This takes me back to my summer days of youth when I would devour books about baseball in front of the kitchen fan. And this tome by Molly Knight was just perfect in so many ways. Detailing the last two seasons of the Los Angeles Dodgers, it is informative, juicy, and loaded with stuff I never knew. As much as I follow the Dodgers, Knight astounds me with details all new to me.
Admittedly, this beloved, yet high-priced collection of misfits is an illogical choice to be a winning baseball team. But, indeed, the Dodgers have been the past two seasons. In spite of themselves. Because, as Knight relates in copious detail, there is tons of friction in the clubhouse as a result of it being composed of 25 millionaires who are driving to the ballpark in 25 separate cars. You wonder how they even managed to win a game in the past three years. But they did.
Again, in spite of themselves.
I knew Yasiel Puig, the Cuban export who got entrance into our country via a drug cartel, was a complete jerk. I just didn't know how much of an idiot and cancer he was and still is. I do now.
I knew Clayton Kershaw was that baseball rarity. Super-talented, mega-rich, but, at his core, a completely nice guy. I just didn't know how nice he was. I do now.
I always kind of thought that former General Manager Ned Colletti was a bit of a buffoon as he assembled and mis-assembled a playing roster that ultimately couldn't get all the way through October play-off baseball. I just didn't know how inept he was. I do now.
And I had a strong sense that Manager Don Mattingly was doing a superlative job running this clubhouse of rich malcontents. After reading Molly Knight's book, I have a renewed and special appreciation of what he is bringing to this franchise. He is, after reading this tale, perhaps the unsung hero of this organization over the past five years.
Molly Knight gives us gossip and wonderfully funny anecdotes that you would not get any place else. For instance, after a super-charged team meeting called by Don Mattingly, the manager asks if anybody else has something to say. Pitcher Zach Greinke raises his hand.
"I've been noticing something. Some of you guys have been doing the number two and not washing your hands. It's not good."
You cannot write true life moments like that. Whether it's in a baseball clubhouse. Or anywhere else for that matter.
This book is an incredibly fast and joyous read. Ideal for Dodger fans. Even good for those who are not.
Dinner last night: Dodger Dog at the game.
3 comments:
I'll have to read that book.
As a Giants fan, it amazes me that the uber-wealthy Dodgers can't figure out how to win when it counts most. The Giants have nowhere near the resources available to the Dodgers, but three World Series titles in five years don't lie.
Why LA took Ned Colletti from us I don't know. From paying Jason Schmidt (who every SF fan know had no arm left) $47 million for 3 years a decade ago to constructing a 2015 roster that has some of the best players in the world (Kershaw, Greinke, Gonzalez) but little depth, Colletti has yet to figure things out. Why they aren't running away with the West this season is beyond me.
It's not a mentally weak team (there have been plenty of late-inning comebacks, including last night), just a strange one (and has been that way for a few years now).
BTW: Wasn't the same title used in the book about the 1991 Mets?
Totally agree on Colletti but why are you talking about him in the present tense? He was removed from the GM job last October.
That's right; I forgot. Couldn't understand why front office had gotten smarter. New management doing good job of using $$ to buy talent by taking bad contracts to get talent (e.g. Michael Morse was a throwaway; Latos and Wood were the objectives).
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