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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Imperfect Biography, April 29, 2002
Tom Seaver is without a doubt the greatest pitcher in New York Mets' history, and the only non-manager to have his number (41) retired by the baseball club. He's currently in his fifth different decade of service with the Amazin's, first as star player and now as broadcaster. In this latter role he's gained a reputation as part All-Star analyst and part bore. This 1970 "autobiography", part of the Dick Schaap franchise (and Schaap admitted it was his least favorite book) showcases both analyst and bore, often at the same time."The Perfect Game" is not about a perfect game, but rather about Game 4 of the 1969 World Series, an extra-innings affair pitched and won by Seaver, which set up the Mets' championship-clinching victory over the overmatched Baltimore Orioles the next day. Seaver was just 25 when the game was played, and in just his third Major League season. There's not a whole lot of biography in here, and so the book is told in alternating sections, both life story, and pitch-by-pitch account of that ballgame. As a baseball fan interested in how pitch sequences are plotted, and how the separate players work as a team on the field to execute plays, and how you strike out Hall-of-Fame slugger Frank Robinson, you will enjoy this book. Even better, the "flashbacks" are separated by an extra-wide left-hand margin, so they read twice as fast. The best passages in "Perfect Game" are those about Gil Hodges, Mets manager and, like Seaver, represented by one of the few retired numbers in left field at Shea Stadium. We learn how Hodges managed his young ballclub to a 100-victory season, against 100 to 1 odds. He did it by demanding constant attention to detail, and with shrewd personnel management. His old-school advice (telling the young Seaver that laughing on the mound was "unprofessional") could be seen as a breath of fresh air in today's ESPN-ized sports atmosphere. It's a considerable loss that Hodges did not get to issue an autobiography of his own.
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