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shaank's review against another edition
4.0
I just love this book's premise: the 1992 Mets were such a trainwreck that the beat writers of the NY Post and NY Daily News - 2 fiercely competing papers - had to join forces to eulogize the season.
As you'd expect, they focus less on the team's actual play and more on the litany of embarrassing distractions and gossip that overshadowed the team's dreadful pay. If you're looking for the inside dirt - like why the Mets are STILL paying Bobby Bonilla even though he hasn't played for them in nearly 20 years, this is a good place to start.
Sidenote: I read this shortly after Jeff Pearlman's [b:The Bad Guys Won!|1300|The Bad Guys Won!|Jeff Pearlman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1440276326s/1300.jpg|5477], which is a similar look at the 1980s Mets. Together they give an intriguing rise/fall of the 80s and early 90s Mets.
As you'd expect, they focus less on the team's actual play and more on the litany of embarrassing distractions and gossip that overshadowed the team's dreadful pay. If you're looking for the inside dirt - like why the Mets are STILL paying Bobby Bonilla even though he hasn't played for them in nearly 20 years, this is a good place to start.
Sidenote: I read this shortly after Jeff Pearlman's [b:The Bad Guys Won!|1300|The Bad Guys Won!|Jeff Pearlman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1440276326s/1300.jpg|5477], which is a similar look at the 1980s Mets. Together they give an intriguing rise/fall of the 80s and early 90s Mets.
htetrasme's review
3.0
Full disclosure: I'm a lifelong Phillies fan, so I'm naturally predisposed to a book that documents a colossal Met failure. Actually, people looking for a chronological and minute document of the Mets' unsuccessful 1992 will be disappointed. This book is much better as an absorbing narration of stories that illustrate how the organization and clubhouse got to the point that made the team lose so much around that time.
It's even better, though, as a book more about baseball journalism than baseball. The authors were reports on the Mets during this time, and they wisely make no attempt to disguise their perspective. What emerges is one of the best books you are likely to find about covering sports for major newspapers and the complicated relationships between reports, players, team employees, and other reporters that develop in the course of doing this, written in an authentic hard-boiled style.
It's even better, though, as a book more about baseball journalism than baseball. The authors were reports on the Mets during this time, and they wisely make no attempt to disguise their perspective. What emerges is one of the best books you are likely to find about covering sports for major newspapers and the complicated relationships between reports, players, team employees, and other reporters that develop in the course of doing this, written in an authentic hard-boiled style.
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