A Magic Summer; The '69 Mets

San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. xi, [3], 311, [9] pages. Illustrated endpapers. Illustrations. Statistics. Corner creased at rear endpaper. DJ has slight wear and soiling. The author was a successful free-lance writer and communications consultant in New York City. He had been a reporter, an editor, a writer, and a teacher. His book, The Game They Played named in 1987 by Sports Illustrated as among the twenty-five books no sports fan should be without. Derived from a Kirkus review: A literate and likable work that recaptures much of the excitement generated by baseball's New York Mets in their first championship season. Cohen offers a week-by-week account of how the National League Club ended seven years of futility by winning the pennant and then beating the Baltimore Orioles four straight times, after dropping the opener, to win the 1969 World Series. Cohen points out, the lovable losers bypassed mediocrity on their way to the top. Cohen goes on to say that the odds-against triumph seems a lot less unlikely than it did at the time. For one thing, the expansion club had talented youngsters on the threshold of stardom, plus productive veterans and role players--Don Cardwell, Cleon Jones, Jerry Koosman, Tug McGraw, Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, et al. For another, manager Gil Hodges proved a master at juggling lineups and keeping his charges fresh throughout a long season. Of the 25 players on the Mets' 1969 roster, Cohen interviewed all but two. Cohen's evocative text provides fine fare for nostalgia buffs as well as for Mets' rooters.