Douglass Wallop's 1954 novel, The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, reflects that innocent era before AstroTurf, designated hitters and utility infielders with multimillion-dollar contracts. But every middle-aged baseball fan can still appreciate the Faustian temptation at the core of both the novel and the hit Broadway musical it inspired, Damn Yankees. Joe Boyd is a paunchy real estate salesman condemned to root for his hapless hometown team, the now defunct Washington Senators. The devil, who prefers the moniker Applegate, offers to transform Joe into the greatest slugger in the history of the game. Applegate's price is the usual recompense: a...
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