just hope that I am not disappointed again.

The book was still in the introduction where I found the first factual error. Martino wrote, about Cashman’s 25 consecutive winning seasons that no other team in history has had as many in franchise history. That is clearly wrong, as it is not even the Yankees franchise record (39 from 1926-64).

But, it became very clear almost immediately that the error wasn’t indicative of how the book was going to go and that Martino was going to more than redeem himself for his earlier book.

There was so much good material in the book, even before we got to the part when Cashman actually became the GM. Among some of the many tidbits was how Buck Showalter got his nickname, the background on the business dealings between Cashman’s father and George Steinbrenner, the scouting system that Bill Livesey developed and how Steinbrenner was thinking of firing Bob Watson in September 1996, before the Yankees won on to win that year’s World Series.

There is also so much good material after Cashman becomes GM. Among the many highlights was his relationship with the Steinbrenners and Joe Torre, the Jeter/Rodriguez relationship, Cashman’s relationship with Jeter, the trades for Chuck Knoblauch and Roger Clemens, Ron Guidry’s tenure as Yankees pitching coach, Aaron Judge’s free agency and so much more.

I gave this book an A+, which means it is inducted into the Hall of Fame. Goodreads requires grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, an A+ equates to 5 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

After finishing this book, I then got the audiobook version, so I will be able to enjoy it again.

This review has been posted at my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews, and Goodreads.

Mr. Book originally finished reading this on June 9, 2024.