The Mets have played home games in two counties of New York City, so I’ll do the same in the coming days, as the preseason book tour for Amazin’ Again: How the 2015 New York Mets Brought the Magic Back to Queens continues.
This Saturday, March 26, from roughly noon to three, I’ll be at Foley’s, the bar dedicated to baseball, with books for purchase and signatures for free. Buy a copy if you haven’t already; bring the copy you already bought. Mostly, come say hi, hang out and share a little Mets bonhomie with your fellow fans. Foley’s is located in Manhattan at 18 W. 33rd St., between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, across from the Empire State Building, convenient to Penn Station, not far from Grand Central. (Thanks to Friend of FAFIF Sharon Chapman for getting this particular baby going.)
Next Thursday, March 31, from 6:00 to 7:30 PM, the tour travels from the borough once graced by the Polo Grounds to the borough where Shea Stadium stood and where Citi Field will hoist a National League Championship flag. That’s right, Amazin’ Again comes to Queens, specifically the Queens Library’s Central branch in Jamaica, 89-11 Merrick Blvd. I’ll be giving a talk about the book, baseball writing, the Mets and anything else anybody in the audience is curious about. As at Foley’s, copies will be available for sale and inscriptions are on the house.
For those of you who are wonderful people who ask, “When are you going to be in [place that isn’t Manhattan or Queens]?” the answer is soon, I hope. You probably know your neighborhood better than I do, so if you know of a location that strikes you as suitable for this sort of thing, let me know, and together we’ll see what we can do.
The author sits down alongside the host with the most Amazin’ baseball stuff around, Jay Goldberg, at the Bergino Clubhouse.
A word of appreciation to Jay Goldberg and everybody who came out on March 17 to Bergino Baseball Clubhouse for the first stop on the tour. It was one of the most fun Mets nights I’ve ever had that didn’t include one of Mark Simon’s meticulously catalogued walkoff home runs. You can listen in to the conversation between Jay and me here, including some lively Q&A with a terrific audience. Jay also has a handful of autographed copies of Amazin’ Again in stock if you can’t make it to either of the upcoming events and you’re a swell enough person to want one.
I also appreciate the interest over at Mets Merized Online, where I answered a string of solid 2015-related questions from Joe DeCaro and several of MMO’s highly engaged readers.
Amazin’ Again is on sale at your finer bookstores and through major online booksellers. I thank everybody who has been good enough to add it to their baseball library already and appreciate to high heavens all the nice things you’ve told me about it to date.
Oh, as for the Sports Illustrated–covering 2016 Mets — who probably have a real ballgame coming up sooner or later — I was recently part of a panel of Mets bloggers who attempted to forecast their fate for the Cardinal site, C70 At The Bat, where we hope they know enough to take good care of Ruben Tejada for us.
Truth be told, Tejada was lazy, overweight, and out of shape, and that’s also the opinion of the Mets organization. He was annointed the starter 3 times without earning it, and then promptly lost it all 3 times —– just like Parnell did with the closer’s job. Enough. Flores is better. Besides, it sounds like Flores is going to play more positions this year than Bugs Bunny.
Congrats to Legares for losing 20 pounds. We can now tell him apart from Bartolo Colon.
Looking at a bust-out year from Robles after a horrible 2015 when he eventually entered the Witness Protection Program. The guys with the sliderules (don’t mean you, Joe Torre) will say otherwise, but I’ll believe my lyin’ eyes in this one.
“Where have you gone, Lucas Duda?”
Unfortunately, nowhere. Thought surely he’d be teaming up again with Ike Davis by now. I AM sure I will be eating my words during those 2 weeks in each of APR, MAY, and AUG when he will accumulate his entire season’s worth of stats.
Let’s get the deGroms some Planned Parenthood pamphlets and get this season going, Spinal Stenosis be damned!
Not only is it spring training for the Mets, it’s also spring training for eric1973, as he’s getting warmed up with his idiotic comments about Mets players he dislikes. But after reading his post, it looks like he’s in fine form and ready to start the season today. I bet you’re already preparing for when your buddy Wright has his first slump.
If you are reading this and have not yet picked up your copy of Amazin’ Again, I suppose other than waiting for pay day or something, go buy it today, from vendors fine or online ir wherever you choose to purchase books. Greg, you have set a new standard with this one. Not only does it capture a season that will live in Mets lore forever (I can see today’s young’uns with tears in their eyes at the 2065 reunion, at which time Bartolo will still be pitching in an independent league, trying to catch on with a major league team who could use an innings eater). But your writing is at its all-time best here…every sentence is a colorfully worded, sublimely clever analysis of the subject at hand. You hit the 5-run homer that even NLCS Murph couldn’t.
Thank you, Dave. Hope we can put those five runs toward 2016.
You might want to try to hook up with Bookends Bookstore in Ridgewood NJ. I’m on their mailing list and they seem to do a lot of Book Signings, quite a few are sports related. Bill Walton was there tonight (not that I went).
You are the second person to mention Bookends, so this bears some investigation. Thanks.
My job has taken me through Ridgewood at times, and I’ve seen that the Bookends store policy requires purchase of the author’s book from their store only for signings. I believe that books purchased elsewhere won’t be allowed near the author without Bookends receipt in hand. This should be verified, of course. Just sayin’.
That said, I regret I won’t be able to make it to see you in Manhattan for a purchase/inscription. Let’s go Mets!
Caught Greg at Jay’s Baseball Clubhouse and it was awesome discussion. Greg, I wish I could say I was in the process of reading the book but my 8 yr old son (he was at the reading) snagged it and is working his way through it:)
I’ll read it when he’s done and he’ll post some comments with his thoughts on it but we’re both looking for to reliving the season all over again (and again and again and again for many years)!
Thanks very much. I’m glad Brody is into it, but I certainly hope he shares it with his dad.
Bookends about 5 minutes from my house. Lots of Mets fans here. Do a signing out here. I’ll buy you dinner (and several copies of your book)!
I represent the Briarwood library and our community would love to invite you for a book talk and of course the Mets. You could bring your books to sell and to help us inspire the great sport of baseball. Thank you
Michael