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 [1] 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 [2]. 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 [3] 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 [4], 89-11 Merrick Blvd. I’ll be giving a talk about the book, baseball writing, the Mets and anything else [5] 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.
[6]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 [7] 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 [8]. You can listen in to the conversation between Jay and me here [9], including some lively Q&A with a terrific audience. Jay also has a handful of autographed copies of Amazin’ Again in stock [10] 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 [11], 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 [1]. 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 [12] — 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 [13], where we hope they know enough to take good care of Ruben Tejada for us [14].