American League East: The Baltimore Orioles, the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and the Toronto Blue Jays (Behind the Plate)

Gr. 4-6. Like a set of verbal and visual highlight films, this overview in the Behind the Plate series skims the historical surface of each of the five teams in the American League East division, from early years to the end of the 2004 season, then closes with abbreviated tables of player records, and a perfunctory resource list. Replete with dropped names and large color photos of stars and stadiums, the book seems designed more to rev up interest in the coming season than to provide a systematic sense of the distinctive character of the AL East, either past or present. Give it to young fans and reluctant readers as a quick, photo-rich refresher. John Peters
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