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Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game?: The Improbable Saga of the New York Mets’ First Year (1963)

“Do. Not. Confuse me. With. The Facts. I tell the truth.”
Jimmy Breslin

John Hay Whitney, publisher of the New York Herald Tribune, bought the serial rights for Breslin’s book about the Mets and then hired him to write a five-days-a-week column. “So with absolutely no direction I invented a new form for news pages, a column based on something happening right now in this city,” Breslin later wrote. He had been working at the Herald Tribune for only a few months when, late in November 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated and Breslin wrote the stories that altered the trajectory of his career.

“People remember the gravedigger story,” recounted Barry in a recent television program with fellow Times correspondent Sam Roberts.

He writes the story about Mr. Pollard, who dug the grave for John F. Kennedy at Arlington. But before that, he had done this brilliant story about the doctor who received Kennedy’s body and spent several panicked minutes trying to massage the President’s heart, even though the president was dead, while the president's wife was standing there watching. . . .

And then it’s Thanksgiving time—he’s back in New York. And what does he do on Thanksgiving morning? He goes to the Automat, and he writes—really what he’s writing about is a city in mourning, or a country in mourning—but he never says that. He just describes these lonely hearts sitting in an Automat on Thanksgiving Day.

“Otherwise it was a vacant day in the Automat,” Breslin wrote. “Which was right. Yesterday was a day meant to be vacant.”

The stories Breslin wrote that month “led to this idea of the Gravedigger Theory of journalism,” explained Library of America editor James Gibbons at the LOA forum. “The idea is that you want to look in a story for an unlikely person that somehow expresses something about the story that everyone else is missing. It's a little bit of a corollary to the dictum of sportswriters that says if you want the real story don't go to the winners’ locker room, go to the losers’ locker room.” Former Daily News sports columnist Mike Lupica added, “Jimmy gave a lot of credit to Murray Kempton, because the day Don Larsen pitched his perfect game in the [1956] World Series, Kempton went and wrote about Sal Maglie, who had pitched the game of his life and lost two-nothing.” Breslin’s story about Clifton Pollard stood in marked contrast to the rest of the international media’s coverage of Kennedy’s funeral, which focused on its somber choreography. The so-called Gravedigger Theory and the column that spawned it are now ubiquitous in courses on journalism.
-ESSAY: Story of the Week: “It’s an Honor,” Jimmy Breslin : Library of America October 17, 2024 (Jimmy Breslin, November 26, 1963, New York Herald Tribune)

Here’s an excerpt from the actual story:

Clifton Pollard was pretty sure he was going to be working on Sunday, so when he woke up at 9 a.m. in his three-room apartment on Corcoran Street, he put on khaki overalls before going into the kitchen for breakfast. His wife, Nettie, made bacon and eggs for him. Pollard was in the middle of eating them when he received the phone call he had been expecting.

It was from Mazo Kawalchik, who is the foreman of the gravediggers at Arlington National Cemetery, which is where Pollard works for a living. “Polly, could you please be here by eleven o’clock this morning?” Kawalchik asked. “I guess you know what it’s for.”

Pollard did. He hung up the phone, finished breakfast, and left his apartment so he could spend Sunday digging a grave for John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

When Pollard got to the row of yellow wooden garages where the cemetery equipment is stored, Kawalchik and John Metzler, the cemetery superintendent, were waiting for him.

“Sorry to pull you out like this on a Sunday,” Metzler said. “Oh, don’t say that,” Pollard said. “Why, it’s an honor for me to be here.”

Pollard got behind the wheel of a machine called a reverse hoe. Gravedigging is not done with men and shovels at Arlington. The reverse hoe is a green machine with a yellow bucket which scoops the earth toward the operator, not away from it as a crane does. At the bottom of the hill in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Pollard started the digging.

Leaves covered the grass. When the yellow teeth of the reverse hoe first bit into the ground, the leaves made a threshing sound which could be heard above the motor of the machine. When the bucket came up with its first scoop of dirt, Metzler, the cemetery superintendent, walked over and looked at it.

“That’s nice soil,” Metzler said.

“I’d like to save a little of it,” Pollard said. “The machine made some tracks in the grass over here and I’d like to sort of fill them in and get some good grass growing there, I’d like to have everything, you know, nice.”

James Winners, another gravedigger, nodded. He said he would fill a couple of carts with this extra-good soil and take it back to the garage and grow good turf on it.

“He was a good man,” Pollard said.

“Yes, he was,” Metzler said.

“Now they’re going to come and put him right here in this grave I’m making up,” Pollard said. “You know, it’s an honor just for me to do this.”

In life, I always found Jimmy Breslin rather off-putting, a sort of sentimental Archie Bunker. But this LOA intro to his most famous essay was interesting enough for me to go back to his Mets book, which I hadn’t read in fifty years. (Personally, I’ve always preferred Roger Angell’s take: “The Go-Shouters”). In keeping with the Gravedigger Theory, Breslin opened the book with a portrait of the construction workers who were building Shea Stadium at the time. But we quickly get to Marv Throneberry, Choo-choo Coleman, Richie Ashburn and, most of all, Casey Stengel:

Stengel took a big drag on the cigarette. Then he leaned forward and shook his head.

“We come in there and you never seen anything like it in your life. I find I got a defensive catcher, only who can’t catch the ball. The pitcher throws. Wild pitch. Throws again. Passed ball. Throws again. Oops! The ball drops out of the glove. And all the time I am dizzy on account of these runners running around in circles on me and so forth.

“Makes a man think. You look up and down the bench and you have to say to yourself, ‘Can’t anybody here play this game?’”

Fortuitously, we had only recently moved to NJ and our first year really following baseball was 1969. I can’t convey how joyous it was for fans–like the young Brothers Judd, to watch this laughingstock of a team suddenly become great and then beat Hank Aaron’s Braves and the Weaver/Robinson/Robinson/Palmer Orioles to win the World Series. We had one of the only color tv’s in the neighborhood and folks would come over to watch. On the other hand, the Grandfather Judd wouldn’t allow a tv in his Summer house in Brightwaters on Long Island, so we’d go across the street. And, of course, we had the radio broadcasts. Ralph Kiner, Bob Murphy and Lindsay Nelson totated through the two booths back then and there was nothing better than laying in bed listening late at night when they were on the West Coast, pretending you were asleep.

That accessibility–very nearly every game was televised on broadcast tv–wove teams into daily life in a way that they generally aren’t any more since you need ten tv channels to follow one team. Though here in New England, at least, the Red Sox are on the radio wherever you go. (we won’t even get into how much easier it was to follow a two hour game than the modern three hours+)

Mets’ history is not exactly one of uniform glory, but no one today would call them lovable losers. And if they were to win this year it would largely be put down to massive expenditures of money. But there was a time…and Jimmy Breslin captured it here.

(Reviewed:03-Mar-25)

Grade: (A-)

Websites:

Jimmy Breslin Links:

    -WIKIPEDIA: Jimmy Breslin
    -FILMOGRAPHY: Jimmy Breslin (IMDB)
    -FILM SITE: Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists TV-MA | Documentaries | 1 HR 47 MIN | 2019 (HBO MAX)
    -BOOK SITE: Jimmy Breslin: Essential Writings: Columns & Other Journalism 1960–2004 (Library of America)
    -ENTRY: Jimmy Breslin American columnist and novelist (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
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    -INDEX: Jimmy Breslin (LitHub)
    -INDEX: Jimmy Breslin (redef)
    -INDEX: Jimmy Breslin (Daily Beast)
    -INDEX: Breslin, Jimmy (Internet Archive)
    -INDEX: breslin (Columbia Journalism Review)
    -INDEX: Jimmy Breslin (New York magazine)
    -INDEX: Jimmy Breslin (NY Times)
    -AWARD: Jimmy Breslin of New York Daily News (Pulitzer Prizes)
    -INDEX: Jimmy Breslin (C-SPAN)
    -INDEX: Jimmy Breslin (NY Observer)
    -INDEX: Jimmy Breslin (New York)
    -INDEX: Jimmy Breslin (Good Reads)
    -QUOTE INDEX: Jimmy Breslin (Brainy Quotes)
    -VIDEO INDEX: Jimmy Breslin (YouTube)
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    -INDEX: Jimmy Breslin (Muck Rack)
    -OBIT: Jimmy Breslin obituary: Journalist, author and columnist famed for his Runyonesque tales from the streets of New York (Michael Carlson, 20 Mar 2017, The Guardian)
    -OBIT: Jimmy Breslin, Legendary New York City Newspaper Columnist, Dies at 88 (Dan Barry, March 19, 2017, NY Times)
    -OBIT: Obituary: Jimmy Breslin: Award-winning New York columnist and author who ushered in ‘New Journalism’ (Irish Times, Mar 23 2017)
    -OBIT: Legendary Columnist Jimmy Breslin Dies at 88 R.I.P.: Regarded by many as the greatest American newspaper columnist. (John Avlon, Mar. 19 2017, Daily Beast)
    -OBIT: Jimmy Breslin, Pulitzer-Winning New York Journalist and Author, Dies at 88: Rumbled reporter and columnist lived a life as outsized as the characters he depicted and exposed in print (Thom Geier, March 19, 2017, The Wrap)
    -OBIT: Jimmy Breslin, Famed New York Columnist and Novelist, Dies (Corky Siemaszko, 3/19/17, NBC News)
    -OBIT: 'End of an era': Jimmy Breslin, legendary columnist, dies in New York (John Bacon, 3/19/17, USA TODAY)
    -OBIT: Legendary Daily News columnist Jimmy Breslin dead at 88 (Jason Silverstein and Larry McShane, 3/19/17, New York Daily News)
    -OBIT: Jimmy Breslin, Pulitzer Prize-Winning New York Journalist and Author, Dies at 88: The Queens native "consistently championed ordinary citizens," and his novel, 'The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight,' was made into a 1971 comedy film. (AP, 3/19/17)
    -OBIT: Jimmy Breslin, NYC newspaper columnist and best-selling author, dies (Eyewitness News ABC 7, March 19, 2017)
    -OBIT: Columnist Jimmy Breslin, bard of the New York streets, dies at 88 (Paul Duggan, 3/19/17, Washington Post)
    -OBIT: Legendary New York journalist Jimmy Breslin dies at 88 (BBC, 19 March 2017)
    -OBIT: Legendary Newspaper Columnist Jimmy Breslin Dies At 88 (Jon Kalish & Wynne Davis, 3/19/17, NPR: All Things Considered)
    -OBIT: Pulitzer-winning New York columnist Jimmy Breslin dies at 88 (Bill Trott, March 19, 2017, Reuters)
    -OBIT: Jimmy Breslin, 1928–2017: He Knew How to Play This Game (Christopher Bonanos, 3/19/17, New York)
    -OBIT: Jimmy Breslin passes -- the prince of New York City: Pulitzer prize-winning journalist was a unique New York writing talent. (Dermot McEvoy, Mar 20, 2017, Irish Central)
    -TRIBUTE: Jimmy Breslin: Sign Of The Times (Denis Hamill, 10/23/18, Dan’s Papers)
    -TRIBUTE: Jimmy Breslin: The Tabloid Bard 1928-2017 (BRIAN MCDONALD, December 28, 2017, Politico)
    -TRIBUTE: Remembering Jimmy Breslin, a legend in New York journalism (Peter King, 12/05/24, Babylon Beason)
    -TRIBUTE: Remembering the Death, but Mostly the Life, of a Storied Newspaper (Alan Feuer, Sep. 28th, 2006, NY Times)
    -TRIBUTE: Jimmy Breslin and the Lost Voice of the People (Jonathan Alter, March 20, 2017, The New Yorker)
    -TRIBUTE: Postscript: Jimmy Breslin (Tom Robbins, Mar. 19th, 2017, The New Yorker)
    -TRIBUTE: Something else died with Jimmy Breslin: The legendary New York journalist was one of the last of his era (Mark Phillips, Mar 20, 2017, Medium)
    -TRIBUTE: Jimmy Breslin’s sacred and profane journey ( 21 Mar 2017, West Side Spirit)
    -TRIBUTE: How Jimmy Breslin changed my life. (Sports Media Guy, March 19, 2017)
    -TRIBUTE: Jimmy Breslin, who climbed the stairs to get the truth (Mohamad Bazzi, March 20, 2017, CNN)
    -TRIBUTE: Goodbye, Jimmy Breslin, Gruff Mensch (David Wallis, Mar. 25th, 2017, Forward)
    -TRIBUTE: The Gifts Jimmy Breslin Gave Me (Alex Belth, 20th March, 2017, Deadspin)
    -TRIBUTE: BUSINESS Remembering Jimmy Breslin: My own New York story (Carrie Rengers, March 24, 2017, Wichita Eagle)
    -TRIBUTE: Jimmy Breslin: Not an Enemy of the People (Lisa Van Dusen, March 22, 2017, Hill Times)
    -TRIBUTE: A Couple of Things About Jimmy Breslin: The brash, profane and brilliant newspaper columnist knew a lot about life — and Donald Trump. (Michael Winship,| March 27, 2017, Moyers)
    -TRIBUTE: Jimmy Breslin, RIP: The last of a breed of great newspapermen has left us (Stefan Kanfer, Mar 20 2017, City Journal)
    -TRIBUTE: It was an honor, Mr. Breslin (James W. Kershner, 3/22/17, Cape Cod Times)
    -TRIBUTE: Jimmy Breslin—A Thousand Guys (Bernard McCormick, March 20, 2017, McCormick Place)
    -TRIBUTE: In Search Of Jimmy Breslin (Joseph Fusco, Mar 22, 2017, Huffington Post)
    -TRIBUTE: A Couple of Things About Jimmy Breslin: The brash, profane and brilliant newspaper columnist knew a lot about life — and Donald Trump (Michael Winship, 3/28/17, Common Dreams)
    -TRIBUTE: “I’m Big” (Afflictor, March 19, 2017)
    -TRIBUTE:Two icons: Chuck Berry and Jimmy Breslin (Paul Janensch, 3/21/17, TC Palm)
    -TRIBUTE: In Memory of Jimmy Breslin: Encounters With the Famed New York Columnist (Jere Hester, 3/20/17, NBC News)
    -TRIBUTE: Columnist Jimmy Breslin showed his Queens roots every time he took to the typewriter (Robert Pozarycki, March 20, 2017, QNS)
    -TRIBUTE: Jimmy Breslin (Herbert L. Klein, Apr 9, 2017, Medium)
    -TRIBUTE: A tribute to my mentor, Jimmy Breslin (Rubén Rosario, Mar. 24th, 2017, Pioneer Press)
    -TRIBUTE: In Memoriam: Jimmy Breslin (The Public Professor)
    -TRIBUTE: R.I.P. Jimmy Breslin, a man who knew how to write about death (Paul La Rosa, Mar 20, 2017, Huffington Post)
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    -ESSAY: Story of the Week: “It’s an Honor,” Jimmy Breslin : Library of America October 17, 2024 (Jimmy Breslin, November 26, 1963, New York Herald Tribune)
    -ESSAY: Worst Baseball Team Ever: That seemed a harsh assessment of the newborn New York Mets when this SI Classic ran in 1962, but it stands today as the undisputed truth (Jimmy Breslin, Sports Illustrated)
    -ESSAY: Is Lindsay Too Tall to Be Mayor? (Jimmy Breslin, July 28, 1969, New York)
    -ESSAY: Namath All Night Long (Jimmy Breslin, April 7, 1969, New York)
    -ESSAY: ‘Are You John Lennon?’ (Jimmy Breslin, December 1980)
    -ESSAY: A Death in Emergency Room One (Jimmy Breslin, Nov. 24, 1963, NY Herald Tribune))
    -ESSAY: ‘I Lived Without Words’ (Jimmy Breslin, Nov. 7, 1985, NY Daily News)
    -ESSAY: Al McGuire: a coach that everyone loved (Jimmy Breslin, 1/30/2001, Featurewell.com)
    -ESSAY: The Bad News (Jimmy Breslin, 12/01/1995, Esquire)
    -ESSAY: A Hard Schooling: I come here and discover that you are merely another fraud in the city university system. Of the 150 receiving degrees today, you hold only 191 jobs. That is less than two jobs per student. (Jimmy Breslin, July 5, 1999, The Nation)
    -ESSAY: I Run to Win (Jimmy Breslin, May 5, 1969, New York Magazine.
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    -PODCAST: Keeping Relevant Today’s highly acclaimed guest is the husband of host Ronnie Eldridge, Jimmy Breslin. Mr. Breslin has had a long and riveting career as a journalist, and the two discuss his career, the political environment and the state of American journalism today. (Eldridge & Co, May 9, 2006.)
    -VIDEO: Jimmy Breslin reading and discussion with Daniel Menaker, Eat, Drink & Be Literary at BAMcafe: Jimmy Breslin tells the story behind his most recent book The Good Rat: A True Story, followed by a Q&A session with moderator Daniel Menaker and the audience. (National Book Foundation and BAM)
    -VIDEOS: Jimmy Breslin: Pulitzer Prize Series: In a series co-presented with Newsday, legendary New York journalist Jimmy Breslin shares stories and opinions from a long, illustrious career. Introductory remarks by Newsday associate publisher Steve Isenberg. (92NY, May 16, 1989)
    -AD: Jimmy Breslin, Piels It's a Good Drining Beer
    -RADIO INTERVIEW: Interview with Jimmy Breslin: Discussing the book "Damon Runyan” (Studs Terkel, Nov. 27, 1991)
    -INTERVIEW: PW Talks with Jimmy Breslin (Edward Nawotka, Feb 04, 2002, Publishers Weekly)
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    -VIDEO PROFILE: Deadline Artist: The Genius of Jimmy Breslin (Library of America)
    -VIDEO: Launch of Dan Barry's "Jimmy Breslin: Essential Writings" (Glucksman Ireland House NYU, Sep 17, 2024)
    -VIDEO: The 2024 Jack Newfield Lecture — Dan Barry — Jimmy Breslin: Essential Writings (Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College, Apr 11, 2024)
    -INTERVIEW: A talk with Jimmy Breslin, New York’s “New Yorkiest” writer (JERRY SCHWARTZ, 5/25/2002, AP)
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    -ESSAY: The Breslin Era: The end of the big-city columnist (Ross Barkan, 5/21/24, The Point)
    -ESSAY: Beautiful … Jimmy Breslin Yaps, Says Lategano Is Rudy’s ‘Co-Mayor’: Jimmy Breslin has done it again-said the thing that wasn’t supposed to be said. The thing everybody in City Hall (Carl Swanson, 02/15/99, NY Observer)
    -ESSAY: Breslin Bites Back: It was only a small headline, buried deep in the Metro section of The New York Times on April 8 (Rachel Donadio, 04/19/04, NY Observer)
    -ESSAY: Breslin Unloads, roars back at Washington Post: Just months after a minister accused him of fabricating quotes (Rachel Donadio • 08/09/04, NY Observer)
    -ESSAY: Krim, Breslin, and the Million Dollar “Jewboy” Caper (Seymour Krim, November 1973, The New York Times)
    -ESSAY: Corporate comms writing wisdom from columnist Jimmy Breslin: 4 lessons drawn from a new collection of the famed New York columnist’s work. (Tom Corfman, 8/01/24, Ragan)
    -ESSAY: When They Were Read All Over: Breslin and Beyond (Edward Kosner Feb. 21, 2024, WSJ)
    -ESSAY: Jimmy Breslin on Norman Mailer for Mayor: 'That bum is serious!' (Tony Ortega, July 7, 2010, Village Voice)
    -ESSAY: Jimmy Breslin on Digging JFK’s Grave (Paul Wilson, 11/20/13, KC Confidential)
    -ESSAY: Jimmy Breslin and the Lost Rhythm of New York (Harry Siegel, March 27, 2024, Vital City)
    -INTERVIEW: Reporter Jimmy Breslin remembered in new biography as ‘The Man Who Told the Truth’ (Geoff Bennett, 10/22/24, PBS)
    -ESSAY: GET OFF JIMMY BRESLIN'S BACK (Tom Fitzpatrick, May 23, 1990, Phoenix New Times)
    -INTERVIEW: “Jimmy Breslin: The Man Who Told the Truth,” author Rich Esposito (Mornings On 1, Oct. 15, 2024)
    -ESSAY: Grudge match: Inside the rift between Jimmy Breslin and the New York Post (Howard V. Sann, 9/08/17, Columbia Journalism Review)
    -ESSAY: Jimmy Breslin, The Son of Sam, and New York tabloid wars (CJR, March 20, 2017)
    -ESSAY: Remembering Jimmy Breslin and the ‘gravedigger’ school of news writing (Roy Peter Clark, March 20, 2017, Poynter)
    -ESSAY: Kennedy Assassination 60 Years Ago And The Story Behind Jimmy Breslin's Classic Columns: Despite being his own best champion, Breslin would have told you he didn't invent anything, let alone "new journalism." He would say he was just trying to get the story. (Colin Miner, Nov 21, 2023, Colin Miner Ink)
    -ESSAY: Lost Footage of the Deadline Artists: Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill (Pat Fenton, June 2021, Irish America)
    -ESSAY: Meeting Jimmy Breslin, the best bleeping newspaper columnist of all time (Daniel Carpenter, March 20, 2017, Poynter)
    -ESSAY: The 51st State: Norman Mailer, Jimmy Breslin, and the Politics of Imagination (Gabe S. Tennen, 8/01/19, Gotham Center)
    -ESSAY: How Legendary NYC Journalist Jimmy Breslin Became Intertwined With The 'Son Of Sam' Killings: New York Daily News scribe Jimmy Breslin and "Son of Sam" killer David Berkowitz have a link that is forever etched in true crime history. (Gina Tron May 7, 2021, Oxygen True Crime)
    -ESSAY: Throw the Rascals In!: Joe Flaherty's classic account of Mailer and Breslin on the hustings (Jamie Malanowski, 10/01/09, CJR)
    -ESSAY: The Inimitable Jimmy Breslin and the Columnists He Inspired (NYU, Dec 1, 2009)
    -PODCAST: How Jimmy Breslin Changed Journalism: A new biography of Jimmy Breslin demonstrates how he helped usher in an age of New Journalism, and broke new ground with his decades of crime reporting throughout the city. Author Richard Esposito joins us to discuss Jimmy Breslin: The Man Who Told the Truth. (All of It, Nov 6, 2024, WNYC)
    -ESSAY: Mr. Westlake, Mr. Breslin and the ‘feud’ that couldn’t shoot straight. (The Westlake Review, 3/22/17)
    -ESSAY: F-bombs and insults: Norman Mailer’s epic run for mayor of New York in 1969: He and running mate Jimmy Breslin were entertaining but ineffective (Paul Schwartzman, June 15, 2019, Washington Post)
    -ESSAY: Rage & Outrage : Jimmy Breslin’s Racist, Newsroom Pique Provokes a Nationwide Furor (JOSH GETLIN, May 15, 1990, LA Times)
    -ESSAY: Jimmy Breslin Is Not Finished (Mark Aldrich, 9/27/16, Gad About Town)
    -ESSAY: How Two of America’s Biggest Columnists Reacted to the Assassination of Malcolm X: Ted Hamm on Jimmy Breslin and Langston Hughes (Ted Hamm, February 21, 2025, LitHub)
    -ESSAY: When Jimmy Breslin took on the French government in defense of Howard Beach, Queens (John Fea, June 8, 2024, Current)
    -ESSAY: JIMMY BRESLIN, COWARD AND BULLY (Dorothy Ing Russell, May 12, 1990, Washington Post)
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    -ESSAY: The Daily Miracle: Life with the mavericks and oddballs at the Herald Tribune (William Zinsser | December 1, 2007, American Scholar)
    -ESSAY: The Birth of the New Journalism (Tom Wolfe, February 14, 1972 issue of New York Magazine)
    -ESSAY: Man in a White Suit: Consider this a sort of “Literary Journalism: The Early Days.” ( William McKeen, 2005, Annals of Journalism)
    -EXCERPT: Wolfe and Breslin and the Birth of New York Magazine (Richard Kluger, From The Paper: The Life and Death of the New York Herald Tribune, 1986)
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    -REVIEW INDEX: Jimmy Breslin (Kirkus)
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    -REVIEW ESSAY: The Biggest Losers: Looking Back at Jimmy Breslin’s Mets Bible: In the summer of 1962, New York fell in love with a man named Marvin Throneberry. A subpar first baseman (W.M. Akers, 04/02/13, NY Observer)

Even in 1963, Mr. Breslin’s style was a throwback, a nostalgic echo of sportswriters who were chomping cigars and torturing metaphors before he was born. His New York is deliberately larger-than-life, as though he is trying to mold the modern city into a Damon Runyon story, and his prose is sweet enough to make the ’62 debacle an American epic.

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Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game?: The Improbable Saga of the New York Mets’ First Year (1963)

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