Pedro, Carlos, and Omar: The Story of a Season in the Big Apple and the Pursuit of Baseball's Top Latino Stars

Product Description

The two most heralded free agents after the 2004 Major League Baseball season, Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran, had two things in common: They both signed with the Mets (not the Yankees!) and, like Mets GM Omar Minaya, they are both Latino. Minaya openly said that he would use his heritage to attract top Latin American players, and his signing of both players brought instant credibility to a much-troubled franchise. Martinez, baseball's most colorful player, brought an excitment to the Shea Stadium mound not seen since the days of a young Dwight Gooden. Meanwhile, despite an injury-hampered first half, Beltran was voted by fans to the starting lineup of the 2005 National League All-Star team.

Along the way, Minaya generated controversy by letting go respected veteran Al Leiter, hiring inexperienced manager Willie Randolph, and unsuccessfully pursuing free agent first baseman Carlos Delgado--who criticized Minaya's supposed attempts to "exploit" his ethnicity. New York Daily News beat writer Adam Rubin brings you the inside stories of these men, as well as the breakout season of Cliff Floyd, the growing pains of star-in-the-making David Wright, the swan-song season of Mets catcher Mike Piazza, and the many other storylines of the team that sought to recapture the magic of the Amazin' Mets.

From Publishers Weekly

Hardcore New York Mets fans will be thrilled by this in-depth look at the team's 2005 season by the Mets beat writer for the New York Daily News. Rubin captures all the highlights of what became a memorable winning season, but he focuses on what was the biggest Mets story in years: new general manager Omar Minaya's signing of two major players, pitcher Pedro Martinez and outfielder Carlos Beltran, after the 2004 season. Rubin's exploration of the impact that the three Latino men made on a team that soon became known as "Los Mets" is entertaining; the author is a skilled sportswriter who knows how to deliver a wealth of detail in an exciting way, using telling quotes, such as Minaya's admission that before he joined the team "it looked somewhat dysfunctional." Yet Rubin's observations, however true, sometimes read like a Mets press release: Minaya "had handed Pedro a four-year, $53 million contract, and the ace had done everything to justify the commitment." Overall, though, Rubin is fair in his judgments, calling Beltran a "disappointment" who was not "the commanding presence his $119 million salary suggested he ought to be." (Mar.)

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From Booklist

Omar Minaya earned his baseball "props" throughout the nineties through his scouting and signing of outstanding Latin players for the financially strapped Montreal Expos. When the Expos eventually moved to Washington, D.C., Minaya was hired as the general manager of the New York Mets. Money alone doesn't guarantee success for a baseball franchise; teams must spend wisely, and to do that they must be able to identify talent. The Minaya-Mets collaboration seems made in heaven. Rubin, the Mets' beat reporter, tracks Minaya's first season with Mets, chronicling the high-profile signings of celebrated free agents Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran as well as documenting the charges by another player that Minaya exploits his ethnicity in dealing with Latino athletes. In addition to the off-field drama, Rubin also tracks the team's on-field fortunes in the past year. An enjoyable, informative book that will appeal to baseball junkies, particularly those with an affection for the Mets. Wes Lukowsky

Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

“…hardcore fans will be thrilled by this in-depth look…the author is a skilled sportswriter who knows how to deliver a wealth of detail in an exciting way…”--Publisher’s Weekly review “An enjoyable, informative book that will appeal to baseball junkies, particularly those with an affection for the Mets.