Pitchers and catchers reported. Infielders and outfielders followed. Now it’s time for authors and books. March usually brings some promising titles of the Metsian variety, and this one has a couple to think about right off the bat. As a matter of fact, the authors of these books will be appearing in the Metropolitan Area this week pitching their work and fielding your questions.
Readers need to get in shape, too. Here’s where you can work out your curiosity.
On Thursday, March 5, 7 PM, Mort Zachter will be at Jay Goldberg’s beautiful Bergino Baseball Clubhouse (67 E. 11th St. in Manhattan, a soft single west of Broadway) to discuss Gil Hodges: A Hall Of Fame Life. An early scan of the book promises a thorough exploration of the journey our world champion manager took to lead the Mets to the mountaintop. It’s hard to talk about Hodges without defaulting to protesting how he’s been passed over too many times by the councils of Cooperstown or mourning what might have been had he lived longer; hence, I’m excited that the book looks to cover all the bases, not just the ones we tend to instinctively touch as a matter of well-meaning course.
If you’re in Fairfield County on Thursday night the 5th at 7, bring your appetite for Mets history to Byrd’s Books in Bethel (downtown, at 126 Greenwood Ave.), where Michael Garry will be taking you inside Game Of My Life: New York Mets, a collection of original stories from a passel of players ranging from the early days of Al Jackson to the recent times of Daniel Murphy. This is part of a series, and I’m usually wary of shoehorning Met spirituality into agnostic formats, but I see from a good look at an advance copy that a lot of authenticity went into this edition. The author and I are casually acquainted and we did exchange a few thoughts as he put the manuscript together, though from what I can tell, this would be a promising Met read even if it came to me from a total stranger. (Besides, a stranger is just a Mets fan you haven’t met yet.)
If you’re in the vicinity of either event, think about stopping by. Regardless of your personal geography, definitely check out their books. Both are poised to enhance your baseball library. Then, the next day, Matt Harvey is supposed to pitch on television, so you’ll have something fun to do between chapters, too.
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