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

by Peter Golenbock

An oral history of the New York Mets, by the New York Times bestselling baseball writer of Bums and The Bronx Zoo.

From Tom Seaver to Gary Carter, Ron Swoboda to Al Leiter, from the team's inception to the current day, the New York Mets' road to success has been a rutted and furrowed path. Now, with the help of New York Times bestselling author Peter Golenbock, the complete story of one of the most controversial teams in baseball history comes to life. Told from the voices of the men who experienced it firsthand, this compulsively readable account gives baseball fans the inside scoop on one of baseball's most popular teams. This is the true story of a group of men who won the hearts and shattered the dreams of generations.

Utilizing dozens of personal interviews with players, coaches, fans, and sportswriters, Amazin' takes readers on a journey from the Mets' bumbling days as a new team in 1962, to their stunning World Championships in 1969 and 1986, right up through to today. In time for the anniversary of the New York Mets, Amazin' is rich with unforgettable personalities and wondrous stories both funny and poignant.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Nonfiction, History

672 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Golenbock grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, and in 1963 graduated St. Luke's School in New Canaan, Connecticut. His heroes were Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford. One day in the local library he discovered the book, The New York Yankees: An Informal History by Frank Graham ( G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1943) and it made a strong impression on him.''

Golenbock graduated from Dartmouth College in 1967 and the New York University School of Law in 1970.

He was a radio sports talk show host in 1980 on station WOR in New York City. He was the color broadcaster for the St. Petersburg Pelicans of the Senior Professional Baseball League in 1989-90 and has been a frequent guest on many of the top television and radio talk shows including "Biography on A&E," the "Fifty Greatest Athletes and the Dynasties on ESPN," "Good Morning America," "Larry King Live," "ESPN Classic," and the YES network.

Golenbock lives in St. Petersburg, Florida with his two basset hounds, Doris and Fred.

Reviews

[Tom Gase · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read going through the history of the New York Mets. The book spends a good portion on the 1969 and 1986 teams that won World Series, with a decent amount on the 1973 and 2000 teams as well. I enjoyed the parts on the 1969 and 86 teams because the author, Pete Golenbock, talked to a lot of people such as Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Ron Swoboda, John Matlack, Tug McGraw, Gary Carter, Darryl Strawberry, Wally Backman, Dwight Gooden, Lenny Dkystra, and a few more. But the book struggles at times, especially the start when it talks only about the Dodgers and Giants in New York for the first 80 pages or so. That's too much for a book not on those teams. I understand you have to mention those teams, but I would have kept that part to maybe 20 pages at the most. The other part where the book struggles is for the 2000 era teams, it seemed like I was just reading Al Leiter's biography. Golenbock chose to not use anyone else and it was just page after page after page by Leiter, which would be great...if this was a book on Leiter. But it wasn't. So I'm reading wondering, when are we going to get Piazza's voice, Alfonso's voice, Robin Ventura's voice, Todd Pratt, John Franco, and earlier, when are we going to hear from Keith Hernandez, Ron Darling, Jesse Orosco, Ray Knight, etc. So as good as the book was at parts, I feel it also missed a lot. It was kind of a huge cliff notes book on the team but I found reading individual books on the 1986 Mets and 1969 Mets that were a little more focused to be a little better. Still, a fun trip down memory lane. Loved Golenbock's book on the Dodgers called Bums.

[Brett Van Gaasbeek · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Mr. Book · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can also see this review, along with others I have written, at my blog, Mr. Book's Book Reviews.

Mr. Book just finished Amazin’: The Miraculous History Of New York’s Most Beloved Baseball Team, by Peter Golenbock.

There was plenty to complain about with this book, from the very beginning. There was no need to start the book with seven chapters on NL baseball prior to the efforts to bring National League baseball back to NY. It was as if Golenbock either had extra material left over from his book on the Brooklyn Dodgers or just wanted to reuse it. And based on the fact that there were plenty of people he cited in those chapters, compared to the amount of different voices, also supports my theory that this wasn’t new interviews that he did, as well as the fact that there were interviews in this book from people who had been dead for decades before he could come up with the idea to write this book.

Then, the author expects us to believe there was an effort to bring baseball to New York after the Giants and Dodgers left. It is as if we are supposed to ignore the fact that most successful franchise in the history of sports was playing baseball in New York and was at the height of its dynasty. I also could do without the hagiography of Bill Shea. There was no need to attempt to make it sound like Shea was the greatest man ever to walk on earth.

This book gave a very distorted view of Mets history. There was a disproportiate amount of coverage given to the 1969 and 1986 teams and other Mets successes. The book made no effort to acknowledge how those years stand out as exceptions given their long history of failures and bad teams.

This was an oral history in which the author just gave long block quotes from interviews that he did with players. A good oral history will have plenty of sources, like Golenbock did in his other books. This one suffers from how few voices were included. And for the last bunch of chapters, the book turned into the Al Leiter show, as he was literallly the only person quoted.

I give this book a C.

Goodreads requires grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, a C equates to 2 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews, and Goodreads.

Mr. Book finished reading this on November 20, 2024.

[Dan Lalande · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oral history of New York baseball's poor cousin, from their inception in 1962 to the Subway Series of 2000. For a franchise stocked with cult heroes, but a handful are represented. As for the stars, most of the heavy lifting is done by a pair of irrepressible mouthpieces: Gary Carter and Al Leiter. Nevertheless, it's a colorful lineage, from public joke to dysfunctional dynasty to precarious respectability.

[peter cherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ya gotta believe

Thoroughly enjoyed this book well written and interesting.As a U K fan of the Mets it allowed me to soak up the atmosphere of polo gardens and shea stadium.Hopefully one day I can get to actually cheer them on in the flesh.

[Donny Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Peter Golenbock’s books. Would be a 5/5 but there are a few eras where there are not enough different voices in this oral history. The last fifty pages or so are pretty much just an Al Leiter interview. Interesting, but would have liked three or four different viewpoints at least.

[Roncibio · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun book to read for any Mets fan.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have previously read Golenbock's history of the New York Yankees (Dynasty) and the Brooklyn Dodgers (Bums). Sadly, Amazin' did not live up to the standards of those two fine books. Amazin' begins with an late 1800s team called the New York Metropolitans. That team has no connection with the current Mets and is only mentioned because they shared a name. Next, Golenbock gives a 100 page history of both the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants. Now, the link between the departure of these two teams and the arrival of the Mets is very important, but I did not need a blow-by-blow recounting of much of these teams history. It would have been sufficient to spend a single chapter discussing the Dodgers, Giants, Walter O'Malley, Horace Stoneham and their departures from New York. Another drawback to Amazin' is that, unlike in Dynasty and Bums, Golenbeck does very little narration. He relies on player interviews, predominately Ron Swoboda, Gary Carter, and Al Leiter to provide much of the material. While the first hand accounts are great, Golenbeck put down long passages of verbatim dialogue which, with the players' stream of consciousness, sometimes lacks coherence. Amazin' would have been a much better book had Golenbeck done some of his own narration and relied less on his interview subjects. Still, this book is a fascinating read. The stories behind how the Mets came into existence, how Shea Stadium came into being, and the ups and downs of the 80s and 90s teams are all terrific.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for any fan of the New York Metropolitans. If you're an original fan from the 60's, then it's a good way to remember the early pain and joys (1969 & 1973). If you're like me and joined in the 80's, then you can learn about those wonderful mid to late 70's teams that made the crazy 80's possible. But if you joined from the 90's on then it's a great way to see what agony & madness you signed up for.

[Daniel Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was very interesting and informative about my favorite team. I liked the honest statements in the interviews with former players or people linked to the history, especially Swaboda, Gooden and Strawberry. I just wished more people had input that I could've read. Overall though, it was very good.

[Brian Stark · Rating 5 out of 5]

You have to ask why this is a five star book?

[Ron Kaplan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mets,oral history,history

[Ron Kaplan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mets,oral history,history

[William Herbst · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent overview of moments of Mets history told through interviews with key figures in various eras. Don't look for anything comprehensive here though.

[Douglas Graney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mets fans will love this. I enjoyed it.

[Karl Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Book gives the account of 50 years of the New York Mets. This is a must for all Die-Hard Mets Fans!