Through meticulous research and exclusive interviews with the late Mickey Mantle and Billy Martin --- and those who knew them best --- journalist and historian Tony Castro reveals the double-edged sword of their friendship: how the New York Yankees legends, an inseparable duo, epitomized the swagger and spirit of their era while paying the price for fame’s excesses. While leading a 1950s Yankees dynasty, they lived life at full throttle: wild partying, barroom brawls and run-ins with the law. As the years wore on, the very traits that made Mantle and Martin extraordinary figures exacted a heavy price, but in MICKEY & BILLY, we see that their friendship was the saving grace. Only together could Mickey and Billy face life’s next difficult pitch.

The legendary achievements of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig are undeniable hallmarks of baseball history. Much has been written about the two men as teammates, but Ruth and Gehrig's relationship away from the field is rarely, if ever, explored. In GEHRIG AND THE BABE, Tony Castro portrays Ruth and Gehrig for what they were: American icons who were remarkably different men. For the first time, readers will learn about a friendship driven apart, an enduring feud that wove its way in and out of their Yankees glory years and chilled their interactions until July 4, 1939 --- Lou Gehrig Day at Yankee Stadium --- when Gehrig’s famous farewell address thawed out their stone silence.