As you’ve probably heard by now, I have a new book out. It’s called Wilpon’s Folly, and it tells the story of Fred Wilpon, Bernie Madoff, how the Mets arrived at this legal/financial point, and what to expect going forward. I spend many hours poring over documents, talking to principals in and experts on the case, and I’m very proud of the work that resulted.
The Mets have responded in the time-honored way they respond when unable to deny something: character attack. That’s okay- they have a rich history of going after journalists who report something they subsequently have to admit.
The shame of it is, my strong preference is to write about a baseball team, not a legal struggle and financial death spiral. But as I’ve pointed out before, talking about the state of the Mets right now without factoring in their legal/financial struggles is like diagnosing the health of a patient while ignoring a gunshot wound. It just doesn’t make sense, doesn’t do anyone any good, and provides inaccurate analysis through omission.
That the story is also a fascinating one helps to make this work somewhat more enjoyable; but it isn’t work I sought, and I take no pleasure from writing about the decline and fall of anyone. As to the accuracy of the work, I would encourage anyone to read my work and decide for yourself, whether it is my book, my other reporting on this, or even the case I make for a particular trade/free agent signing. A writer who simply falls back on his qualifications, instead of making the persuasive argument, is a lazy writer. And when a response is a character attack, as opposed to a response to a specific raised, it’s a pretty obvious diversionary tactic.
More in a bit on Gio Gonzalez, but I felt I would be remiss not to mention this.
2 Comments
Good luck with the new book. I think you hit on something. Seems to me patently obvious that the Wilpons’ “spokespeople” are directing disparaging (about you) disclaimers in other NY newspapers under various assumed names, and are, indeed, attacking the messenger. What they have is a giant toothache and, instead of blaming themselves for neglect, they blame the dentist for the pain.
Nice job, book is great. LOLMETS