The Complete Game: Reflections on Baseball, Pitching, and Life on the Mound [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Ron Darling (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 31, 2009

Ron Darling has been beloved by Mets fans since he helped his team win the 1986 World Series. Today he is considered one of the most articulate and insightful broadcasters in baseball, bringing the game to life in ways that few can match. Now he gives us an engaging, sophisticated, practical, and philosophical exploration of the art, strategy, and psychology of pitching.

Darling takes us inside the pitcher’s mind, illuminating the subtler aspects of the game and providing a deeper appreciation of what happens on the field. He explains why the position of pitcher is uniquely strategic and complex and explores the various tactics a pitcher uses in different scenarios, including the countless factors in deciding what to throw and how he bounces back from a tough inning. Throughout, we get a glimpse of what it feels like to stand alone on the mound, the center of attention for tens of thousands of fans.

While there are technical books on pitching, there is no other book that examines the position in such compelling depth as The Complete Game. Filled with captivating, real-life anecdotes, it will do for pitching what Ted Williams’s The Science of Hitting did for batting—and it will be an essential book for every fan and aspiring player.

Editorial Reviews

From The New Yorker

What’s on the mind of a major-league pitcher, out there in mid-inning and mid-career trouble once again, with men on base, his concentration wavering, and some of his best stuff not on call today? According to this account by Ron Darling, the stalwart ex-Mets starter and incumbent Mets broadcaster, it’s a good three or four pages’ worth of anxiety, reminders, tendencies, situations, afterthoughts, and admonishments per pitch. “Once again,” as he puts it, “I thought, This is not good.” Darling offers pitches and outcomes (but no box scores) from ten selected games in his career, including a successful World Series start against the Red Sox at Fenway Park in 1986, a gruesome windy-day thumping suffered at Wrigley Field, and his celebrated extra-inning near-no-hitter back when he was pitching for Yale. Among them are enough oddities and thrilling turns of baseball to make a reader glad to be here and—well, not out there.
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* Darling was a Major League pitcher from 1983 to 1995. He was good but not great. Along the way, he became a student of the game—and a very observant, self-aware one at that—and has since won an Emmy as a baseball analyst. Using a unique nine-inning format in this mix of autobiography and reflection on the game, Darling picks a particularly notable—not necessarily successful—inning in his career and minutely dissects it. For example, for his first entry, he examines his first inning as a big-league pitcher: who he faced, what he was thinking, why he threw the pitches he did, what happened, and what he learned. His fifth-inning choice takes place during an August 1984 game against the Chicago Cubs in which Darling was intimidated, pitched poorly, and nearly incited a brawl when he hit a Cub batter out of frustration. He supplements each chapter with context, flashbacks, and other examples from his career to illustrate how what he learned in that particular inning carried forward—or didn’t. It’s hard to recall a baseball book that offers as much information about the game—from a player’s perspective—as this one. Baseball generates dozens of books every year, from biographies to statistical abstracts. This is easily the best of the year so far. --Wes Lukowsky

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; First Edition edition (March 31, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307269841
• ISBN-13: 978-0307269843
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.1 x 8.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #893,025 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Quality start May 24, 2009

By Jason A. Miller VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

The Mets traded for Ron Darling in April 1982 -- the same month I attended my first game at Shea Stadium. Ronnie made his first start in September 1983, just as the Mets were just starting to show hints of the dominant team they'd be for the next six or seven years. Finally, the Mets traded Darling to Montreal in July 1991 -- just as the wheels were starting to come off the franchise, and just as I moved off to college and lost track of the team for most of the '90s.

Ronnie then went out to Oakland, laboring as an over-the-hill starter with occasional spots of brilliance for the Tony LaRussa Oakland A's (and somehow managing to miss out on all the steroids in that clubhouse). He didn't rejoin the Mets until 2006, in broadcaster capacity, but now he's once again an important fixture to a contending team.

"The Complete Game" is a small book, part of baseball publishing's general trend away from poorly-ghostwritten autobiographies and toward more modest analytical works. The ghostwriter selection here seems a little unusual (Daniel Paisner appears not to be a career baseball writer, and in an odd glitch mis-identifies Don Larsen's 1956 World Series perfect game), but the book does stand out in this year's crop of books about steroid users and steroid dealers.

The theme is that Ron describes ten representative games from his career as pitcher and broadcaster: two games he called during the Mets' lost 2008 campaign, seven games he pitched while a Met or Athletic, and his legendary college finale (previous written up by Roger Angell in Five Seasons: A Baseball Companion).... Mixed throughout are other reminiscences from Darling's baseball journey: from his surprising minor league tutelage in the capable hands of Al Jackson (an original 1962 Met), to his early humiliations as a September call-up in 1983, through his end-stage Met appearances, to being released by the A's in mid-summer 1995.

It's nice to report that "Complete Game" gets its research right, that is to say, its game summaries withstand scrutiny on RetroSheet. Even an anecdote relayed about fellow rookie Jose Oquendo's mistreatment by then-Mets manager Frank Howard in 1983 turns out to be correct in all details.

I'm not sure "Complete Game" will hold much appeal to non-Mets fans, and the book doesn't seem to have been accompanied by a massive publicity blitz. It's worth your time, though. As a color commentator, Ron Darling is more Jim Kaat than Tim McCarver (or Keith Hernandez) -- that is to say, he's sober and analytical, only breaking out anecdotes from his own career when directly relevant to the game at hand, and never brash or self-promoting or in dire need of a "delete last thought" button. With a few exceptions (Paisner seems fond of cursing) this book could be a collection of Darling's best broadcast-booth chatter. For Mets fans, or for those who love the art of pitching, this book is indeed a quality start. Read more ›

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Insider Details April 18, 2009

By Mark Ahrens

Format:Hardcover

This is a wonderful book that details both the highlights and lowlights of Ron Darling's career both as a pitcher and a broadcaster. He tells wonderful stories, often self-deprecating, about how different managers handled his tough situations and devotes an entire chapter to the famous college game in 1981 between Yale (Darling) and St. Johns (Frank Viola) where Darling pitched 11 innings of no-hit ball but lost in the 12th.

Great detail about how Darling would pitch different batters in different situations.

This book is almost impossible to put down. A great read!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A gem from a Darling April 2, 2009

By tflanagan

Format:Hardcover

A must read for a real depiction of the GAME!!! Ron Darling knows from first hand knowledge and it is the hand of a champion. I challenge you to read this and walk away once you pick it up. YOU CAN'T and YOU WON'T

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Interpret Both Ways: Left Me Wanting More May 22, 2009

By Kelly C. Ward

Format:Hardcover

Quick read, well-written, logically presented, the replacement of innings for chapters was creative and facilitated the book's flow.

I was hoping for more strategy, theory and physics behind the various pitches and pitch selection, though, and thought that's what I was getting when I purchased the book; instead, discovered the book to be more "feely" than "touchy".

Because it was so well written and edited, I'd look forward to hearing more from Ron in a second book on strategy since he does bring more of the cerebral aspects of the game to life.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Look at the Mental Side of the Game September 19, 2009

By Larry Underwood

Format:Hardcover

Ron Darling's retrospective of what was going on inside the head of one of baseball's most cerebral performers over the course of 9 innings of various games is something any true fan of the game will relish. I loved it.

Darling had a successful career as a big league pitcher, and much of that came from his mental approach to the game. Darling recalls with wonderful clarity some of his memorable moments on the mound, as well as in the broadcast booth, which give great insight into the complexities a pitcher faces when performing his task.

Certainly, the thought process a hitter goes through while trying to solve the mysteries of the pitches being hurled in his direction would be even more daunting. Trying to outfox the pitcher is even more confounding that the pitcher's task at hand; still, Darling tried his hardest to make sure he was using his mental capacities to their fullest to accomplish his mission. His narrative made for a very enlightening and engaging journal.

After completing this book, I couldn't help but think of Yogi Berra's great quote about the complexities of our national pastime when he said, "90% of baseball is half mental!" How true.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best baseball books ever June 2, 2009

By George Copperchair

Format:Hardcover

When I saw that Ron Darling had written a book, I figured it would be another run of the mill autobiography from a pompous New York athlete. Futhermore, as a Cub fan, I hate the Mets and everything to do with them. Then I notice a review or two of it and thought maybe I'd at least try to read it. I read lots of baseball books, some good, many bad, and figured what the hell. Man, am I glad I read this. Darling gives strategies and information I have never ever seen or read before. Hardly a run of the mill book. It is right up there with Men at Work by Will and Nine Innings by Okrent. I have no idea what book the reviewer that called this an "odd, dry book" may have read, but it is not the same one I read.

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Good Read August 8, 2012

By Diego1090

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Ron Darling was a good pitcher with a great head on his shoulders. Gives a great insight to the "show" (MLB).