The phrase "best team ever" got lobbed at the 1998 World Series-winning New York Yankees so often that it became something of a universally accepted truth, or at least as universally accepted as any sports-related opinion could be. But as Dean Chadwin writes, repeatedly and at great length, in his new book Those Damn Yankees, the story behind the team that almost couldn't help winning isn't as flawless as a David Cone fastball. Filled with the kind of hate that only a true fan can muster, Chadwin's book makes the Yankees a symbol for everything that's wrong with sports, especially baseball, in the '90s. As his primary villain, Chadwin points to the corporatization of the sports industry, of which he sees the Yankees as particularly guilty, from the team's increasing alienation from fans in the working-class neighborhood of Yankee Stadium to George Steinbrenner's threats to pull up stakes from that neighborhood, to the notorious owner's strained relations with his team's management and players. Overloaded with statistics and far too scattershot in its approach, Those Damn Yankees would have benefited greatly from a more cohesive approach and an author with at least the pretense of objectivity: By the time Chadwin gets around to complaining about the quality of Yankee Stadium's hot dogs and peanuts, it's easy to wonder if the team, or at least those behind it, could do anything right by him. But for those willing to wade through its multiple attacks, there's plenty in Those Damn Yankees that should be revealing to those who take sports at face value, if there's anyone left who does.