Winter Training for Fans - Read a Book

by IanB in MD on Jan 3, 2009 9:52 PM EST

Gang,

Do you think the last two seasons were terrible? So do I, but 2008 and 2007 were not the only seasons that made the New York Mets a joke. Think about 1962. That year pretty much set a standard for Mets - and Mets fans - for all time.

After that terrible season, Jimmy Breslin wrote a book, "Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?" I would call it essential reading for any Mets fan - especially before the start of a season. Here's a quote from the first chapter:

"This, then, is the way the first year of the New York Mets went. It was a team that featured three twenty-game losers, an opening day outfield that held the all-time major-league record for fathering children (nineteen), a defensive catcher who couldn't catch, and an over-all collection of strange players who performed strange feats. Yet is was absolutely wonderful. People loved it. The Mets gathered about them a breed of baseball fans who quite possibly will m ake you forget the characters who once made Brooklyn's Ebbets Field a part of this country's folklore. The Mets' fans are made of the same things."

I first read this book back in the late-80's. It was on the bookshelf at home. Neither of my folks are Mets fans, but my Dad is a New Yorker, and probably read Breslin for years. Being a Mets fan, I pulled that book out and gobbled it down. Since then I may have read the book once or twice. After the mess that was 2008, I think it's time to read it again.

After I'm done, I will post a review for you folks. Then, I would like to read another Mets related book. The only other Mets book I own is "Bats" by Davey Johnson (about the 1985 season.) Are there other good books about the Mets - early days or modern-times? Sure, I could look it up on the Internet, but I'd prefer to get some recs from the gang at AA. Thanks in advance, people.

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books

The Bad Guys Won – All the dirt on the ’86 champs (the subtitle is “A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo-chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, The Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform—and Maybe the Best”).

The Worst Team Money Could Buy – About how terrible and terribly overpaid the 1992 Mets were.

The Summer Game, by Roger Angell. Not strictly a Mets book, but it has some sections about them. Great writer.

Not Mets-related, but awesome:
The Glory of Their Times : The Story of Baseball Told By the Men Who Played It, by Lawrence Ritter.

A False Spring, by Pat Jordan.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City

And of course, required reading (in case there’s anyone here who hasn’t read it):
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis.

We've got ourselves a ball club, the Mets of New York town!

by kingcritical on Jan 4, 2009 11:52 AM EST reply actions

How do you get the links to work like that?

Every time I put up a link, it just comes out as a url.

by BobbyV_Incognito on Jan 4, 2009 12:12 PM EST up reply actions

links

1. Type some text (say, the title of the book).
2. Copy the URL to which you want to link.
3. Select (highlight) the text that you wrote in #1, and click the chain-looking button in the “post a comment” box.
4. Paste the link into the box that pops up there and click “submit.”

The text you want to link should be enclosed by HTML tags “a href” and “/a” (replace the quotes with < and >.

We've got ourselves a ball club, the Mets of New York town!

by kingcritical on Jan 4, 2009 2:02 PM EST up reply actions

Outstanding!

Thanks. Now I need to make a little visit to my local Amazon.com.

"The people of Houston are spending money like oil's selling at $40 a barrel."

by IanB in MD on Jan 5, 2009 8:27 AM EST up reply actions

haha

The cool part about “The Worst Team Money Could Buy” is that those overpriced Mets were paid $40 million. Now, that’s how much CC and Burnett make…in a year, they’ll write a book about just those two. :-)

The 2008 NY Mets: Pedro hurt already. Delgado still sucks. Mets still can't beat the Braves. Beltran only plays 6 innings. WTF with Pelfrey?? Mets win 60 in a row. Freakin' Wagner. PLAYOFFS, NO WAY?!

by ZaBlanc on Jan 6, 2009 3:50 PM EST up reply actions

Curse you KingC!

Started reading The Bad Guys Won on Google Books and there are pages missing! Dammit! Now I have to buy it! Can’t wait till it comes in the mail!

Curse you KingC! Curse you!

"The two most important things in life: good friends and a strong bullpen." - Bob Gibson

by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Jan 11, 2009 1:21 PM EST up reply actions

Yes, the gossip contained therein is sweet, and addictive.

Enjoy.

We've got ourselves a ball club, the Mets of New York town!

by kingcritical on Jan 12, 2009 1:37 AM EST up reply actions

Of course

Ball Four should be required reading for any baseball fan.

by Eric Simon on Jan 4, 2009 3:35 PM EST reply actions

I'm rather partial to

Rob Neyer’s Big Book of Baseball Blunders

And his Big Book of Baseball Lineups is a fun read

I found these on Amazon, but haven’t heard of them before. They’re very Mets-related.

100 Things Mets Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die

So Long Shea

by BobbyV_Incognito on Jan 4, 2009 5:59 PM EST reply actions

100 Things

Looks like you messed up the link. Here it is. Very nice book by Matt Silverman. Check it out.

by Eric Simon on Jan 5, 2009 1:56 AM EST up reply actions

Anyone wanna post the list and save me $15?

by JoshNY on Jan 9, 2009 9:13 AM EST up reply actions

My favorite Mets-related book

The Curious Case of Sidd Finch by George Plimpton. The Mets sign the greatest pitcher in the world after discovering him in the Himalayas. Unfortunately fictional.

I also like The Last Best League by Jim Collins, about the Cape Cod Summer League. Not Mets-related per se, but very interesting.

I did it like this / I did it like that / I did it with a Wiffle Ball bat

by Doc Manhattan on Jan 4, 2009 8:11 PM EST reply actions

Not classic literature by any means

but Mets by the Numbers is a fun read.

by cjmulrain on Jan 5, 2009 9:54 PM EST reply actions

Been reading the HardballTimes 2009 Annual

its huge and has all sorts of great stuff that any fan will find something good in there, from stats to baseball history to everything else. more info here.

by kendynamo on Jan 6, 2009 9:53 AM EST reply actions

also great is High and Tight:: The Rise and Fall of Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry

i couldnt find a good link tho, probably cause the book is actually terrible but in a so terrible its totally friggin awesome way. it took me three years to get my college library to accept it as a donation. i basically had to write a book report and submit that to the library admins to make the believe it was worthy (it is definitely not). i guess a couple people are selling used hardcover copies on amazon?

so yeah read about doc and darryl and their drug fueled rampage through the 80’s.

by kendynamo on Jan 6, 2009 9:57 AM EST reply actions

And for those of you who might need a break from reading...

On MLB Network this evening (8pm EST), they will be showing a baseball documentary by Ken Burns entitled; “Our Game”. If it’s anything like his World War II documentary, I think it’ll be worth watching.

http://mlb.mlb.com/network/shows/?id=3711057

" Well isn't this place a geographical oddity? Two weeks from everywhere! "

by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Jan 6, 2009 12:48 PM EST reply actions

is it part of his "Baseball" documentary from the 90's?

I’m pretty sure that ended right around the strike…would be pretty cool if he did like a “10th Inning” covering the past decade and a half.

by cjmulrain on Jan 6, 2009 11:35 PM EST up reply actions

Ah yes, "Baseball"

That’s what I thought originally.

It’s funny you should mention a “10th inning”. He’s actually doing / almost complete with an update to the original series right now. He stated on MLB Network that he never wanted to do an updated series to any of his work, however, he felt it necessary to do it for “Baseball”. The guy seems to be pretty smitten with the game.

I watched the “first inning” last night. Whoa! Incredible story teller. One of the most interesting facts that I learned was that “purists” didn’t like the introduction of the curve ball. Ha! Can you imagine?

" Well isn't this place a geographical oddity? Two weeks from everywhere! "

by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Jan 7, 2009 7:40 AM EST up reply actions