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Ronnie's book

seawolf17 Apr 24 2009 08:14 AM

Anyone else pick up Ron Darling's "The Complete Game" yet? Grabbed it from the library yesterday, and just read the first chapter as I'm sitting here in Bridgeport waiting for the ferry. Good read so far. A few other new Met books out there - Darryl and Keith - but haven't seen them yet. I'll buy Keith's, but Darryl's looks like a library book to me. (It's like the late-80's again with all these Mets books.)

batmagadanleadoff Apr 24 2009 08:22 AM

I've heard nothing but good things about the Ron Darling book, which I haven't picked up yet but intend to. Also due out are two more Met related books: A Tale of Three Cities: The 1962 Baseball Season in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, and a book about the Continental League (forgot the title).

themetfairy Apr 24 2009 08:56 AM

I have Ron and Keith's books on order from Barnes and Noble - they should arrive next week.

sharpie Apr 24 2009 09:33 AM

Was on the subway about midnight last night and saw a fat guy reading the Strawberry book.

bmfc1 Apr 24 2009 04:31 PM

I'm up to page 100 in Ron Darling's book and it's very good... it's no [u:8cy9vd50]Faith & Fear In Flushing[/u:8cy9vd50], but it's still good. It gives you insight into the mind of a pitcher.

G-Fafif Apr 24 2009 04:37 PM

Once you've secured "FAFIF" (and, for that matter, "MBTN") for your baseball library, I can recommend Darling's book heartily. Great stuff on Ron Hodges in there, which isn't something every book can say. Picked up "After a Many Summer" by Robert Murphy (not be confused with Bob), on the departures of the Giants and Dodgers, thus the birth of the Mets, yesterday. Very promising.

batmagadanleadoff Apr 25 2009 02:20 AM

="batmagadanleadoff"]I've heard nothing but good things about the Ron Darling book, which I haven't picked up yet but intend to. Also due out are two more Met related books: A Tale of Three Cities: The 1962 Baseball Season in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, and a book about the Continental League (forgot the title). Bottom of the Ninth: Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel, and the Daring Scheme to Save Baseball from Itself ="Fay Vincent"]"Baseball is all about good stories. In this well-conceived and graceful book, Michael Shapiro wraps the superb story of the 1960 World Series within the intriguing tale of Branch Rickey’s concurrent efforts to start a new league—the Continental League. Shapiro argues that baseball made a crucial and irreversible error by aborting that league. Not surprisingly, the on-field stuff outdoes the business stuff, but only barely. A good read."--Fay Vincent, former commissioner of baseball and author of The Only Game in Town and We Would Have Played for Nothing ]Fifty years ago, as baseball faced crises on and off the field, two larger-than-life figures took center stage, each on a quest to reinvent the national pastime In the late 1950s, baseball was under siege. Up-and-coming cities that wanted teams of their own were being rebuffed by the owners, and in response Congress was threatening to revoke the sport’s antitrust exemption. These problems were magnified by what was happening on the field, as the New York Yankees were winning so often that true competition was vanishing in the American League. In Bottom of the Ninth, Michael Shapiro brings to life this watershed moment in baseball history. He shows how the legendary executive Branch Rickey saw the game’s salvation in two radical ideas: the creation of a third major league—the Continental League—and the pooling of television revenues for the benefit of all. And Shapiro captures the audacity of Casey Stengel, the manager of the Yankees, who believed that he could bend the game to his wishes and remake how baseball was played. Their stories are interwoven with the on-field drama of pennant races and clutch performances, culminating in three classic World Series confrontations. As the tension built on and off the field, Rickey and Stengel would find themselves outsmarted and defeated by the team owners who held true backroom power—defeats that would diminish the game for decades to come. Shapiro’s compelling narrative reaches its stunning climax in the seventh game of the 1960 World Series, when one swing of the bat heralds baseball’s eclipse as America’s number-one sport.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 25 2009 05:15 AM

Shapiro's book on the 55 dodgers and the concurrent events leading to the move to LA, THE LAST GOOD SEASON, was excellent. He spoke at the sabr meeting a few years back and was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic.