–Dead Man’s Alley was among other things a nickname for the cavernous left center field at the old Yankee Stadium. The fence in left center was 483 feet out when the park opened in 1923 and was brought in to a “mere” 437 feet in the 1970s. It was also called Death Valley, but that seemed a little grim for a blog title.

–I’m Jake Simpson, sports columnist for TheAtlantic.com and financial and legal reporter for Law360. I attended my first Yankee game at age 4, when I finagled an extra 23 minutes of ballpark time from my Dad (pushed our go-home time from 8:30 to 8:53, thank you very much) and saw a 5-0 Yankee win complete with a Don Mattingly home run. Since then, I’ve been a pinstripes fanatic.

This site is meant to combine two of my biggest passions: sportswriting and the Yankees. What you’ll get is a steady stream of game analysis, player profiles, organizational updates and the occasional cavernously vast post on a profound Yankee moment — just like the old left-center field at The House That Ruth Built.

Enjoy the Alley.