So Many Ways to Lose

So Many Ways to Lose, subtitled The Amazin’ True Story of the New York Mets, the Best Worst Team in Sports, is a fun read on the terribleness of the Mets. Because I mean, with a title like this, how could you not want to read this book? (Disclaimer: I really don’t even care for baseball! I’d much rather read about women’s soccer! I still loved this book!)⁣ So Many Ways to Lose is a comprehensive and fun look back on how the Mets are so bad, and so good at being so bad. Author Devin Gordon is a diehard Jewish Mets fan — a relatable figure for many Jewish New Yorkers. “In this hilarious history of the Mets and love letter to the art of disaster, Gordon presents baseball the way it really is, not in the wistful sepia tones we've come to expect from other sportswriters. Along the way, he explains the difference between being bad and being gifted at losing, and why this distinction holds the key to understanding the true amazin' magic of the New York Mets.”

There were so many lines that made me laugh and feel the need to read out loud. (I especially loved the small bit about pitcher Bartolo Colón, leading me to this amazing YouTube clip.) In the introduction, Gordon writes, “‘Badness’ is not what defines the Mets as a franchise. There is a difference between being bad and being gifted at losing, and this distinction holds the key to understanding the true magic of the New York Mets. My Mets. Your Mets. The Mets in all of us.”