At Home Plate - Book Review: Best Mets

Written by Michael Newman (Contact & Archive) on December 30, 2011

Being a huge baseball fan and having followed the Mets since the mid-1960's, I was glad to get an advance copy of this book. "Best Mets" is not the normal fare in that the first 24 pages has a summary of the Mets' 50-year history and a series of lists, including best players, teams, games and activities (bars to go to, road trips, etc.).

But having read the book, I would have preferred a much more detailed history of the team and a lot fewer of the lists. Some of the greatest moments (the black cat by Ron Santo, the 10th inning of Game 6 against the Red Sox) are not even mentioned in the history and Game 6 of the '86 Series only got one paragraph in the Mets greatest games list.

Title: Best Mets: Fifty Years of Highs and Lows from New York’s Most Agonizingly Amazin’ Team
Author: Matthew Silverman
Pages: 224
Release Date: Jan. 16, 2012

Most of the important history of the Mets, such as the day Tom Seaver was traded for Steve Henderson and three other players, seem to be only footnotes. I remember such great moments as the drama of the game where Willie Mays was called out at home and both Willie and Yogi arguing vehemently with the home plate umpire, as well as the excitement of Willie Mays coming home to the Mets and his dramatic first home run. This great moment seemed totally absent from the book.

The 50 All-Time Mets listing was like the count-down on one of those MLB shows where they give you a list of the 50 greatest catches or 50 greatest games. Arguing about who was better between Tom Seaver and Doc Gooden is like trying to compare Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle and Duke Snider: interesting for about a second but not too controversial.

The list of the best Met Games ever was all postseason games. Surely the writer could have done some research and come up with some regular season games. How about the game where the Mets beat the Cardinals to win their first postseason berth ever? What about Mike Piazza's dramatic home run (note, it did get about two sentences in the history portion) against the Braves that lifted the city after 9/11? What about the drama of the Mets wearing the caps of the NYPD and NYFD at the game?

The book just touches on some of my fondest baseball memories of the Mets, but I wish that there was a lot more depth to this book and a little bit more research done by the writer.

AHP Rating: I barely gave this book 2 Balls.

AtHomePlate.com writes its book reviews with the following rating scale in mind:

Four Balls: An exceptional book that truly earns a walk straight to the local book store to get a copy.
Three Balls: This book stands out from its peers and is highly recommended.
Two Balls: A book worth reading/owning and is usually above average.
One Ball: This book has something to say but is nothing special.

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites