PDF They Said It Couldn't Be Done The ཱྀ Mets New York City and the Most Astounding Season in Baseball History Audible Audio Edition Wayne Coffey Gary Cohen Random House Audio Books
Download As PDF : They Said It Couldn't Be Done The ཱྀ Mets New York City and the Most Astounding Season in Baseball History Audible Audio Edition Wayne Coffey Gary Cohen Random House Audio Books
"A masterpiece." (Gary Cohen, Emmy Award-winning Mets broadcaster for SportsNet New York)
The astonishing story of the 1969 Miracle Mets, the most improbable World Series champions in baseball history, from Wayne Coffey, the best-selling author of The Boys of Winter.
Here is an iconic season brought back to riveting life on its 50th anniversary. Gracefully told with unprecedented depth and detail and set against the roiling backdrop of the Vietnam War, the wonder of the moon landing, and the music-filled mayhem of Woodstock, They Said It Couldn't Be Done is the finely wrought, uplifting chronicle of a brilliant manager, Gil Hodges, and his overachieving roster of heroes, who together produced a triumph for the ages.
The story of the 1969 New York Mets' season has long since entered sports lore as one of the most remarkable of all time. But beyond the "miracle" is a compelling narrative of an unlikely collection of players and the hallowed manager who inspired them to greatness. Future Hall of Fame ace Tom Seaver snagged the biggest headlines, but the enduring richness of the story lies in the core of a team comprised of untested youngsters, lightly regarded veterans, and four Southern-born African American stalwarts who came of age in the shadow of Jackie Robinson. Most of the Mets regulars were improbable candidates for baseball stardom. The number two starting pitcher, Jerry Koosman, grew up on a Minnesota farm, never played high school ball, and was only discovered because of a tip from a Mets usher. Outfielder Ron Swoboda was known for long home runs and piles of strikeouts, until he turned into a glove wizard when it mattered most.
All of these men were galvanized by their manager the sainted former Brooklyn Dodger Gil Hodges, whose fundamental belief in the power of every man on the roster, no matter his stats, helped backup players like Al Weis and J.C. Martin become October heroes. As the Mets powered through the season to reach a World Series against the best-in-a-generation Baltimore Orioles, Hodges' steady hand guided a team that had very recently been the league laughingstock to an improbable, electrifying shot at sports immortality.Â
Here, best-selling author Wayne Coffey has captured the voices of players and fans, reporters and umpires, to bring to life a moment when a championship could descend on a city like magic and when a baseball legend was authored one inning at a time.
PDF They Said It Couldn't Be Done The ཱྀ Mets New York City and the Most Astounding Season in Baseball History Audible Audio Edition Wayne Coffey Gary Cohen Random House Audio Books
"Where this book truly excels is in the detailed information and histories of all of the '69 Mets players. That information was very interesting and fun to read, especially if you grew up with that team as your hometown team.
But I had a hard time with this book as an overall story. Although the writing style was quite nice, the story was not told from any specific point-of-view which made for little to hold the narrative together in a particularly compelling manner. There was a ton of detail where there didn't need to be, particularly in the minutiae that went into describing all of the games.
It would have been a far more interesting if, instead, the story included the changes in fortunes of those involved with the Mets, as well as the fairly profound impact it had on the city and how, coupled with the successful seasons of the Jets and Knicks, was almost all anyone in the trig-state area talked about.
Although this was a review copy, there was no mention of photos being included in the final book. Photos would not only have been appreciated, but would have gone a long way in helping bring this book to life.
The bottom line is that I thought the author missed a great opportunity to paint the broader picture of how the '69 Mets impacted the social fabric of the city as a whole. That season came at a remarkable time in the history of the city and it is one which made a profound impact on just about everyone who was there to experience it, as few sports events have."
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They Said It Couldn't Be Done The ཱྀ Mets New York City and the Most Astounding Season in Baseball History Audible Audio Edition Wayne Coffey Gary Cohen Random House Audio Books Reviews :
They Said It Couldn't Be Done The ཱྀ Mets New York City and the Most Astounding Season in Baseball History Audible Audio Edition Wayne Coffey Gary Cohen Random House Audio Books Reviews
- Just finished reading this book about the 1969 Amazing Mets. Many books have been written about this team but none capture what was going on in the city, on and off the field and even in the country at that time. It brought so many great memories of being a faithful Mets fan from Long Island watching them evolve from "lovable losers" to World Champions. Wayne eloquently takes the reader on a journey through the season with great back stories on the players and how they got to be World Champions.
- A very enjoyable read. I was a teenage diehard Met fan during the summer of ‘69 and I remember each twist and turn of that season very well. Mr. Coffey does a great job of bringing back the memories plus provides insights into the cast of characters that I didn’t know. Highly recommended.
- Wonderfully written book about a team which produced a magical season. The book is filled with interesting facts. I have always been a Gil Hodges fan and after reading this book I still cannot believe he is not in the hall of fame. Let’s go Mets!!!
- fast paced and made you feel like you were reliving the 69 year of the mets
- THEY SAID IT COULDN'T BE DONE, by Wayne Coffey, details how the 1969 New York Mets came together and then chronicles their march through the playoffs and then game by game how they won the World Series. The book touches on personal stories of many of the players and coaches along with painting a picture of the baseball scene and the world events to really make the reader feel like they were in New York City in 1969 pulling for the Mets.
Very analytical, and still relatable and fun, Coffey details how baseball was in New York City. Major League teams had recently left, there was a war in Vietnam, and their were lingering racial tensions that still affected everyday life. Coffey explains how the team was formed, from drafting and signing players, to obtaining their beloved manager, Gil Hodges, and Coffey explains how each person was integral to the success of the team. Coffey explains how Hodges' managerial belief was that all 25 men on the roster are important and each one a key to winning the World Series. As a baseball fan who likes to watch it and read about it, the most unique and interesting part of the book is the ongoing theme that while this team was nicknamed "The Miracle Mets", Coffey writes the entire book from the standpoint that nothing was miracle about this team, that each player had his purpose and was put in a position to succeed by the team and manager. Coffey does allow that the World Series win from a still young franchise was quite remarkable, but that using the world miracle could bring a negative connotation that the team played beyond its means. Coffey's approach to the book is very rooted in the idea that this team was put together logically and worked hard to fulfill everyone's dream of winning it all.
I finished this book with a smile and I am still thinking about how well-written and inspiring THEY SAID IT COULDN'T BE DONE was. A really good sports non-fiction and one I would recommend to just about anyone.
Thank you to Crown Publishing, Wayne Coffey, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! - In the interest of full disclosure, all of these books on the 1969 New York Mets are somewhat hard to stomach for the Cubs fan in me. Wayne Coffey at the very end of They Said it Couldn’t Be Done has a chapter entitled Don’t Call it a Miracle. While this may be a true thought when compared to divine miracles, how does one possibly begin to explain the breathtaking series of events that had to take place in order for one of the worst teams in baseball to suddenly become World Series Champions?
Beyond a group of young talented pitchers pitching unbelievable, how does one explain players with 200 batting averages getting clutch hits, power hitters becoming solid glove men, and little used utility men outplaying the likes of Hank Aaron and The Robinsons (Brooks and Frank)? It’s a very briskly paced read and while it claims to be about more than the Mets of 1969, the brief moments we spend away from the team always tie back to the Mets and that crazy miraculous summer.
It’s a baseball book with heart that will leave the reader turning the pages wondering just how it happened, but don’t call it a miracle. - Where this book truly excels is in the detailed information and histories of all of the '69 Mets players. That information was very interesting and fun to read, especially if you grew up with that team as your hometown team.
But I had a hard time with this book as an overall story. Although the writing style was quite nice, the story was not told from any specific point-of-view which made for little to hold the narrative together in a particularly compelling manner. There was a ton of detail where there didn't need to be, particularly in the minutiae that went into describing all of the games.
It would have been a far more interesting if, instead, the story included the changes in fortunes of those involved with the Mets, as well as the fairly profound impact it had on the city and how, coupled with the successful seasons of the Jets and Knicks, was almost all anyone in the trig-state area talked about.
Although this was a review copy, there was no mention of photos being included in the final book. Photos would not only have been appreciated, but would have gone a long way in helping bring this book to life.
The bottom line is that I thought the author missed a great opportunity to paint the broader picture of how the '69 Mets impacted the social fabric of the city as a whole. That season came at a remarkable time in the history of the city and it is one which made a profound impact on just about everyone who was there to experience it, as few sports events have.
