Afbeelding van de auteur.

Dwight Gooden

Auteur van Doc: A Memoir

5+ Werken 112 Leden 6 Besprekingen

Werken van Dwight Gooden

Doc: A Memoir (2013) 66 exemplaren
Heat 2 exemplaren
Dr. K (1986) 1 exemplaar

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Not a bad book, not a great book. Almost interchangeable with High and Tight, while High and Tight was Gooden and Strawberrys stories interwoven, Heat was Goodens story centered around his no hitter with the Yankees. Heat started about the same time chronologically as High and Tight, but ended later, including Docs career with the Yankees and a season with the Indians. You could read both books, but I'd say you only really need to read one to get a clear picture. Unfortunately for Heat, I read High and Tight first, and that probably affected Heats rating.… (meer)
 
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MrMet | Apr 28, 2023 |
Well, the book's okay, but not actually what I was hoping for. I remember when this kid came up. What a hell of a rookie year he had (and his second year was basically as good if not more so). You want strike outs? Serious freaking heat! He went from a name to a recognized world sensation in a month! It wasn't long after that, with Daryl Strawberry supplying the lumber and former Expo catcher, Gary Carter, smacking a few out while providing clubhouse leadership, that they beat the Red Sox to win their first World Series in 25 universes...? Seemed that way.

I'm not a Mets fan, but this kid -- they were starting to call him "Doc" -- was a once in a life-timer. And then he seemed to just start to fade away. Eventually disappear. 15 minutes.

I guess I wanted to really hear about his coming up to the majors and his incredible rookie year, and on to the Series, instead of opening the book to him passed out in a drug den doped up and too screwed up to make it to the stadium for the big game. It's not that that's not important or what Gooden clearly wanted to do with his book. And it's his prerogative to do that, sure. But it's my prerogative too, as a consumer, to not care too much because that scene has been written about a thousand times in a thousand sports and entertainer's books, while few of them ever approached the level of success he had in his first two years. It's not that his focus isn't valid -- it is. It's just, been there, done that a million damn times with players not even worth 10% of him, and I just wanted to read about a rookie season for the ages. I'm actually kind of sick of all of these screwed up athletes ruining their careers and lives and then NOT writing about what made them interesting when they were able to play, but instead writing almost exclusively on how down the gutter they all fell and what it took for them to make it back. And again, I don't want to invalidate that. I've got my own stories too. But when reading a memoir of an athlete of this stature, I really just don't want another "Insert pages of last athlete's memoir, replace author/athlete names with current one, change book jacket, sell." They're redundant after awhile, so you almost start to not care anymore because you become so desensitized to it. Which is sad. I only wanted to read something fun for once, something decent, exciting, celebrating an amazing accomplishment instead of just another book on an athlete destroying their careers and lives. Hell, I predicted this exact outcome, but as I write this, former Steeler All Pros Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell just finished their first season after "escaping" evil cheap little Pittsburgh and neither of them really understood that they WEREN'T the damn straw the stirred the drink -- they were an overall part of the drink, every part of the drink is replaceable, and frankly, Brown's bitching about Ben really ticked me off because without Ben throwing him the ball -- and Ben had PLENTY of other high drafted, very talented people to throw to, many of whom went on to become 1,000 and/or Pro Bowl receivers, often with another team rather than staying with the Steelers for their entire career -- like respectable Hines Ward did, Stallworth, etc. The point is, Brown owes practically all of his stats to the 6th best QB in NFL history and possible the best offensive line for any one decade in NFL history, with three annual All Pros, two other decade-long starters, 2-3 going to the Hall of Fame one day? They thought they could spit in Pittsburgh's face for whatever greedy, elitist reasons and continue to duplicate their numbers nearly ANYWHERE else? They obviously don't have good agents or advisors because I would have bet my house that neither would do crap and that they just nuked their careers and their once probably HOF destinies due to total idiocy. See, we see a few Doc's every year. And it's not that they're story, especially if redemptive, isn't good, valid or interesting. I just wanted a good view into that incredible year for once rather than the downside of fame and riches. A different take. On something that I actually care about because I've seen and been around enough misery throughout my life around this planet to think there's too much special about the redemptive stories -- a ton of people could write the same thing -- but they are the only ones who can write about what it was that made them household names. Whatever, I guess it's just me. It's an okay book but I'm kind of over these types of celebrity autobiographies, so while I want to give this book two stars for ticking me off, that's subjective and probably not fair to the author, so I'll give it three, but know what you're getting before you get it so you don't make the same mistake I did...
… (meer)
 
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scottcholstad | 4 andere besprekingen | Jan 27, 2020 |
Dwight bares it all, addiction, trauma, baseball stardom, and more. Interesting tidbits - he definitely didn't experience an honest side of Darryl Strawberry, he had some major baseball pitching accomplishments, trauma work truly sparked his recovery work. The book unfortunately is written rather flat and dry. There are home-run moments, but they are separated with lots of strike outs as well.
 
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revslick | 4 andere besprekingen | Feb 6, 2015 |
If you love baseball, you'll know that Doc was a legendary pitcher for the NY Mets, but you might not know his struggle with hidden childhood trauma, addictions and celebrity rehab. The book is candid, kind of confessional and interesting.
 
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HelenGress | 4 andere besprekingen | Feb 3, 2015 |

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Statistieken

Werken
5
Ook door
1
Leden
112
Populariteit
#174,306
Waardering
½ 3.5
Besprekingen
6
ISBNs
7

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