Odd Man Out

I just finished reading the book Odd Man Out by Matt McCarthy and it was a great book. It was one of the best baseball books that I have read in a while. This was the only worthwhile baseball book I have read since Fantasyland by Sam Walker last summer. The author of Odd Man Out is Matt McCarthy a former minor leaguer who was with the Anaheim Angels. Matt was a left handed pitcher from Yale who the Angels drafted in the twenty-sixth round of the 2002 Major league Baseball draft. Matt was only a minor leaguer for one year in their system, but had some great stories from his experiences in that short time. It was interesting to get an inside look at the minor league system and how it works. Avid baseball fans already knows how it works, but this book gives you a better feel for how decisions are made and how the career of all of these prospects are in their coaches hands. If you get on the wrong side of your rookie ball coach, your career with the organization could be in trouble. I read this book in less than two days because it was such a fast read from all of the stories of many players we heard off and have successful careers in the majors.

It is interesting how many of these prospects bounce around from organization to organization before they get to the big leagues. Many of the players are Angels that we have heard about like Erick Aybar, Howie Kendrick, and former Angel Casey Kotchman. There are other players like his friend from Yale Craig Breslow, teammate with the Provo Angels Alberto Callaspo, and of course the stories from minor leaguers in their system like Bobbie Jenks, Chris Bootcheck, and playing against Manny Parra, Prince Fielder, and Ryan Shealy. It is a good book so I recommend it to any baseball fan.