5/16/18

Gary McDonald - Books You Might Like





While the Mets season is not going as planned right now, and with Summer slowly approaching, I thought it would be a good time to recommend some great reads for the beach, or the backyard.

The first is Insight Pitch –My life as Major League Closer by Skip Lockwood (Skyhorse Publishing).  Lockwood was the Mets closer in the late 70’s and details his career starting as a kid and thru to his retirement from the game.  Interesting book by an interesting man.  It’s a little different from other baseball books you may have read and that’s what makes so interesting.  I had the pleasure to interview Skip about his career and the book . You can listen to it here. (MetsMusings # 317).

The next book is coming out May 15th and it is by none other than our favorite announcer Keith Hernandez.  I’m Keith Hernandez (Little Brown), is a really different type of baseball book .  It’s almost like a stream of consciousness as Keith recalls his growing up and his father teaching he and his brother the “fundies” of baseball.  He takes us thru his minor league days, the road trips, the booze, drugs, and women available. It concludes a few years before the trade to NewYork.  Every other chapter is dedicated to now , and preparing for a broadcast, the state of the game , Keith’s take on things.  Highly recommend it fascinating read.

Another book coming out May 15, is Davey Johnson – My Wild Ride In Baseball And Beyond by Davey Johnson with  Erik Sherman (Triumph Books).  I just started reading this one and I’m enjoying it so far.  Johnson talks about the ups and downs of his career, as well as his life in a way that readers will enjoy and appreciate. He talks about his playing days, his managerial days, mentoring young players, his success in  investing, and golf, his love of numbers, and being an early pioneer of sabremetrics.  His stories and Erik Sherman’s writing style make for on terrific book.

Our final choice comes out June 12,2018 and it is Miracle Moments In NY Mets History by Brett Topel ( Sports Publishing). This is a fun,easy read you’ll enjoy again and again.   In this book  Brett Topel covers  the team’s greatest achievements, from the Mets' first win in franchise history in 1962, to Tom Seaver's near-perfect game in 1969, the 1986 World Series, the trade for Mike Piazza, Al Leiter's two-hitter during the 1999 one-game playoff, and much more. 
Topel highlights the key players ,coaches and everyone that made these moments special.  Great book for Mets fans young and old.

There you have it . Four great possibilities to pick up and enjoy throughout the upcoming months

3 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

Gary, a nice reading list for a lazy summer day - I seem to have lost the desire to read books somewhere along the way, but if that changes, these could be real interesting.

Mike Freire said...

I think I will look for the Davey Johnson book, thanks.

It reminds me how quickly the 1986 Mets went from "dynasty" to memory.

Anonymous said...

On Davey Johnson...

If his 1986 Mets team wasn't such a mess off the field, they'd still probably be winning ball games today. They were that good!

After pondering, I think that the goal here in constructing the perfect baseball team, was actually to combine the outstanding pitching staff assembled here in 2015, with a predominantly in-house through drafting field lineup: 1B D.Smith 2B G.Cecchini SS A.Rosario 3B D.Thompson LF Y.Cespedes CF M.Conforto RF B.Nimmo C K. Plawecki.

I am going to say something, here and now, that might surprise a lot of you. In all candor and honesty, the above lineup that this GM had envisioned really did just about workout flawlessly in construction and design. Some of you will not be able to see this or be able to agree, that is fine, but each one of these players mentioned above either are here now or have come very, very close to being here now and starting at each and every one of these positions GM Alderson had planned on. Think about it some. Imagine that.

So to say GM Alderson is to blame for anything here with this team is not right nor is it really fair actually. He almost was perfect in his and his scouting department's drafting to get these players onboard with the Mets.

Now once it was realized that some of the above Mets drafted players were not ready for MLB, this to me is where things got a little bit off-track. It forced GM Alderson to play "catch up" because a few of these players had not been unable to make it up to the bigs and then stay there. This was a plan for catching up that wasn't nearly as good as the initial plan to build a Championship team from within. Catch up plans are often this way and are nothing unusual.

So what now brown cow?

All that is left, and it is kind of a lot to redo, is to replace a few of the guys who could not make it up here and stick, with players that actually can. Thus preserving fairly close to the original plan and strategy for these NY Mets, conceived by the team General Manager.

What I am trying to say here is this...GM Alderson did not miss the boat here by very much. In actuality and in design, it came very close to being the perfect plan. It just now needs a little bit more tweaking. And that is all.

We are not without hope. It can be done!