Praise
“It’s a pull-no-punches work that will give many baseball fans a glimpse into a part of baseball not seen on ESPN’s Sportscenter.” — Publishers Weekly
“McCarthy’s professional baseball career might be forgettable…but the account is not.”— Booklist
“[McCarthy’s] well-told, insightful memoir should brighten the off-season for serious baseball fans.” — Kirkus Reviews
“As his book's promo promises, McCarthy-he's the titular misfit-captures 'the gritty essence of our national pastime as it is played outside the spotlight.' McCarthy entered the Angels' farm system when he was drafted out of Yale for his southpaw possibilities. Here, he narrates the story of his year in Class A baseball with a roster of lively personalities. A great memoir for baseball fans in all public libraries.” — Margaret Heilbrun, Gilles Renaud, Library Journal
“Matt McCarthy has pitched a gem: a decidedly non-dreamy-eyed look at young ballplayers in the low minors who dream of making it to the major league. Full of characters and curveballs, Odd Man Out should find a place on the shelf next to Pat Jordan's A False Spring-both tell it like it is.” — Jim Collins, author of The Last Best League
“Matt McCarthy has written something here that will make you laugh a lot and, even more, bring you closer to the game. It's a terrific book, and a lot of fun.” — Joe Posnanski, author of The Soul of Baseball: A Trip Through Buck O'Neill's America
“So this is what it's really like to live every boy's dream of getting drafted by a big-league team! I don't know a single baseball fan who will be able to resist Matt McCarthy's portrait of his hilariously grim-and yet somehow enviable-tour in the minor leagues. Part Bull Durham, part Ball Four, Odd Man Out is simply the best baseball book I've read in years.” — Jonathan Mahler, author of Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning
“Twenty years after the release of Bull Durham, the ultimate movie about the minor leagues, we now have Matt McCarthy's Odd Man Out, the ultimate minor league memoir. If you want insight, irreverence, honesty and even a healthy dose of political incorrectness-not to mention an invaluable look at the state of the national pastime-McCarthy delivers. As a pitcher, he might have been a minor leaguer; as a memoirist, McCarthy's an all-star. Odd Man Out is the best baseball book since Moneyball.” — Jeremy Schaap, author of Cinderella Man: James J. Braddock, Max Baer and the Greatest Upset in Boxing History
“For an odd man out, Matt McCarthy is also the consummate insider. This honest account of life in the minors is equal parts rollicking travelogue, cultural criticism, and coming-of-age story. If McCarthy's pitching abilities were as accurate and strong as his storytelling talent, he'd be in The Show.” — L. Jon Wertheim, senior writer, Sports Illustrated, and author of Blood in the Cage
