Title/Author:
“Full Count: The
Education of a Pitcher” by David Cone and Jack Curry. Narrated by David Cone
Tags:
Baseball,
professional, memoir, Yankees, Mets, Blue Jays, Royals, audiobook
Publish date:
May 14, 2019
Length:
320 pages
Rating: to
4 of 5 stars (very
good)
Review:
Most baseball fans who
have seen David Cone pitch during his 20 year career in Major League Baseball
will have a moment or two in which they reacted "Wow, is he
good!" Maybe it was his perfect
game he threw in 1999 against the Montreal Expos (on only 88 pitches). Maybe it was one of his gutsy performances in
which he logged pitch counts that would be unfathomable today, such as his 166
pitch game. Maybe it would be when he
was part of the celebration for the 1992 Blue Jays winning the World
Series. Or, maybe one knows him now as
part of the television broadcast team for the New York Yankees. Regardless of what is most memorable, fans
and readers of baseball books will enjoy this memoir that goes well beyond a recap
of his career.
There is one word that
kept coming back to me throughout the book – perfectionist. That is the overall image I believe Cone was
portraying himself to be. With the book
starting off with Cone's failure to complete the eighth inning of game 4 of the
1995 American League Division Series between the Yankees and Seattle Mariners
and continuing throughout the book, Cone spends a lot of time discussing his
failures or recklessness that resulted in lessons he learned and took to heart
to become an even better pitcher.
As a native of Kansas
City, he was elated to be drafted and making his major league debut with the
Royals. Some of the recklessness mentioned above is discussed in this time in
his life and it went up a level when he was traded to the New York Mets and was
a part of the team when they had a famous wild reputation. He wasn't around for their 1986 championship
but he did pitch in that team's other postseason appearance, the 1988 National
League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. His poor outing in game 2 of that series is another
example where he beats himself up for his bad outing but still uses the
experience to learn a valuable lesson.
His time in New York
with the Mets ended when he was traded during the 1992 season to help the
Toronto Blue Jays win their first championship.
He left the Blue Jays after that season to rejoin the Royals, who then
later sent him to the New York Yankees when Kansas City decided to use younger,
cheaper players.
When Cone gets to the
Yankees, the great stories that made up the book early on return, as Cone
shares his impressions of his teammates such as Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and
Andy Pettite. The stories about the
latter tie in nicely with the other main topic of the book – terrific insights
into the occupation of pitching. That is
the subject of many stories he shares about the lessons learned. Whether Cone talks about how to throw off
speed pitches, batters looking for any means of how to figure out what pitch is
coming next or the art of sign stealing (something very interesting to read now
with the revelation of the sign stealing scandal of the Houston Astros), Cone
talks with an air of authority and experience.
These were my favorite parts of the book and he credits so many people
for helping him along the way. From his
father to hitters telling him what he was doing to telegraph his pitchers to
his encounter with Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven in a hotel bar that
resulted in a lesson on throwing a curveball, these passages about the art of
pitching made for some great reading.
Any baseball fan who
was a fan of Cone, one of his three main teams, or even just a fan of the game
will want to pick up this book. Whether
one reads the book or listens to the audio version – I did both, and the audio
by Cone lend an air of authenticity to that version – one will learn much about
the art of pitching.
Book Format Read:
Audiobook and e-book
(Kindle)
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