ALMOST PERFECT: The Heartbreaking Pursuit of Pitching's Holy Grail

ALMOST PERFECT                                        JOE COX

                                    The rich, poignant tales of major league baseball's most hard-luck fraternity--the pitchers of its Almost-Perfect Games From 1908 to 2015, there have been thirteen pitchers who have begun Major League Baseball games by retiring the first twenty-six opposing batters, but then, one out from completing a perfect game, somehow faltering (or having perfection stolen from them). Three other pitchers did successfully retire twenty-seven batters in a row, but are still not credited with perfect games. While stories of pitching the perfect game have been told and retold, Almost Perfect looks at how baseball, at its core, is about heartbreak, and these sixteen men are closer to what baseball really is, and why we remain invested in the sport. Author Joe Cox visits this notion through a century of baseball and through these sixteen pitchers--recounting their games in thrilling fashion, telling the personal stories of the fascinating (and very human) baseball figures involved, and exploring the historical American and baseball backdrops of each flawed gem. From George "Hooks" Wiltse's nearly perfect game in 1908 to "Hard Luck" Harvey Haddix's 12-inning, 36-consecutive-outs performance on May 26, 1959 (the most astounding single-game pitching performance in baseball history) to Max Scherzer's near miss in 2015, Joe Cox's book captures the action, the humanity, and the history of the national pastime's greatest "almosts."

PAT'S REVIEW 

This is a great book for any baseball fan. Almost perfect goes into those games where the pitcher loss the perfect game after getting 26 outs, no walks, errors, perfect. Only on batter number 27 to lose the perfect game but still get the no-hitter. In some cases the game would go past nine innings like Harvey Haddix who pitched into the 12 inning with 36 consecutive outs only to lose the game and give up a hit as well. Overall the stories in this book about each and pitcher are fascinating and not all of them have I heard or read about before. That I what makes this book unique is that each chapter is different, but is still about the same topic. The author does a fabulous job at making each story its own little book inside of a larger one. Together you have truly a wonderful baseball book for any fan male or female. A great read. I got this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 5 stars. Follow us atwww.1rad-readerreviews.com