So Many Ways To Lose

 

So Many Ways to Lose – by Devin Gordon

Ahh. The New York Mets.  One could make the argument that the New York Mets are the most colorful major league team in the history of baseball. This is a book that you don’t have to be a fan of the Mets to enjoy. That’s a credit to author Devin Gordon, but it also needs to be pointed out that such a book about just about any other team in the history of the Major Leagues wouldn’t be nearly as interesting.  No offense if you’re a fan of such teams, but I can’t imagine a book like this being written about the Seattle Mariners, the Pittsburgh Pirates, or the Minnesota Twins.

This book is not a comprehensive history of the New York Mets since their inception in 1962.  There are huge chunks of history and personalities from this team that aren’t even mentioned. Instead, Gordon (who is a fan) walks his readers through some of the more memorable times in the history of team.  Mostly (as the title implies) the Mets are underachievers and manage to lose an awful lot of games.  Even when they DO win, say 1969 or 1986, they manage to quickly muck things up and quickly become losers once again.

The author is quite crass. Although it’s all meant to be humorous and fun, the writing can come across as quite sardonic at times. Example: Since he’s a Mets fan, he obliviously hates the Yankees.  Therefore, we get two chapters with the pleasant titles “F___ the Yankees Part 1” and “F___ the Yankees Part 2”.  Just so I’m clear, the literal word he uses isn’t “F___” but rather the actual word you’re thinking of right now. So, yes, it can be a bit much. However the book isn’t a giant gripe-fest, and Gordon manages to say many positive things and give credit where credit is due; even if the “credit” may still be obfuscated with plenty of holes. When he writes his chapter on the building and opening of Shea Stadium in 1964, for example, he manages to somehow paint the picture that the stadium is both a beautiful piece of modern architecture and an ugly monstrosity at the very same time.

There are also plenty of “bad” guys associated with the team according to the author, and he doesn’t pull any punches. He has a lot of vitriol towards original owner M. Donald Grant, and he’s not a big fan of manager Yogi Berra.   Some history gets covered quite extensively and Gordon mostly manages to keep things interesting.  His chapter on the Tom Seaver midnight massacre is well told, as is the chapter detailing issues with Cleon Jones and the (what the author felt) racist accusations that confronted him and probably somewhat damaged his overall contribution.   Sometimes, though, the stories can get a bit tiring.  His chapter describing the conflict between Mike Piazza and Roger Clemens seems to drag on too long, and a couple of the later chapters seem to highlight too much of the “business” side of the club as opposed to what was happening on the actual ballfield.

Despite the author’s tendency to come across as a Grumpy Gus, there were many times when I would laugh out loud for minutes (no seriously – minutes) at some of his observations and how he related them to the readers.  The chapter detailing the mascot in the late 1970s “Mettle the Mule” (a real mule) was particularly amusing. Apparently the Mets used a real mule as a mascot in order to save money.  A lot of the humor is hard for me to describe in a written review, but I’ll try to give one example. When the Mets made it to the NLCS in 1986, the author introduces us to Astro pitcher Mike Scott.  The verbiage in the paragraph, verbatim, is as follows:

 

…all of a sudden, Mike Scott was unhittable. Boom. Just like that. He went from 5-11 with a 4.68 ERA in 1984 to 18-8 and a 3.28 ERA in 1985, and then in 1986 he took another quantum leap. His ERA dropped another full run, and his strikeout total went through the roof, from 137 to 306. In one year, he went from a junkballer to Sandy Koufax. In two years, he went from castoff to Cy Young.
Hmmm.

 

That last sentence. That last sentence that is only one word.  Reading this caused me to nearly wake up my family while reading late at night because I laughed so hard and so long. That one word.  Well, if you know the history of Mike Scott and the allegations against him that year, you know exactly where the author was going with this one-word sentence. (If you don’t, I won’t go into it here, a Google search can help.) This book has a lot of observations like this, and such humor manages to lift the book a few notches.  Again, it can be harsh, but once you know where the author’s heart is, it makes it not so bad.

OK, I can’t resist. Here’s one more example where he’s critical of the current Yankee announcers such as Dave Cone and Al Leiter:

 

Almost all of them specialize in either vapid wisdom that begins with the phrase “All you young ballplayers out there….” Or homerism so acute that I once heard Ken Singleton, another former Met, whose velvet voice has the emotional range of Vladimir Putin, applaud Aaron Judge for striking out: “He took a chance and it didn’t work out.” The chance Judge took was swinging, which is his job.

 

Plus, he’s also obviously frustrated with his favorite team’s blunders year after year.  You can almost imagine what he’s thinking when the Mets are having a good run. It’s probably never “This is it! This is our year!” but rather “I wonder how soon we’ll blow it again?”

A very enjoyable read for anyone who’s a fan of major league baseball.  You don’t even have to be a “new” fan or an “old” fan to enjoy. Gordon does a great job providing detail that helps readers if they may not have followed the game, say, half a century ago.  It also helps that there are masses of YouTube videos out there that illustrate many of the stories he wonderfully tells.

A colorful team indeed. A colorful book as well.

What Unites Us

 

What Unites Us – by Dan Rather and Elliot Kirschner

One thing that many Americans, past and present, tend to believe is that the country of the United States is in “horrible” shape and they yearn for the days of yore.  Yes, people believe that about our current day, but this was a popular sentiment back in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s as well.  I’m sure it was true of decades before that, but I wasn’t alive to recollect.  To be honest, now that our country has so much loyalty to a former president with no credibility whining his election was “stolen”, I tend to think the same thing.  When did “truth” become anything you WANT it to be? Regardless of how ridiculous your claims sound?

Anyway, Dan Rather has penned a nice, short book of memories and reflections that tend to offer some optimism. This isn’t necessarily an “everything is o.k.” book, but neither is it “we’re already in Armageddon” book either. In addition to his observations about much of the political climate around him, Rather also reflects an awful lot about his childhood growing up during the depression in Houston, Texas. He has a very good attitude despite some things that have happened, and he always seems optimistic.  Sure, he sees things around him that go against the grain of America, but he doesn’t bemoan these facts for very long.  Many times his message is: “We’ve been here before, we’ve always prevailed, and we can continue to do so if we do the right thing and not blindly follow leaders and/or politicians that only blow wind.” So a lot of this book is geared towards the characteristics that people, and the country as a whole, must hold to ensure that stability and righteousness will prevail.

Since Dan Rather is one of the most well-known journalists of the last 50 years, he knows how to articulate himself quite well. He’s mastered the art of saying an awful lot with as few words as possible. He knows how to keep his audience from becoming bored. This short book has a total of nine chapters with titles such as “The Vote”, “Empathy”, and “Science”. Again, he manages to weave all of this together with defining characteristics that can truly mend our nation.  Because of the brevity and concentration of this book, one could easily read the entire thing over a weekend.

In all fairness, this book was written in 2017 when Trump became president, yet before he started to sink the nation. During Trump’s presidency, Dan Rather was active on social media and was quite vocal about Trump’s ridiculous behavior and illegal gaffes, so I’m not sure exactly how different this book would have been had it been written a few years later.  Because of the current state of the political climate, one has to seriously consider that Rather might not have such an optimistic bent as he did when this book was released. 

Still, though, the book as a lot of great anecdotes and observations. Although he keeps this book from being political, you can be sure that people who never liked him will find things to fault in the book.  Whatever. One wishes people weren’t so obdurate and be able to see error when it’s shining brightly right in their face. If they did, they just might be tempted to emulate many of the characteristics Rather puts forward in this book, and just might find that our country could have the ability to heal.

Us Against You

 

Us Against You – by Fredrik Backman

This was a horribly depressing book, and the first one by the author that I would recommend giving a “pass” on.  First thing’s first: it is absolutely essential that you read the first book in the series “Beartown” before you read this one.  All the action here begins three weeks after the conclusion of that first novel, and without an understanding of the story, you’ll likely be lost. “Beartown” was an excellent read, and even though I’m stating you should read that one first, I’m really recommending that you read that one alone, and don’t even bother with this one.

Beartown is a dying blue collar town that is located basically in the middle of nowhere (it’s located inside something known as “The Forrest”).  The only thing this town has going for it is amateur hockey.  If you’re a child growing up in this town and can play hockey really well, you might just somewhat survive. If you can’t play hockey, however, may God have mercy on your soul. In addition to this ridiculous devotion to this sport, there’s an awful lot of suicide, survivors of suicide, alcoholism, and just plain nasty violence in this town.  This is a town where if you take a walk in the town wearing the opposing team’s colors, you just might get beaten to death. I’m being serious here.

At the conclusion of “Beartown”, a horrible crime was committed that turned this already warped town on its head. The crime was so serious, it essentially meant the possibility of no more hockey. Well, as this book begins, we pick up where we left off, and we get to watch an already depressed town sink even deeper. It’s never fun.  This book is mostly introspective. Not a lot really happens, and what does happen is never pretty.  The first novel told a good (yet depressing) story, and it was actually enjoyable  to learn and read about such a foreign place that the author brought to life.  Once the town was brought to life, however, it soon became a place where you wouldn’t want to stop and have a cup of coffee in, which is what makes this follow-up such unbearable reading.

This book is so uneventful, that it almost seems unfair to refer to it as a sequel to the first one. It’s more of an epilogue or an addendum.  Had there been any real redeeming features about the characters here, it might have been worth the read, but that sadly doesn’t happen.  Oh sure, some characters eventually find peace and/or acceptance but it all seems incredibly fabricated and contrived. Although these characters seem to find peace or a purpose, it’s pretty obvious that the very next setback will yank that person right back into their depressive doldrums.

Fredrik Backman has written some great books, but it seems as though his gift isn’t writing sequels. Beartown was a great novel. You’ll do yourself a favor if you stop after that one and let your own imagination dictate what the possibilities are for the future of the people in that town. I promise that whatever your mind conjures, it will be a lot better than what is presented here.