Shea Good-Bye: The Untold Inside Story of the Historic 2008 Season

By Keith Hernandez, Matthew Silverman, Matt Silverman

Book Overview

To many New Yorkers who came of age in the 1980s as Mets fans, Keith Hernandez is the Mets. Two decades after his last game in a New York uniform, the first captain in Mets history is still with them, literally. He's spent most of the last decade in the broadcast booth at Shea Stadium watching the rise and fall of the club and, just as he did when he played, calling it as he sees it. Opinionated, funny, urbane, and unafraid to poke holes in the team or himself, Hernandez is a master at relating the unseen game on the field. Shea Good-Bye carries on the high standards of Hernandez's earlier best-selling books. He recalls Shea Stadium both fondly and matter-of-factly in its last year of existence, lamenting the loss of the stadiums he knew, replaced with flashier bandboxes that favor home runs and negate strategy. He looks at the 2008 season and all the hope that arrived with the Johan Santana deal and how much of the optimism went out the window with the team's stumble out of the gate. He speaks frankly on the taint of steroids in the Mitchell Report and how the game has been compromised, as well as the firing of Willie Randolph.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1600781705
• ISBN13: 9781600781704
• Release Date: April 2009
• Publisher: Triumph Books (IL)
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.4" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

A Great Tribute to One of Baseball's Great Venues

Former Mets first baseman Keith Hernandez' wonderful tribute to Shea Stadium portrays a fascinating look into one of baseball's most colorful franchises---and the ballpark they used to call home. How time flies. When the hapless Mets first came into the National League (1962), they inhabited the venerable & somewhat delapidated Polo Grounds; but only for a couple of seasons. Shea Stadium was built just for them, in beautiful Flushing, NY, and by 1969, the whole world was familiar with Shea, as the now Amazing Mets captured their first World Series championship. Hernandez, who is quite a Civil War history buff, pens a very well written tribute to the ballpark he grew to love during his remarkable Mets career. His honest & witty style of writing will make any fan of the game smile, as he recalls the great relationship he & his teammates built with the loyal Mets fans over the years. The recent history of this team has been somewhat bittersweet, but they have certainly had their share of great moments to relish. This is certainly a book any diehard Mets fan will embrace, as well as any fan of the game in general. The untold story of 2008's final season of Mets baseball from the former great Hernandez is a most compelling winner, indeed.

COMPELLING TRIBUTE!

It's never easy to say goodbye to a Major League Baseball stadium. So many stories, so many memories, so many emotions. SHEAH GOOD BYE offers interesting insight into the New York Mets' last season at Shea Stadium. Readers, even if they are not Mets fans, will enjoy the stroll down memory lane as the book accounts for the final chapter in the Shea era.