When I first got ìOdd Man Out,” I thought it would just be another sports novel.† Some sap story about a down on their luck athlete who is given a lucky break and ends up leading their team to the title.† He gets the girl, the admiration of the team, become allies with the one person on the team he had been fighting with the entire story, and walks off into the sunset.
This is not your typical sports story.
Matt McCarthy does an excellent job recalling his year with the Provo Angels, discussing everything from the actual games to the struggles of life on the road.† McCarthy, who was a molecular biophysics major at Yale University, was drafted by the Anaheim Angels (now the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) and placed in their single-A affiliate for his only season in professional baseball.
One of the aspects that makes this book so entertaining is that McCarthy is writing down his recollection of events based on the journals he kept and his own memories.† Nothing is overglorified, and the flow of the book relies heavily on the dialogue between the players on the team.† The constant references to the grotesque acts certain teammates jokingly performed on each other were a reminder that these were just 20-something-year-old guys trying to have a good time and play ball.† He doesnít use long, complex metaphors.† He just tells the story and lets that entice the reader.
The other aspect, which makes this book pure gold for a sports nerd like me, is all of the interactions that McCarthy actually had with big name players in the minor leagues.† Much is discussed about Craig Breslow, his teammate at Yale and journeyman relief pitcher in the MLB, currently playing for the Oakland Athletics. Other names that McCarthy drops into his story are Bobby Jenks, Mike Napoli, Joe Saunders, Prince Fielder and Ervin Santana, just to name a few.
The book is about more than just baseball ó it is about the problems that exist in the minor league system.† Specifically, the lack of camaraderie between the players. There were racial divides in every aspect of the team ó showers, housing, even transportation. The key example of this is shown at the funeral of one of McCarthyís teammates.† He was buried in his high school baseball uniform, at a funeral attended by almost every member of the local community.† Not a single member of their team showed up to support their fallen teammate.
The biggest critique I could give about this book is the lack of time McCarthy spends discussing his own feelings on the events. There is so much more to the story than what actually happens. The reader is sometimes left to make their own assumptions about what McCarthy is trying to imply by the situations he found himself dealing with.
All in all, this book is a great read, and any baseball fan will chew through this book in about a week.† If you have ever wondered what the life of a minor league baseball player was like, this is the book for you.