In his newest sports book (following on the heels of Dynasty: The Oral History of the New York islanders, 1972 - 1984 and Sack Exchange: The Definitive Oral History of the 1980s New York Jets), Prato trains his literary focus on the 1980s-era New York Yankees and the decade that almost was. The author is a master at seeking out little wrinkles in the great and exalted fabric of professional sports. Using the oral narrative, he stitches, sews and stretches the cloth until he's created an historic blanket without a single loose thread.

Virtually no other writer has tackled this particular moment in the history of the Bronx Bombers. He does so in a series of oral revelations from the key players themselves, including Goose Gossage, Tommy John, Phil Niekro, Dave Righetti and 36 others who were there.

Here in the Introduction, Prato tells us why he wanted to write this book.

"While flipping through Yankees history books, I notice that many tend to not pay much attention to the '80s, and focus more on the other decades. So I set out to put together a book I always wanted to read, that traced the ups and downs of the 1980s Yankees. After tracking down and speaking to many players that helped make those Yankees teams so memorable, there is now a book that solely chronicles this oft-overlooked era of the Bronx Bombers."