Amazin': The Miraculous History of New York's Most Beloved Baseball Team Book

For any fan of the New York Mets, especially ones that need to relive "glory years" due to the recent heartbreak of the club, this book is a solid synopsis of the history of the club. Beginning in the late-1800s and the formation of the National League, extending out with a brief history of the Dodgers and Giants in NYC, and then finally detailing the way in which the Mets came into existence in 1962 via the efforts of Bill Shea. Golenbock then launches into the colorful and roller-coaster like history of the "Amazins" from their futile beginnings under Stengell up until the Subway Series in 2000. He spends the majority of the time on the best of times situations of the championships in 1969 and 1986, the World Series appearances in 1973 and 2000, but he also spends some space explaining the building of these teams as well as the "what if" scenarios that were present in their downfall. As a child of the 1980s, it was not easy reading through the decline from 1986 and the magical postseason it was to the absolutely abysmal and depressing realities of the 1990s. There are parts of this book that will remind you of Tom Terrific and Doc at their finest, but there will also be sections that tear at your heart as a Mets fan and make you frustrated all over again (M. Donald Grant, the trades that made no sense, and the rise and perplexing fall of Gregg Jeffries). Well worth the read for any fan of Metropolitans and the superior summers at Shea.