dinsdag 21 juli 2015

The Best Team Money Can Buy: the Los Angeles Dodgers Wild Struggle to Build a Baseball Powerhouse: Review

The Best Team Money Can Buy: the Los Angeles Dodgers Wild Struggle to Build a Baseball Powerhouse. I think the title is a bit deceptive. I was expecting a 'Moneyball'-like book with a look behind the scenes of the organization. See more of the management side of it all. It only does in chapter 10 (the last chapter of the book). Instead it tells us the story of the takeover by Guggenheim through the coming and going of new players and a detailed account of the 2013 & 2014 seasons. Which is awesome none the less.
I never liked McCourt, in the end I hated him, but after reading 'The Best Team Money can Buy' I loathe the man. He single handedly ruined one of baseballs most famous and historic clubs. He and his wife used the Dodgers as their personal bank which is a well known fact, but reading about it in such detail made me cringe.
The book is very well written by knowledgeable and Dodgerloving Molly Knight. She knows the game and the players, and players you'll read plenty about. There are loads of backgroud stories of the recent and current players. For example chapter 4 of the book is a condensed biography of Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw. If you haven't already, you'll fall in love with him. The book made me dislike Puig and Kemp a bit, but most of the players got a lot more endearing. Also, the part about the Gonzalez, Punto, Beckett, Crawford deal is suspensfully awesome (or Awesomely suspensefull)! The flip side of all this is you relive the post season endings of the 2013 and 2014 seasons as well. It's not pretty and no fun.
I recommend this book to every Dodger fan who wants to know more about the players and the coach because (auto)biographies of them won't be published for years! Until then, this will be the book to read!