Nov 23 2020
Non-fiction Text Review #2 – Odd Man Out
Baseball fans in small markets know that the low levels of minor league baseball are sometimes best described as the wild west of professional baseball. “Odd Man Out: A Year on the Mount with a Minor League Misfit,” by Matt McCarthy tells the interesting story of the wild west of professional baseball as he recounts his time spent with the Provo Angels in the Anaheim Angels organization.
McCarthy tells stories about his time in the lowest levels of affiliated baseball that make you wonder how they can be true. He tells stories about his players that would just make you question who these guys were, and how they were able to play professional baseball at all. His teammates are depicted as racist, sexist, and potentially homosexual throughout his time in professional baseball, and it’s all for the fun of it.
This book does not follow one plot line, aside from the day-by-day continuation of a professional baseball season. Rather, this book seemingly regurgitates stories that come to mind in the moment as McCarthy is writing the story. It seems, at times, as if he remembers one part of his season in that moment and starts to write about it. This makes the book feel more like a group of fun anecdotes rather than one coherent storyline.
Overall, the stories are entertaining and will make you laugh, make you mad, or just confuse you at many different points throughout the book. This is a solid look at the antics, and silliness that takes place in the minor leagues of professional baseball. Overall, I give this book a 7.5 out of 10 stars for its entertaining stories, but it lacks on some coherent connecting points to give it a true storyline.
One response so far
In class you mentioned you did some research and found some evidence the book is less than accurate. That would have been good here. If a book is listed as non-fiction, readers should be able to assume all the details are true.
Who is McCarthy and what qualifies him to tell this story. I’m assuming he must be an athlete of some sort. Was he a writer playing baseball, or a baseball player who thought he would try writing?
The lack or organization would definitely be frustrating.