YOUR Mets Bookshelf

[Edgy MD]

You'd probably be lucky to get six pages of Mets content from it, but here's a new one.

[fimg=450]http://radio.foxnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/The-Mouth-that-Road.jpg[/fimg]

I'm always conscious of how these are branded to match the targeted fan base, so it's notable that while it has a Phillie-colored text layout, they show him in a Yankee jacket. Do we really think underscoring his 121 games of Yankee management is going to boost sales that much?

[Guest d'Kong76]

Slightly used ones on Amazon already for $3.

[G-Fafif]

Came out in 2013. 2 or 3 chapters on the Mets experience. Some fine sniping, as I recall.

[stevejrogers]

Edgy MD wrote: You'd probably be lucky to get six pages of Mets content from it, but here's a new one. [fimg=450]http://radio.foxnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/The-Mouth-that-Road.jpg[/fimg] I'm always conscious of how these are branded to match the targeted fan base, so it's notable that while it has a Phillie-colored text layout, they show him in a Yankee jacket. Do we really think underscoring his 121 games of Yankee management is going to boost sales that much?

Do you really think they really wanted you to associate the Yankees with that image?

All you see is a black jacket with the trim. No logo present. Could be a random black jacket for all you know.

I think you are reading way too much into the jacket color.

[Guest d'Kong76]

[fimg=650:3g3j5z3x]http://lghttp.33667.nexcesscdn.net/80F42C/magento/media/catalog/product/cache/1/thumbnail/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/a/6/a6nyy5514blk001_5.jpg[/fimg:3g3j5z3x]

[Edgy MD]

SteveJRogers wrote: Do you really think they really wanted you to associate the Yankees with that image?

I wouldn't've written it otherwise.

SteveJRogers wrote: All you see is a black jacket with the trim. No logo present. Could be a random black jacket for all you know.

What does your Yankee Jacket look like?

SteveJRogers wrote: I think you are reading way too much into the jacket color.

It's not a Phillies jacket.

[Edgy MD]

Edgy MD wrote: Could be a random black jacket for all you know.

Do I know more now?

[fimg=300]http://radio.foxnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/The-Mouth-that-Road.jpg[/fimg] [fimg=300]http://cache1.asset-cache.net/gc/156516684-manager-dallas-green-of-the-new-york-yankees-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=GkZZ8bf5zL1ZiijUmxa7QcWNl4OVnY9vyGbvt1yNk3Ej46LV%2fWWQ%2fxxw5rz4dpXCeC%2brZj3WhD4yZafzZ4%2b5Og%3d%3d[/fimg]

[Theoldmole]

My problem is accepting the idea that any editor would allow a title that cliched.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

I think it's intended to look like a MFY jacket. Pandering to the largest possible audience.

[stevejrogers]

*sigh*

I see the Yankee uniform underneath the jacket so yeah, I agree it is clearly a photo of Green in his Yankee days, but the point is there is not a single, or partial, logo or lettering in the photo. Hence it is a little too conspiratorial to declare the book cover to be pandering towards the Yankee fanbase just because you can make out that its clearly a photo from his Yankee days.

[Farmer Ted]

Still waiting for Mets By The Numbers 2.0. Is there any hope?

[Edgy MD]

*sigh* I see the Yankee uniform underneath the jacket so yeah, I agree it is clearly a photo of Green in his Yankee days, but the point is there is not a single, or partial, logo or lettering in the photo. Hence it is a little too conspiratorial to declare the book cover to be pandering towards the Yankee fanbase just because you can make out that its clearly a photo from his Yankee days.

Now it's clear? It seems to me you clearly and explicitly told me that what I presume to know I do not know at all.

I don't call it conspiratorial. I call it marketing. I hardly thought it to be that controversial.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

I didn't need the jacket to tell Green was shown in his Yankee days. You can tell by the slightly embarrassed look on his face.

He only managed there for a year -- 1989. You can tell he is laughing to keep from crying, gazing out at "Bam Bam" Meulens and Luis "What am I supposed to do, cut off her leg and count the rings?" Polonia and Deion Sanders and other creators of Yankee Magic.

He's both amused at the spectacle and ashamed that he's associated with it.

Alas, publishers don't care. They know Yankee fans, fed the party line by the likes of Ian O'Connor, will buy anything that will surround them in mystique and aura. (They also made sure Green used small words so MFY faithful would be able to comprehend.

It's not a conspiracy, Steve. How else are you going to sell a Dallas Green autobiography? I'm guessing there's a special "Derek Jeter's final season editon" that came out the next year.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Alderson's turnaround work with the Mets is already book-worthy, the Mets impending success, a foregone conclusion in some quarters.

Coming this Summer:

In 2010, the New York Mets were in trouble. One of baseball’s most valuable franchises, they had recently suffered an embarrassing September collapse and two bitter losing seasons. Their GM had made costly mistakes. And their principle owners were embroiled in the largest financial scam in American history. To whom did they turn? Sandy Alderson, a former marine who served in Vietnam and graduated from Harvard Law. In 1981, Alderson started in baseball with Oakland, where he led a revolution in the sport. The A's partnered with Apple, pioneered using statistical analysis, and became a powerhouse, winning the 1989 World Series. When new owners slashed payroll in the 1990s, Alderson's under-the-radar creativity and intelligent management were thrust into the spotlight. Granted unprecedented access to a working GM over several seasons, bestselling author Steve Kettmann traces Alderson’s history and his renewal of the Mets despite a limited budget, through big trades that brought back high-profile prospects to the development of young aces including Matt Harvey, Zach Wheeler, and Jacob deGrom. Now, the turnaround is almost complete. Baseball Maverick is a gripping, behind-the-scenes look at a Major League team and a fascinating exploration of what it means to be smart.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Numbers Don't Lie: Mets: The Biggest Numbers in Mets History Paperback – June 1, 2015
by Russ Cohen (Author), Adam Raider (Author), Howard Johnson (Foreword)

Numbers Don't Lie: Behind the Biggest Numbers in Mets History details the numbers every Mets fan should know by heart. Authors Russ Cohen and Adam Raider tell the stories behind the most memorable moments and achievements in Mets history, including 6: the number of Gold Gloves Keith Hernandez earned in his career; 480: the distance in feet Tommy Agee's home run traveled on April 10, 1969; and 696: the record number of at bats Jose Reyes had in in 2005 to set a franchise record. With over 50 entries that span more than a half-century of Mets magic, this resource is an engaging, unique look back at the history of one of baseball's most entertaining franchises.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Game of My Life New York Mets: Memorable Stories of Mets Baseball Hardcover – March 3, 2015
by Michael Garry (Author), Howie Rose (Foreword)

This new addition to the Game of My Life series takes a personal look inside some of the biggest moments of the Mets’ greatest and most beloved players, from journeymen to superstars, as the Mets morphed from a dismal expansion team in 1962 to World Series Champions in 1969 and 1986 and then back to basement dwellers before meeting the Yankees in the 2000 Subway Series. Fan favorite Ron Swoboda recounts making “The Catch.” Infielder Wally Backman relives the many highs of playing on the ’86 Mets as they marched to a championship. All-Star Edgardo Alfonzo describes going six-for-six, including three home runs, in one of the most dominating offensive games in baseball history. Right-hander Bobby Jones relates his thoughts on pitching the most dominating postseason game in Mets’ history, when he threw a one-hit shutout to clinch the 2000 National League Division Series against the San Francisco Giants. Current infielder Daniel Murphy shares his thoughts on his young career with the Mets and the difficulties of playing in New York, as well as describing the best game of his young career. Author Michael Garry, a longtime Mets fan, also includes anecdotes on Tom Seaver, Mike Piazza, and David Wright, amongst others.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Game of My Life New York Mets: Memorable Stories of Mets Baseball Hardcover – March 3, 2015 by Michael Garry (Author), Howie Rose (Foreword) This new addition to the Game of My Life series takes a personal look inside some of the biggest moments of the Mets’ greatest and most beloved players, from journeymen to superstars, as the Mets morphed from a dismal expansion team in 1962 to World Series Champions in 1969 and 1986 and then back to basement dwellers before meeting the Yankees in the 2000 Subway Series. Fan favorite Ron Swoboda recounts making “The Catch.” Infielder Wally Backman relives the many highs of playing on the ’86 Mets as they marched to a championship. All-Star Edgardo Alfonzo describes going six-for-six, including three home runs, in one of the most dominating offensive games in baseball history. Right-hander Bobby Jones relates his thoughts on pitching the most dominating postseason game in Mets’ history, when he threw a one-hit shutout to clinch the 2000 National League Division Series against the San Francisco Giants. Current infielder Daniel Murphy shares his thoughts on his young career with the Mets and the difficulties of playing in New York, as well as describing the best game of his young career. Author Michael Garry, a longtime Mets fan, also includes anecdotes on Tom Seaver, Mike Piazza, and David Wright, amongst others.

I hope this book has more than the expected cliches. I wanna hear from the Rob Gardners and Roy Lee Jacksons, too.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I was offered authorship of this book but turned it down and gave it to the guy who eventually wrote it. If they got to me was likely turned down by several others including fafif.

[Edgy MD]

batmagadanleadoff wrote:

The illustration seems to (falsely) imply that Darryl Strawberry is the Mets' all-time stolen-base leader with 252.

[Guest d'Kong76]

That's his accelerated HR trot!

[Gwreck]

Now, the turnaround is almost complete.

Wow. I'm kind of at a loss for words on this staggering understatement

[G-Fafif]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I was offered authorship of this book but turned it down and gave it to the guy who eventually wrote it. If they got to me was likely turned down by several others including fafif.

That is true. Also true is the author (who I know casually and has kept in intermittent touch throughout the project) seems to have thrown himself into the book so it will live up to Mets fan standards for reading -- as opposed to Mets fan standards for baseball. Anyway, I look forward to its release and hope you'll consider it for YOUR Mets Bookshelf.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Yes that's very true!

[Edgy MD]

Which book are we speaking of?

[G-Fafif]

Game Of My Life, an M. Garry production.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Available next week:



From amazon.com

In descriptions of athletes, the word “hero” is bandied about and liberally attached to players with outstanding statistics and championship rings. Gil Hodges: A Hall of Fame Life is the story of a man who epitomized heroism in its truest meaning, holding values and personal interactions to be of utmost importance throughout his life—on the diamond, as a marine in World War II, and in his personal and civic life. A New York City icon and, with the Brooklyn Dodgers, one of the finest first basemen of all time, Gil Hodges (1924–72) managed the Washington Senators and later the New York Mets, leading the 1969 “Miracle Mets” to a World Series championship. A beloved baseball star, Hodges was also an ethical figure whose sturdy values both on and off the field once prompted a Brooklyn priest to tell his congregation to “go home, and say a prayer for Gil Hodges” in order to snap him out of the worst batting slump of his career. Mort Zachter examines Hodges’s playing and managing days, but perhaps more important, he unearths his true heroism by emphasizing the impact that Hodges’s humanity had on those around him on a daily basis. Hodges was a witty man with a dry sense of humor, and his dignity and humble sacrifice sometimes masked a temper that made Joe Torre refer to him as the “Quiet Inferno.” The honesty and integrity that made him so popular to so many remained his defining elements. Firsthand interviews of the many soldiers, friends, family, former teammates, players, and managers who knew and respected Hodges bring the totality of his life into full view, providing a rounded appreciation for this great man and ballplayer.

NJ author seeks to right a ‘Hall’ of a wrong

Gil Hodges: A Hall of Fame Life (University of Nebraska Press)+ enlarge image


Mort Zachter hopes his new biography will help get Gil Hodges into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Meet the author

Mort Zachter will be the featured speaker at the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse in Manhattan on Thursday, March 5, and at the Princeton Public Library on Wednesday, April 1. For more information, visit MortZachter.com.


by Ron Kaplan
NJJN Features Editor

February 25, 2015

Mort Zachter was too young to actually see the late Gil Hodges play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Hodges was, in fact, a neighbor when Zachter was a child. Although the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958, the Hodges family still lived in Brooklyn. Zachter developed an affinity for this quiet yet strong personality over the decades, to the extent that he devoted almost 10 years to writing Gil Hodges: A Hall of Fame Life (University of Nebraska Press). Although Hodges’s statistics may not appear impressive compared with those of contemporary players, he was one of the most feared power hitters of his time and an outstanding defensive first baseman. Over an 18-year career (1943-63, with a two-year absence to serve in the Marines in World War II), he hit 370 home runs and drove in 1,274 and was one of the staples of the “Boys of Summer” Dodgers celebrated in baby boomer nostalgia. “He was my childhood hero,” said Zachter, a resident of Princeton, in a phone interview. “And since his death at the age of 47 (in 1972), he has largely been a forgotten figure, and I think the emphasis of his life…was beyond just a cliche with him: He really was a very decent guy.” The book cites numerous examples of Hodges’s leadership skills, both as a player and later as a manager. He took over the reins of the New York Mets in 1968 and led them to their first world championship the following season. Three years later, Hodges died of a massive heart attack during spring training. Eligibility to be elected into the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America expires after 15 years; it was Hodges’s misfortune to be on the ballots with such superstars as Willie Mays, Henry Aaron, Mickey Mantle, and Sandy Koufax, among others, all of whom made it in in their first year. “[Hodges] accumulated more votes…than anyone else who was not subsequently elected,” said Zachter, whose previous book, Dough, was an award-winning memoir. After 15 years, the Veterans’ Committee, which consists of former players, managers, and other baseball personnel, take under consideration those who were not selected by the writers. Zachter believes cronyism has had a great deal to do with Hodges’s inability to achieve the honor. “There’s a Jewish saying, ‘If you save one soul, you save the world,’” said Zachter. “In his time…Gil Hodges helped a lot of players; he really worked on the 24th or 25th guy on the roster to try and improve them and help them, and he did wonders.” Hodges was also a mensch off the field. Shortly after he returned to New York after suffering a heart attack in Atlanta late in the 1968 season, Hodges received word that a number of synagogues in Brooklyn had been firebombed and vandalized and that one shul was having a particularly difficult time and needed help to rebuild. “He went to the shul and he handed over an envelope with $500 cash and told the rabbi, ‘Here, the boys raised this for you.’” Hodges gave attention to the situation at a time when he easily could have begged off for health reasons, Zachter said. “That was typical Hodges, doing for the greater good and not thinking about himself.” That display of largesse may have played a karmic role in the Mets’ championship the following season. “The rabbi came [to Shea Stadium] on opening day in 1969 and gave a convocation wishing the Mets good luck,” Zachter said. “I guess the rest is history.”

http://njjewishnews.com/article/26346/nj-author-seeks-to-right-a-hall-of-a-wrong#.VO4HjC5mW7M

[Edgy MD]

It's a shame that so many of the Hodges bios are baldfacedly built as HoF campaign literature. His is a great story. Just tell it and let it stand on its own, rather than as an overt lobbying tool.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Test your reading comprehension. How would you improve this article?
_______________


“Game of My Life New York Mets” author event with Danbury’s Michael Garry

Please joins us Thursday March 5th at 7:00p.m. as Michael Garry tells the stories and signs copies of his new book, “Game of My Life New York Mets: Memorable Stories of Mets Baseball” (release date: March 3rd). About the book: This new addition to the Game of My Life series takes a personal look inside some of the biggest moments of the Mets’ greatest and most beloved players, from journeymen to superstars, as the Mets morphed from a dismal expansion team in 1962 to World Series Champions in 1969 and 1986 and then back to basement dwellers before meeting the Yankees in the 2000 Subway Series. Fan favorite Ron Swoboda recounts making “The Catch.” Infielder Wally Backman relives the many highs of playing on the ’86 Mets as they marched to a championship. All-Star Edgardo Alfonzo describes going six-for-six, including three home runs, in one of the most dominating offensive games in baseball history. Right-hander Bobby Jones relates his thoughts on pitching the most dominating postseason game in Mets’ history, when he threw a one-hit shutout to clinch the 2000 National League Division Series against the San Francisco Giants. Current infielder Daniel Murphy shares his thoughts on his young career with the Mets and the difficulties of playing in New York, as well as describing the best game of his young career. Author Michael Garry, a longtime Mets fan, also includes anecdotes on Tom Seaver, Mike Piazza, and David Wright, amongst others. About the author: Michael Garry is a business, technology, and environmental writer and editor with a thirty-year track record. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of MIT with a degree in political science, he has a passion for sports, music, writing, and politics. He lives in Danbury, Connecticut, with his wife, Maureen, and his son, Ethan. His greatest moment as a Mets fan was watching Mookie’s grounder elude Buckner in the ’86 World Series. To pre-order the book, click here. Please call the store to save a spot and/or hold a copy of the book for you for signing (203-730-2973).

http://news.hamlethub.com/bethel/events/42147-author-talk-and-books-signing

[Edgy MD]

Let's start with sentence number one.

Please join[crossout]s[/crossout] us Thursday, March 5[crossout]th,[/crossout] at 7:00_p[crossout].[/crossout]m[crossout].[/crossout] as author Michael Garry tells [crossout]the[/crossout] stories and signs copies of his new book, [crossout]“[/crossout]Game of My Life — New York Mets: Memorable Stories of Mets Baseball[crossout]”[/crossout] [i set the title here in italics, rather than quotes.] (release date: March 3[crossout]rd[/crossout]).

Going with "March 5" or "March 5th" is more of a house style question, I guess.

But come on, guys. Hire some help. Editors need jobs too.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Let's start with sentence number one. Please join[crossout]s[/crossout] us Thursday, March 5[crossout]th,[/crossout] at 7:00_p[crossout].[/crossout]m[crossout].[/crossout] as author Michael Garry tells [crossout]the[/crossout] stories and signs copies of his new book, [crossout]“[/crossout]Game of My Life — New York Mets: Memorable Stories of Mets Baseball[crossout]”[/crossout] [i set the title here in italics, rather than quotes.] (release date: March 3[crossout]rd[/crossout]). Going with "March 5" or "March 5th" is more of a house style question, I guess. But come on, guys. Hire some help. Editors need jobs too.

You're missing the bigger picture. Just like the piece author. Not what I was looking for.