Audiobook9 hours
After the Miracle: The Lasting Brotherhood of the '69 Mets
Written by Erik Sherman and Art Shamsky
Narrated by Jonathan Todd Ross
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
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About this audiobook
“A great and insightful” (Keith Hernandez, New York Mets legend and broadcaster) New York Times bestselling account of an iconic team in baseball history: the 1969 New York Mets—a last-place team that turned it all around in just one season—told by ’69 Mets outfielder Art Shamsky, Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver, and other teammates who reminisce about that legendary season and their enduring bonds decades later.
The New York Mets franchise began in 1962 and the team finished in last place nearly every year. When the 1969 season began, fans weren’t expecting much from “the Lovable Losers.” But as the season progressed, the Mets inched closer to first place and then eventually clinched the National League pennant. They were underdogs against the formidable Baltimore Orioles, but beat them in five games to become world champions. No one had predicted it. In fact, fans could hardly believe it happened. Suddenly they were “the Miracle Mets.”
Playing right field for the ’69 Mets was Art Shamsky, who had stayed in touch with his former teammates over the years. He hoped to get together with star pitcher Tom Seaver (who would win the Cy Young award as the best pitcher in the league in 1969 and go on to become the first Met elected to the Hall of Fame), but Seaver was ailing and could not travel. So, Shamsky organized a visit to “Tom Terrific” in California, accompanied by the #2 pitcher, Jerry Koosman, outfielder Ron Swoboda, and shortstop Bud Harrelson. Together they recalled the highlights of that amazing season as they reminisced about what changed the Mets’ fortunes in 1969.
In this “enjoyable tale of a storybook season” (Kirkus Reviews), and with the help of sportswriter Erik Sherman, Shamsky has written the “revealing” (New York Newsday) After the Miracle for the 1969 Mets. “This heartfelt, nostalgic memoir will delight baseball fans of all ages and allegiances” (Publishers Weekly). It’s a book that every Mets fan must own.
The New York Mets franchise began in 1962 and the team finished in last place nearly every year. When the 1969 season began, fans weren’t expecting much from “the Lovable Losers.” But as the season progressed, the Mets inched closer to first place and then eventually clinched the National League pennant. They were underdogs against the formidable Baltimore Orioles, but beat them in five games to become world champions. No one had predicted it. In fact, fans could hardly believe it happened. Suddenly they were “the Miracle Mets.”
Playing right field for the ’69 Mets was Art Shamsky, who had stayed in touch with his former teammates over the years. He hoped to get together with star pitcher Tom Seaver (who would win the Cy Young award as the best pitcher in the league in 1969 and go on to become the first Met elected to the Hall of Fame), but Seaver was ailing and could not travel. So, Shamsky organized a visit to “Tom Terrific” in California, accompanied by the #2 pitcher, Jerry Koosman, outfielder Ron Swoboda, and shortstop Bud Harrelson. Together they recalled the highlights of that amazing season as they reminisced about what changed the Mets’ fortunes in 1969.
In this “enjoyable tale of a storybook season” (Kirkus Reviews), and with the help of sportswriter Erik Sherman, Shamsky has written the “revealing” (New York Newsday) After the Miracle for the 1969 Mets. “This heartfelt, nostalgic memoir will delight baseball fans of all ages and allegiances” (Publishers Weekly). It’s a book that every Mets fan must own.
Author
Erik Sherman
Erik Sherman is the author of the critically acclaimed Kings of Queens: Life Beyond Baseball With The ’86 Mets, and is also the coauthor of four highly acclaimed baseball autobiographies with Glenn Burke, Steve Blass, Mookie Wilson, and Davey Johnson. Erik is an annual lecturer at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
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Reviews for After the Miracle
Rating: 3.769230769230769 out of 5 stars
4/5
13 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The 1969 Mets made me a baseball fan, so I was looking forward to reading this. But somehow, time passed and this book just sat on a shelf, waiting patiently. This is a fairly quick read, with stories/anecdotes I already knew and many that were new to me. The structure of the book is different than the other books I read about the '69 Mets, most of them back in the early '70s. Former Met Art Shamsky reminisced with former teammates about the miracle year, with the book culminating with a visit of four of them at Tom Seaver's vineyard, which gave the book an emotional punch, especially now that Seaver is gone. I just wish it had been better proofed; I found typos, a few missing words, that sort of thing.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5After the Miracle: The Lasting Brotherhood of the ‘69 Mets covers the amazing story of the Mets’ improbable championship season. Authors Art Shamsky and Erik Sherman try to put a fresh spin on the events with lots of quotes and anecdotes from Mets players and coaches, but much of the writing is clichéd and repetitive. The framing story of the narrative is Shamsky, along with teammates Bud Harrelson, Jerry Koosman, and Ron Swoboda, paying a visit to the team’s Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver, who is currently ailing with the debilitating effects of Lyme disease. This is reminiscent of David Halberstam’s wonderful book Teammates which chronicles a similar trip of Boston Red Sox teammates to visit Ted Williams in his dying days. After the Miracle of course cannot match Halberstam’s literary skills, and while Seaver’s plight is undeniably sad, it somehow does not achieve the poignancy that the authors likely envisioned. Nevertheless, Met fans who experienced that magical season will certainly will enjoy this nostalgic ride, but the book really doesn’t rise above the standard baseball memoir.