Matthew Silverman

On the positive side I learned a few things about the Mets I didn't know. And remembered a few more that I'd forgotten about. Can't believe I'd forgotten all about Banner Day at Shea. On the negative side,there was far too much repetition in the book. Silverman chose the 1986 World Series Bill Buckner incident as the number one thing Mets fans should know. No problem with that. I totally agree. But he brought up the same series again and again later in the book when writing chapters on Mookie, Carter, Hernandez, Darling etc. etc... Then did the same thing with the 1969 World Series and the players who starred in it. This might work if a reader just browsed through the book picking out a chapter here and there. But if your reading the book cover to cover, the repetition gets really boring.… (meer)

This book was more like a 1969 Mets encyclopedia, rather than a book about the '69 Mets. Although I do have to say that it was a good encyclopedia, but I would not recommend trying to read it cover to cover like I did. Since this boo....I mean encyclopedia basically covers the '69 Mets you have a relatively narrow frame of reference (one baseball season). So, while each player has their own biography a lot of the facts are repeated through each players story and although there is a lot of new and interesting information, it stops being new and interesting after you read it in Cleon Jones' story, and then again in Jerry Koosman's story, and then in Tom Seaver's story, and on and on. If you don't know much about the '69 Mets and want to learn more, this is the encyclopedia for you. Even if you know a bit about the '69 Mets I'd still recommend picking it up, just take your time reading it, read a story or two, read another book, and then go back to it for another story or two, it'll be well worth it.… (meer)

Although I can’t imagine anyone but a diehard Mets fan enjoying this book, it fills its niche well. Beyond a quibble about the title (the majority of the 100 items listed in this book are things to “know” with only a few things to “do” thrown in), I thoroughly savored this book and all of the nostalgia it conjured for me—from Tom Terrific to Doc to HoJo, Straw, Mookie, Nails, and—of course—the quintessential moment in Mets history: Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. The author himself is a devout fan, and the book is sprinkled with trivia and the recollections of other fans. This is pure delight for the Metropolitan faithful.… (meer)