Tales from the New York Mets Dugout

A Collection of the Greatest Mets Stories Ever Told

By: Bruce Markusen

Narrated by: Tom Parks

Length: 5 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

The best stories about New York's beloved baseball team, the Amazin' Mets, newly updated through the 2010 season.

In over 50 years of existence, the New York Mets have experienced almost every phase of success and failure that can be encountered by a major league team. Written by veteran baseball author Bruce Markusen, Tales from the New York Mets Dugout relives some of the favorite moments in Mets history while also telling an array of little-known stories about the players. Stand on the mound with Tom Seaver, watch from the dugout with Davey Johnson, and kneel in front of the umpire with Hall of Famer Gary Carter. Tales from the New York Mets Dugout is the perfect book for anyone who believes in something amazin’.

©2005, 2007, 2012 Bruce Markusen (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Book is terrific. Audiobook is a joke.

When a book is read for an audiobook, one would think that the voice actor and/or director would want to make sure that names are pronounced correctly in an effort to be prepared.
That is not the case here. It is clear that they wanted to read this book and get it over with as quickly and sloppy as possible.
The way that the players' names are pronounced is an absolute unacceptable joke.
One of the absolute worst audiobooks I have ever heard, and I have heard thousands of them.

The book itself is excellent and fun as a Mets fan, but it's much better to read than to listen to this clown show.

Not quite enough

There were too many little tidbit stories and not enough biographies of historical figures or descriptions of classic moments.
Tell me the whole story of the World Series winning teams. Tell me about Daryl Strawberry.
Way too many references to trades and trades that almost happened.
And then in the updated parts from around 2006-2013, the author turns first-person and gives commentary on events that had recently happened and tries to convince you of his stance.
Narrator mispronounced a few names but not too bad. One part was missed by the editors and two takes of the same story made it in.

Learn to pronounce names correctly

Stories were great, however as a narrator I would think they would make sure they know how to pronounce names correctly. It was very frustrating to continue to hear players named being pronounced incorrectly.
Stories were good, narration not so good.

Interesting Stories but there is better on Audible

While I enjoyed this, the person reading this book mispronounced so many players names, that it become obvious he is neither a baseball fan or a Mets fan.

Someone should have coached him on the names I found that alone the most distracting aspect of this book.

Meet the Mets

If you love the New York Mets, than you'll love these stories. iapradio.com approved

SO FAR SO GOOD

Very interesting and informative so far My main quibble is the narrator although very good doesn't the proper pronunciation of Jerry Grote and Felix Millan. Come on man!

Lead off single stranded at 2nd.

Enjoyable, short book read with an upbeat voice of narrator.

The book moves quickly thru 50 years of Mets history with all sorts of stories about players and events. I am a Mets fan but only since ‘85 when Gary Carter was traded over from Expos. Which also means I was really a diehard fan from then until mid-90s when Carter retired and I stopped following baseball religiously after the ‘94 strike. Now I’m just a bandwagoner.

That said, I didn’t know most of these stories. So they were new and fun. Some of the early stories while somewhat flat as entertainment, took up oxygen that could have been given to the ‘80s Mets. The ‘86 WS team gets some love but is lightly covered -ironic based on PR personnel getting a WS share by that team- and the ‘88 team gets no mention. Yet there are all kinds of stories about bit players on losing teams.

And… just like everyone else has mentioned -nobody helped the narrator correct mispronounced names. I thought others were being picky, but that is not true… or I’m picky too. But there are a dozen names of Mets players that were wrong, as were 4 or 5 non Met players mentioned but heir names were mispronounced.

I’m glad the author didn’t read the book as the narrator had a nice clear voice. But he often didn’t pause at appropriate spots which made for confusing transitions during stories and between stories. Add in the mispronounced names and this goes from a 5 to a 3 just for him. An editor or the author should have stepped in here. No excuse for either of these things happening.

Awful narration

Groat instead of Grote
Millen instead of Millan
Mountainehs instead of Montanez
How this narration made it through quality control is beyond me.
Pitiful.

Malpractice

It is absolute malpractice to mispronounce the names of so many legendary Mets, such as Jerry Grote, Felix Millan, Willie Montanez, and Rick Aguilera. How was this never caught and why would an author lend his name to such incompetence? Sorry, it is like listening to someone scratching a chalkboard to hear Felix’s last name pronounced like the Italian City.

As someone else noted, most of the stories are already well-known to Mets fans and some of the great ones were given less attention than deserved. For example, WRT to the Cleon Jones cleat incident, the author failed to discuss how Hodges had Koosman rub the ball on his cleat or that the always fiery Earl Weaver reacted relatively passively because he had already been thrown out of a game or the umpire accepted Hodges' explanation because of his reputation as a straight shooter. WRT to Sid Finch, there is no mentioned that it was claimed he got his strength from yoga and that he could throw 168/mph or that the article featured pictures of him pitching bare foot or all of the hilarious aftermath, like GMs calling the Commissioner, a radio host claiming to have seen him pitch, or the Cyclones Sid Finch Bobblehead night

dis·ap·point·ing

Would you try another book from Bruce Markusen and/or Tom Parks?

No...Probably not... maybe for free... will not pay for one that's for sure.

What was most disappointing about Bruce Markusen’s story?

In the whole book, there was maybe two or three things that a normal Mets fan would not know. It seemed that the whole book was a history of transactions the Mets made. And not even up to date.

Would you be willing to try another one of Tom Parks’s performances?

Maybe! The man constantly mispronounced players names. It was so annoying. So bad that at one point I didn't even know who the heck he was talking about. His reading wasn't bad, but as a Mets fan I would like the reader to know how to pronounce the players names.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Tales from the New York Mets Dugout?

To many to mention... There would be no book left. It would end up a pamphlet.

Any additional comments?

Don't waste your time.

If you are a Mets fan and want to read something good try the new Mike Piazza book, or the Keith Hernandez book "If at First" Keith Hernandez also wrote a book called "Pure Baseball" This is a fantastic pitch by pitch account of 2 ballgames where he goes into every little nuance of what is happening at one time or another.

Finally, I am very disappointed in "Tales from the New York Mets Dugout" It is definitely not A Collection of the Greatest Mets Stories Ever Told