I’ve been a fan of page-a-day calendars for some time; they’re almost as much a part of Christmas-time for me as overpriced Christmas trees, tacky sweaters and teams of high school students at the mall offering to wrap your gifts for a few bucks. I currently have two of these little marvels of daily dispensing information sitting on my nightstand – one providing a piece of insight from the Dalai Lama every day, and another providing a German phrase du jour, or should I say Satz des Tages? – which I bought to presumably help me learn some things about the language of my grandparents that unfortunately wasn’t handed down to me.

Gabriel Schechter has taken the page-a-day calendar concept and turned it into a book, and one that highlights the mis-doings, evil deeds and missteps of the New York Yankees.

In This Bad Day In Yankees History, you’ll get to read all about the bad things that have happened to the Yankees, and all the bad things they have done – from personnel moves, to treatment of employees and on-field gaffes that have resulted in them not winning another World Series.

Gabriel Schecter

Schecter, a researcher at the Baseball Hall of Fame library, certainly has done his work in compiling the information he presents in the book. He generally provides two team facts and a quote for each day of the year, including Februrary 29. For any baseball fan, this provides a wealth of information and insight into the history of the Yankees – arguably baseball’s most storied franchise and a key player in so many of baseball’s great stories.

My problem with the book is that it completely lacks context – namely the historical context that was governing the behavior of most Major League Baseball clubs throughout history. The result is that the Yankees look like the absolute heathens of baseball, when likely there was plenty of similar behavior going on across the league. If someone who had no understanding or appreciation of baseball history were to read this book, they would have an incredibly skewed view of how the business of baseball was – and is – conducted on the bigger scale. Remember that for a good chunk of the Yankees history, baseball was without integration and free agency, and still had the reserve clause in effect, which resulted in many of the player contract stories that dot the book. Baseball is certainly not without its tarnished past and skeletons in the closet, and the Yankees are no exception. Problem is – no team is an exception, and sadly that aspect of the game gets left out of the book completely.

If anything, I would expect a bit more out of Schecter given his position with the Hall of Fame and the fact that this is his sixth book, he runs a pretty good blog, and he’s a member of SABR, the Society for American Baseball Research.

But then again, we’re all entitled to have a bit of fun – which is what this book is designed to be. It gives those who dislike the Yankees plenty of facts and quotes to add a little more charm to any day of the year, while giving Yankee fans something to chuckle about as they look back over more than 100 years of Yankee baseball. For those who fall into neither of the two previously mentioned camps, it adds to the collective knowledge bank, although all focusing on one team. For as big as they are though, the Yankees are not the entire story of baseball – sometimes they’re the lead character, but plenty of other times they have a supporting role.

So with my reservations about the book, it remains an impressive collection of information, trivia and tidbits about the New York Yankees, albeit it all casting the Bronx Bombers in a negative light. Take it for what it’s worth – an isolated and one-dimensional yet very deep view of baseball’s most well-known franchise that would add to the knowledge base of even the most passionate baseball fan – especially if they cheer for the fellows in pinstripes.