After the Miracle: The 1969 Mets Twenty Years Later

The 1969 Miracle Mets were the first of baseball's expansion teams to win a World Series, and their victory stood blase New York on its ear. Allen, now a columnist for Gannett newspapers, was there and in this book does a kind of reprise of The Boys of Summer , this time looking at the lives of the Mets players before, during and especially after their most memorable year. Some are still involved in the game--Nolan Ryan pitching for the Astros, Tom Seaver ending his career only two years ago; Bud Harrelson coaching for the Mets, and Cal Koonce and Duffy Dyer as minor league managers. Others are on the periphery of sports: Jim McAndrew as a salesman for an Astroturf company and Jerry Koosman in an amateur baseball program. Many are in business, one is a doctor and one a lawyer. Their post-'69 years have been relatively uneventful, except for a plethora of failed marriages and a couple of brushes with the law. Allen's book is lively and ought to sell well in New York. (Apr.)