Baseball Maverick: How Sandy Alderson Revolutionized Baseball And Revived The Mets

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In 2010, the New York Mets were in trouble. One of baseball’s most valuable franchises, they had recently suffered an embarrassing September collapse and two bitter losing seasons. Their GM had made costly mistakes. And their principle owners were embroiled in the largest financial scam in American history.To whom did they turn? Sandy Alderson, a former marine who served in Vietnam and graduated from Harvard Law. In 1981, Alderson started in baseball with Oakland, where he led a revolution in the sport. The A's partnered with Apple, pioneered using statistical analysis, and became a powerhouse, winning the 1989 World Series. When new owners slashed payroll in the 1990s, Alderson's under-the-radar creativity and intelligent management were thrust into the spotlight.Granted unprecedented access to a working GM over several seasons, bestselling author Steve Kettmann traces Alderson’s history and his renewal of the Mets despite a limited budget, through big trades that brought back high-profile prospects to the development of young aces including Matt Harvey, Zach Wheeler, and Jacob deGrom. Now, the turnaround is almost complete. Baseball Maverick is a gripping, behind-the-scenes look at a Major League team and a fascinating exploration of what it means to be smart.

Hardcover: 320 pages

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press (April 7, 2015)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0802119980

ISBN-13: 978-0802119988

Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.4 x 9.1 inches

Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #575,847 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #143 in Books > Business & Money > Industries > Sports & Entertainment > Sports #401 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Sports & Outdoors > Baseball #1168 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Baseball

An enjoyable, informative read. Kettmann is a smooth writer and effective storyteller. He provides background on Sandy Alderson's career, starting off with stories of a young Alderson, son of an Air Force pilot, posing as a journalist so he could enter the Vietnamese warzone and ride his bicycle around exploring. The military background stories were surprisingly fascinating. How all of that (Marine officer, Dartmouth alum, Harvard Law school grad) eventually led to Alderson landing in a major league front office was something I was always interested in reading about.Among my favorites parts of the book is the section on Alderson's years with the Oakland A's. Kettmann covers it well. It really does read like a Moneyball prequel, as Alderson scooped up stats guru Eric Walker, introduced Apple computers into baseball ops, and hired a full-time psychiatrist for the organization, among other cutting edge moves. Of course, he also nurtured Billy Beane into his eventual GM role. Alderson is clearly portrayed as the Obi Wan Kenobi to Beane's Luke Skywalker.As a Mets fan, I found the large portion of the book dealing with Alderson's career in NY enthralling. Lots of behind the scenes details on transactions and reactions to games. My favorite parts of the book were the descriptions of Alderson's excitement about Jacob deGrom prior to his Rookie of the Year season. Kettmann isn't an AMAZING writer but he describes the uniqueness of deGrom very well.My only quibbles with the book are that it seemed to be TOO detailed at times, bogging the reader in minor details and slowing the story down. I also think Kettmann too often resorted to a journalistic, reporter-esque style of writing that can get boring in a book-length text.

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