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Title details for Who's on Worst? by Filip Bondy - Wait list

Who's on Worst?

The Lousiest Players, Biggest Cheaters, Saddest Goats and Other Antiheroes in Baseball History

by Filip Bondy
Scott Brick
Audiobook
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0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks
A hilarious celebration of the worst in baseball history: The boneheads, cheats, jerks and losers who make the grand old game so fun

Libraries and Internet sites are filled to groaning with debates about who the best ballplayers of all time were—but how many times can you argue about Mantle vs. Mays? Since baseball is a game of failure, it's much more fun to dive into the fray and explore baseball's worst: who was the lousiest pitcher of all-time? the biggest goat? the most despicable owner? the greatest cheater?

Filip Bondy wields formidable research, advanced sabermetrics and his considerable wit to provide this indispensable guide to the less glorious side of our national pastime. Each chapter is filled with rich and colorful stories of the players unfortunate enough to be chosen in each category and is followed by a handy top-ten list, such as Most Overpaid Yankees.

From a delightful survey of batters who fell below the dreaded "Mendoza Line" to a rundown of managers who had long careers distinguished by relentless losing to a roster of players who took steroids but still stunk, Who's on Worst? is a thoroughly entertaining portrait of the personalities who deserve their place in baseball history as much as the immortals.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 26, 2013

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780385362610
      • File size: 230707 KB
      • Duration: 08:00:38

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      For all of the serious baseball history in books over the years, there's a lighter side. That's what Filip Bondy captures in this collection of notoriety. The author--a New York Daily News sportswriter--covers it all: one-hit wonders, noted performance-enhancing drug users, selfish stars, quirky players, cheaters, and monumentally poor performers. Scott Brick's narration is always at a stellar level. His tone is perfect for the topic: almost, yet not quite, sarcastic. With quotes, he doesn't camp it up. Rather, he offers a bit of dignity to the sometimes incredible stories, which Bondy summarizes well. M.B.
    • Publisher's Weekly

      December 10, 2012
      New York Daily News sportswriter Bondy offers a compendium of the lore that has elevated baseball to religious status. The title—a play on the Abbott and Costello vaudeville skit, “Who’s on First?”—is an appropriate summary of a sport that is “all about failure.” Bondy mixes humor with fact and a fan’s passion in unearthing those who have contributed their talents. He reaches back to the 19th century for Frederick “Crazy” Schmit (a pitcher who kept notes on hitters and “quite often pulled out his notebook on the mound”), while not shying away from today’s stars. The narrative is divided into chapters like “Too Fat to Bat,” and “What’s an Emery Board?” about pitchers who thought they could use a little help. Deft turns of phrases about players such as Dave DeBusschere, who “wasted his baseball talent winning NBA titles,” lend irony to an already amusing look at players who have “elevated failure, or folly, to fresh, artful levels.” Photos.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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