The Bad Guys Won – Jeff Pearlman

I have to preface this review by saying that starting in 1986, when I was 10 years old, I became a New York Mets fan. Yes, 1986…which means I jumped on the bandwagon, because they had just won the World Series. The names Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Gary Carter, Mookie Wilson all bring back fond memories.

My brother (also a fan) loaned me The Bad Guys Won a couple of years ago, and it has been sitting on my shelf. For some reason a few weeks ago I picked it up and decided it was time for something different.

The book talks in some detail about the Mets’ 1986 season, which culminated in an infamous come-from-behind World Series victory over the Boston Red Sox. As you would suspect there is a lot of baseball here – play-by-plays of some of the key games, and interesting anecdotes about how the team was built and players were acquired. There are also entertaining behind-the-scenes stories, like how the Mets tried to prove alleged ball-scuffing by Mike Scott of the Astros in the NL championship series, and how the Red Sox staff had the champagne and World Series victory celebration all laid out in the locker room during Game 6, only to have to move it out quickly when the Mets turned things around and won the game on that infamous Mookie Wilson ground ball through Bill Buckner's legs. Or how Darryl Strawberry took his time trotting around the bases after a homer in Game 7 to piss off his own manager, and not the Red Sox as everyone thought.

Along with a lot of baseball, however, are tales of this group of young, cocky, rude baseball players and the world of trouble they got themselves into. The book alludes to drug use by a few specific players, and that women were not in short supply, but doesn’t get into too many juicy details. It mostly tells of the bad attitudes and a few run-ins with the law, and some hilarious media relations (check this out - "We've got the teamwork to make the dream work...").

I had no idea at 10 years old that this team was so…colorful. The book definitely shed some light on some of these players I held in high regard. Surprisingly, though, the book did not corrupt my view of my beloved Mets. Yes, a lot of them were cocky a-holes. But they were also damn good players who had one magical season before the demons that plagued them took over. The two stars on which were thought to be the legacy of the Mets organization – Strawberry and Gooden – are blamed for the downfall and eventual dismantling of this amazin’ team. This was a stark reminder that the athletes that we put on pedestals are just men. It’s not an excuse for the behavior, but in the end they are human just like the rest of us.

If you are a Mets fan this is worth the read, if you are a baseball fan you will probably enjoy it, but if neither of these apply, skip it. The writing was nothing spectacular – about what you’d expect from a sportswriter. I felt the author could have dug in a little deeper to some of the events and players, but for what it is, it’s a decent read.

2.5 of 5 stars

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda - Philip Gourevitch

Nice title, huh? But read this book, and it makes perfect sense. This is a very well-written account of the author's (a journalist) research and personal interviews and travels investigating the Rwandan genocide of 1994. 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed. This is a significant world event that happened in the past 15 years, that we knew little to nothing about.

What was I doing in 1994? I graduated from high school. I was spending one of my last summers at home before heading off to college in the fall. I HAD NO IDEA. Was I ignorant? Probably at that time, yes. And admittedly still a bit now. Things like this seem so far away, and what can I do about it, really?

But seriously. 800,000 people killed, and by such methods that you can't even believe. Killed violently with machetes by people who once co-existed with them as neighbors, co-workers, friends. Simply because they were Tutsis, or because they were Hutus who sympathized with Tutsis. A barrage of propaganda egging them on, urging them to kill, make sure you kill the women and children too, and take care that any unborn Tutsi fetus is also disposed of. And these same people just a short time later were asked to discard the Tutsi/Hutu labels, and be just "Rwandan," living and working beside the same people who killed their family members. Could you do it? I don't know if I could.

This is an extremely poignant and engaging book, despite the subject matter. It delves into the conflict without getting too gruesome, but still holding true to what in fact was a horrific and gruesome act. The author talks with survivors, explores reactions (and inaction) from the rest of the world, and ponders the root behind the conflict itself. Definitely not a light read, but you will leave it enlightened.