Rating:  Summary: great story, badly written Review: The story of the '86 Mets is a compelling one. Too bad such a pathetic writer chose to tell it. How can this guy be a professional writer? Barely a page goes by without some example of bad technique, poorly chosen metaphors and borderline purple prose. And the text is rife with sexist tripe. Only read if you have a high tolerance for poor writing.
Rating:  Summary: Get Metsmerized! Review: This book is priceless merely for the description of the recording session where some of the Mets try to cut a "Super Bowl Shuffle" style rap song, titled "Get Metsmerized!":"When they need a batter filled with terror, They call on me, Rick Aguleira!" Look out Public Enemy! This book is a great character study of a team full of characters, most of whom were borderline insane but were all gritty ballplayers. Jeff Pearlman makes the case that this was the last team of old school party boys to win a title before the onset of a more corporate era where the wackiest thing that ever happens is a rookie getting a shaving cream pie in the face. I don't know that his argument is entirely successful - it's more like the Mets were the last team of endearing jackasses to win - but the book is a very fun read.
Rating:  Summary: The '86 Mets...Loved, Hated, but never Ignored Review: This book takes you back to that unforgettable '86 season when baseball players weren't unbelievably rich, didn't take supplemental growth hormones, but did many other things that would be taboo by today's standards. Here was a team that we remembered that was so diverse that you would be hard pressed not to identify with at least one of the members. The story is about redemption for some and fulfilling destiny for others. It is a great account of the full season and what led up to it when all most people remember is the Bill Buckner play of Game 6 in the World Series. This provides insight as to much more of what that Mets team was. Although they were favorites to go the distance from the onset, it is an underdog story when you see the players that make up the team and the story of the Mets franchise itself. You will find yourself taken back to a not-so-distant time when Time Square wasn't a real nice area and the baseball players loved those 2 classic male vices...booze and women. However, the book is more than a sensational version of events retold. You do get a real sense of what made the team tick and how each member in his own way played a vital part to their collective success. This is a great read for baseball fans everywhere.
Rating:  Summary: A Fun Read Review: This is by no means a wonderfully written book. It never probes too deeply, it is not overwhelmingly analytical, and it doesn't really stand out above other sports books. However, it is a very fun, fast read. Pearlman picked a good subject in the 1986 Mets and the stories that emerge from the season are pretty wild. I enjoyed, if for no other reason than the fact that I could plow through it without thinking.
Rating:  Summary: what a team&time? Review: though I'm a Yankee fan that Met team from 86 was something else&they should have been a Dynasty with all of the Talent they had. Doc Gooden should have been the Bob Gibson of His Era. just as Darryl Strawberry should have been where Barry Bonds is now.but so many side trips&things turned things upside down. just the way they beat the Boston Redsox's showed you that nothing would be normal for this bunch.but they never stopped believing in themselves.Mookie wilson,Ray Knight,Gary Carter,Keith hernandez,etc.. all came through in a big way.what a time period for baseball that was?
Rating:  Summary: If you're a Met fan from the mid 80's era... Review: You'll love this book if you were a Met fan from the 80's. It clearly recounts the horrible early 80's seasons that were that laid the foundation. Key games and moments from the 1986 regular season are covered... as are the playoffs and the exciting World Series vs. the Bosox. The utter demolition of what was supposed to be a dynasty is also detailed.
However the key part of this book is the background on the players themselves. Definitely play ball hard... drink hard type players. Many were obnoxious and the team had a strut the rest of the league hated. Moments of both incredible selfishness and incredible graciousness are shown.
All this brought me back, replaying the season and events in my mind. Bring back Mookie!
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