There is no big league pitcher who is more respected for his skill than David Cone. Smart. Articulate. Physically and mentally resilient. In his stellar career Cone has won multiple championships and has received countless professional accolades. However, along the way, the perennial all-star has had to adjust to four different ballclubs, recover from a career-threatening arm aneurysm, cope with the lofty expectations that are standard practice for the game's highest paid players, and overcome a humbling three-month, eight-game losing streak in the summer of 2000. Now Cone has granted exclusive and unlimited access to baseball's most respected writer--his long-time friend, Roger Angell of The New Yorker. The result is just what baseball fans everywhere would expect from Angell: an extraordinary inside account of a superstar who examines the technical aspects of pitching, the mental preparation needed to reach the top, and how Cone has had to adjust to all the rewards and drawbacks that accompany fame and fortune in the major leagues.
For the four decades he's been writing about baseball for The New Yorker, Roger Angell has led all shortlists of the game's most astute and elegant chroniclers. With A Pitcher's Story: Innings with David Cone, he attempts, with thrilling command, something he's never tried before--devoting a whole volume to one player by spending an entire season at his heels. In pitcher David Cone, a cerebral student of his game and articulate practitioner of his craft, Angell finds a subject as perfect as the perfecto Cone hurled against the Expos on Yogi Berra Day at Yankee Stadium in 1999. Better still, he finds in Cone a partner unwilling to shrink beneath the hot light of what would prove to be an agonizing and introspective year.
One of the game's premier pitchers, Cone came unglued in 2000; his 4-14 season was a disaster. The "wizardly old master" Angell had intended to extol was suddenly "Merlin falling headlong down the palace stairs." There's gold to be spun from that, though, and Angell, the essayist as deft alchemist, spins away. The more Cone struggles--the more he battles age, doubt, injury, and the various curves baseball fate can throw--to regain what he's lost, the more valiant he seems. It gives A Pitcher's Story its depth, its heart, its spirit, and its honor. If Angell entered into the project with the intention of getting a grip on the delicacies of pitching, he does, but he comes away with so much more. Like good battery mates, Cone and Angell work with, and off of, each other. Together, they evoke a canny portrait of a career at the crossroads, and a meditation on the powers of an elite athlete's pride. --Jeff Silverman
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
Just An Average Book: Not a Compelling Read:
Great authour, great pitcher, poor book. I am a great ball fan and a regular at the Blue Jays games - especially when the Yankees or the A's or Seattle come to town. Cone was here when we (my team the Jays - I do not own the Jays, everyone here calls them his team) won the world series in 92 and we all loved him. I was excited when the book arrived from Amazon.com, but very disappointed when I actually read the book. I never finished it. I thought it was slow and a bit light. The author cannot... more info
brought back memories about a great pitcher:
I've been a fan of David Cone since I was a little kid growing up in New York as a Met's fan. Even as my team started to unravel after 1986 and 1988, Cone was stellar, leading the league in strikeouts and being the one constant quality player that the team had. When he was traded out of New York I still tried to follow his career and was happy when he returned to New York, even as a Yankee. It was with great disappointment that I read about his last season where he just fell apart and ended with a 4-14... more info
A Journey with Mr.Cone:
Roger Angell takes you through the troublesome and nail-biting career to the ordinary every day life of the renowned pitcher, David Cone. From his first participation in a major league uniform with the New York Mets, to many thriving seasons with the Yankees and Red Sox, and from the time that David's arm felt like a stable rocket launcher, to the end of his career when he prospered by throwing mostly split-fingers and curveballs instead of a blazing fastball. A Pitchers Story not only makes the reader... more info
The Essential David Cone:
I'd been waiting a long time for a book to be published about my favorite baseball player, David Cone. This book is excellent in describing Cone both professionally and personally. A must-read for David's fans!
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