A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Cooperstown

Rating:
Summary: Not Quite!
Review: I had a 3-week gap between the time I finished "A Funny Thing" and the time I wrote this review. In that interim, my enthusiasm for it cooled considerably. My original impression was that it was a howl- a truly entertaining tale of Major League Baseball in its' finest era. That would be the 15 or so years just after WW2 before free agency and most especially talent thinning expansion begot their dual horrors. But upon reflection, the stories of debauchery and wasted ability simply wore out their welcome. I also tired of reading how Mickey tossed away so many second chances. Even with his original skills dimmed by night life and arm trouble, McDermott had three things in his favor Friends, some residue of talent and a few baseball folks who believed in him. He blew those as well. I was almost angered by how he blew his last chance with the Cardinals in '62 or '63. Johnny Keane was right to dump him. Another minor gripe I had with "A Funny Thing" is there was no year by year box of McDermott's pitching career, a very rare -and strange-omission for a sports story. Two minor points: the old Senators catcher was Clint "Scrap Iron" Courtney, not "Cliff". And the real Yankees "Murderers Row" played in the 1920s, consisting of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Bob Meusel etc. However, I do give the author (or his editor) credit for his referring his readers back or forward to specific pages to recount incidents. Those searching for a solid baseball tale in the same time frame might enjoy "Baseball's Natural" by John Theodore. It is the story of the late Eddie Waitkus, who also hurt his career immeasurably with his nightlife. At least Eddie was a serious guy and decorated WW2 vet with "reasons" to drink. Would anyone enjoy "A Funny Thing"? Perhaps the hardest of hard core Red Sox fans that remember Mickey from his '48-'55 stint with the team. Sadly, that's about it.

Rating:
Summary: A fun and hilarious read...
Review: I read this book, interesting enough, while on vacation in Cooperstown. I am a big fan of baseball and enjoy reading about our national pasttime. This book had me laughing out loud many times, drawing interesting looks from my wife, kids and other guests of the resort we were at. McDermott's recollections in this book are hilarious and was written in a very funny and lighthearted way. When he died a few months ago I felt I had known him from reading this book. If you enjoy reading funny baseball stories from both on and off the field, especially during the best years in baseball (40's-50's), buy this book, you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Certainly Not the Type of Life for Everyone
Review: Mickey McDermott is a name I remember from collecting baseball cards during the 1950's, and I wanted to read about players who were a part of that era in baseball. I found the book to be okay, but it became tiring reading about his alcoholic episodes with teammates and others during his life. Call me square, but I see little humor in anecdotes involving drinking. McDermott, himself, realized he had to get help and has now been sober for a number of years. I knew that Bob Nieman hit home runs in his first two at bats in the major leagues, but I didn't realize that both were hit off of Mickey McDermott. I did find two mistakes in the book. He mentions on page 17 that Walt Dropo's record for twelve consecutive hits over a three game period may never be broken. Mike "Pinky" Higgins shares this record with Dropo. Maybe Higgins did it over more than three games. Also, on page 103 he twice refers to his old catching teammate on the Washington Senators as "Cliff" Courtney. Old Scrapiron, as we all know, was Clint Courtney. I'm sure this may have been an oversight, but to mention it two times made me wonder. As I said, the book was okay, but I certainly didn't find it to be "uproariously funny" as it states on the cover.