No, I’m not giving up on what’s left of them. I am very upset about all of it, but I will take meager comfort in the fact that no one expects anything of them now. This means that the season will either be a bust, or a wonder. There you go.
As it happens, I planned, long ago, to take a two-week vacation with my wife and daughter in Spain and France. I’ll be back in Mets loony land on July 15. I probably won’t blog between now and then. I might though. But don’t count on it. In the meantime, I’m sharing some of the blurbs that will be on the back of my book when it appears in August. These are from some very kind people who have seen advance samples of The Last Days of Shea.
“The Last Days of Shea is a truly terrific book. Filled with passion and sincerity, it offers a deeper understanding of what it means to be a fan.” Gary Cohen — SNY Mets broadcaster“
To me and millions of others, Shea was beautiful. I loved it when it had blue and orange steel plates on the outside and I loved it at the end. My memories of the place will last forever. In this wonderful homage, Dana Brand ties together our experiences of Shea, in a celebration of a place that, in memory, will always be far more substantial than most historians will care to admit.” Howie Rose — WFAN Mets broadcaster
“When I read Dana Brand’s books, I feel as if I’m learning about the heart and soul of the Mets fan. The Last Days of Shea is a great
tribute to Shea stadium and to the spirit of the fans who made it such a wonderful place to play baseball.” – Jerry Koosman, pitcher, New York Mets, 1968-78
“Dana Brand is one of the true Believeniks, and he’s earned his Shake Shack burger the hard way: an x-ray of his heart would show a Shea-shaped scar.” –Jonathan Lethem, author of Motherless Brooklyn and Fortress of Solitude
“Why care so much about a baseball team? Dana Brand has igured out a way to articulate that pleasurable or frustrating heartache and make it understandable and even forgivable. If Mets Fan was filled with delights, The Last Days of Shea goes deeper: its real subject is loss and grief, and its prescription the consolations of philosophy. Brand is a first-rate personal essayist, who has chosen baseball as his focus the way Baldwin chose race or Hoagland nature. As Hazlitt and Liebling wrote about the art of boxing, so Brand writes about the psychology of the baseball fan.– Phillip Lopate, author of Waterfront: A Walk Around Manhattan and Writing New York
i can’t wait for the book. by the time August comes around, I may be ready to shed a tear or two for Shea. and i love the cover!
Hope you enjoy France and Spain. (Not long ago on a biz trip to France I experienced the somewhat surreal nature of listening to a Mets-Boston game at some ungodly hour through MLB.com). Although given the team’s current state of affairs, probably better to catch a bullfight or soccer. (If you go to the bullfight, see if the matador can hit with RISP. For that matter see if the bull can). And major congratulations on the accolades – I look forward to reading it (and hopefully this time meeting in person for a signature)
JD