Maury Allen (1932–2010)

The Incredible Mets was written by sportswriter Maury Allen, who covered the team for many years, and was published the month after the Mets won the World Series in 1969. I thought the book would be entirely about the '69 season, but the first half of it was instead a history of the Mets franchise, showing the tortured route they took from being the joke of the league to the toast of the country. Then the second half is a look at the '69 season. I was seven when the Mets came into being in 1962, so while I have some memories of the team's first few years, I enjoyed the refresher course.

I would absolutely recommend this book for any fan of baseball and baseball history. Without doubt Allen adds more than a little "homerism" to his account, but the book is also well written, quickly paced and entertaining, and there is a rewarding number of fun and funny anecdotes about the players who populated the Mets' early history, from lovable losers to "incredible" winners.… (mehr)