They say that the Golden Era of Baseball is whenever you were a kid, following your heroes, unaware of what went on in the front offices with all the dealmaking, undercutting and other issues that go into the making of a team.

Andy Martino would have you believe this all started with the promotion of Brian Cashman to the position of general manager, the architect when it comes to putting personnel together with the sole goal of winning a World Series. I hold a different concept of what exactly “the Yankee Way” is. To me, the Bronx Bombers have always been a team of class. They have been the icon of a successful sports franchise, despite the occasional hiccup here and there, since they acquired Babe Ruth in 1920. What follows is a succession of Hall of Famers: Ruth, Gehrig, Dickey, DiMaggio, Berra, Mantle. Yes, they hit a speed bump in the late 1960s to early 1970s, but once George Steinbrenner bought the team, the expectations returned to those high standards, with constant rules about deportment and decorum. Cashman did not invent this.

"Martino...does another great job of presenting his topic in empathetic and practical terms... THE YANKEE WAY undoubtedly will be a critical work in the literary oeuvre about this historic franchise."

Steinbrenner, aka “The Boss,” was a demanding cuss. He was famous for hiring and firing --- and rehiring --- managers and general managers. People went in knowing what to expect. Many thought they could shake off the constant looking-over-the-shoulder and interference from Steinbrenner.

Cashman certainly did. He began his career with the Yankees at a very early age, observing what went on with his superiors. One day it would be his turn; he would be one of the youngest GMs in the history of the game for a team that imposed perhaps the greatest expectations.

It was a different world for his predecessors, including Ed Barrow, who oversaw the first Yankee dynasty from the 1920s through the mid-1940s, and George Weiss (1948-1960), with a couple of others thrown in. Teams were much more in control of the fates of the players. There were no multi-year, multi-million-dollar contracts, and athletes were pretty much beholden to the whims of the teams for whom they played in the years before free agency.

Martino, who wrote the acclaimed CHEATED: The Inside Story of the Astros Scandal and a Colorful History of Sign Stealing, does another great job of presenting his topic in empathetic and practical terms, going into great depth (almost too much?) about front office dealings. He gives plenty of credit to Cashman’s predecessors, but I believe not enough to executives from other teams who came up with the notion of acquiring players who can get on base and score runs. This was done years before, as popularized in Michael Lewis’ classic MONEYBALL: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game.

Despite his success, Cashman still had to deal with Steinbrenner’s “what have you done for me lately” philosophy. Working in the biggest media fishbowl in all of sports similarly has its disadvantages, trying to deal with figurative dumpster fires --- as when the Yankees signed Alex Rodriguez, a thorn in the side of their established superstar, Derek Jeter. Trying to make everyone content, if not actually happy, is another constant issue when it comes to deciding whether to retain a favorite like a Bernie Williams or take on malcontent baggage in acquiring a David Wells or a heated rival like a Roger Clemens.

THE YANKEE WAY undoubtedly will be a critical work in the literary oeuvre about this historic franchise.