Odd Man Out: A Year on the Mound with a Minor League Misfit [Hardcover]

Matt McCarthy (Author)

Book Description

Release date: February 19, 2009

"The best baseball book since Moneyball."

Hailed by critics as one of the great books about baseball, Odd Man Out captures the gritty essence of our national pastime as it is played outside the spot­light. Matt McCarthy, a decent left-handed starting pitcher on one of the worst squads in Yale history, earned a ticket to spring training as the twenty-sixth-round draft pick of the 2002 Anaheim Angels. This is the hilarious inside story of his year with the Provo Angels, Anaheim's minor league affiliate in the heart of Mormon country, as McCarthy navigates the ups and downs of an antic, grueling season, filled with cross-country bus trips, bizarre rivalries, and wild locker-room hijinks.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While his professional baseball career lasted for just one summer, McCarthy still compiled enough incidents and anecdotes to make for an eye-opening read about the wildly unpredictable life of a minor-league ballplayer. Drafted in 2002 by the Anaheim Angels, the Yale-educated left-hander was eventually shipped off to the Angels rookie team in Provo, Utah, where he had to not only adjust to the grueling schedule of a professional athlete but also to the culture of a heavily Mormon town. McCarthy shatters the idea of a glamorous lifestyle in the minor leagues—from the agonizingly long bus rides to the never-ending meals in chain restaurants and minuscule paychecks. He also portrays the unflattering aspects of the game, be it the divide between the American and Hispanic players, or the constant inner struggle on whether to take performance-enhancing drugs. But there are plenty of humorous (and sometimes obscene) stories sprinkled in. All the while, McCarthy writes of his own personal struggles as a pitcher and the constant physical and mental strain he endured to keep alive the dream of one day making it to the major leagues. While the book sometimes reads like a journal (which he kept throughout the summer), McCarthy can be an effective storyteller. Its a pull-no-punches work that will give many baseball fans a glimpse into a part of baseball not seen on ESPNs SportsCenter. (Feb.)
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From Booklist

Much as Jim Bouton recorded life as a major leaguer with the 1969 Seattle Pilots in his classic Ball Four, so Matt McCarthy shares his life as a minor leaguer with the 2002 Los Angeles Angels’ Class A farm team in Provo, Utah. If McCarthy lacks Bouton’s immortal cast of characters, or his singular deadpan wit, he proves a sure-handed reporter in revealing the daily grind of a season, the unabashed racism among players (all Hispanics are simply called Dominicans by their white teammates), the lousy pay and living conditions, and the callous nature of this most zero-sum of professions. Baseball fans will likely recognize Joe Saunders, Bobby Jenks, and Prince Fielder—bona fide major-league stars who were teammates or competitors of the author. McCarthy’s professional baseball career might be forgettable but this account is not. --Alan Moores

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; First Edition (1 in number line) edition (February 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670020702
• ISBN-13: 978-0670020706
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #535,072 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Ivy Leaguer Meets Low Level Minor Leaguers March 19, 2009

By Michael McCarthy

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a inside look at what it's like for an Ivy League graduate to try to blend in as one of the boys in a rookie league in the low minors in Mormon country. His teammates ranged from bonus babies to fringe draft choices. More than a few eventually made it to The Show. I got a kick out of Matt McCarthy's having to dumb himself down to be accepted, while maintaining his admittedly Yale-based superiority about religion and academics. He really puts you inside the clubhouse and on the team bus. The off-the-field adventures are hilarious.

McCarthy has come in for criticism from his team's veteran manager and some of the players who he describes have said they were not even on the same team with him that season. Even if some facts have been lost in the four or so years since he played, or names have been changed, this book is easy to read and very accurately captures the flavor of what it's like to try to make it to the majors. George Will could experience vicariously what he never would come close to in real life.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great minor league baseball narrative May 29, 2009

By Charles Earle

Format:Hardcover

A great book for any baseball fan or any parent out there who has a child dreaming of one day playing ball in the majors. McCarthy's minor league experiences are probably much like those of thousands of other guys who never reached their ultimate goal. But his ability as a storyteller makes them very noteworthy. The book is funny, candid and self-deprecating. And knowing throughout it that the author had a great future outside of the game made it much easier to read about his struggles.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars BEST MINOR LEAGUE MEMOIR EVER February 26, 2010

By Pontiac

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This was a great read, well written and expertly paced. Good enough that I Googled the author, his teammates, the Provo Angels, and other aspects of the memoir just to catch up and learn more of them 9 yrs later. I was dismayed to see the book slandered by the NY Times and alliterate bloggers for some negligible discrepancies. The entire memoir rings true and complements accurately the experiences of other low-minor leaguers recorded in previous memoirs (e.g., The Boys Who Would Be Cubs (1990; J. Bosco) and Minor Players, Major Dreams (1997; B.H. Mandel). I consider this the best MiLB memoir I've ever read and I favor the genre.