Book Review: "Odd Man Out" by Matt McCarthy

Matt McCarthy went to Yale.

He played baseball there.

The Angels drafted him; he played one year in the minors.

After getting released in spring training the following year, he went to Harvard Medical School. He's now an intern at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.

He wrote a book about his experiences in the minors -- five years after he left the game.

In it, you will learn the following:

1. That Padres' starting pitcher Chris Young went to Yale on a recruiting visit the same weekend that McCarthy did.

2. That Young thought the Yale baseball team was populated with, yes, assholes. (That observation, in and of itself, would make a Princetonian proud). Young was proven right (Yale was awful during McCarthy's four years there, although the Elis had more players drafted by Major League teams than any other Ivy). McCarthy, though, had fun at Yale. Young probably had fun at Princeton, and he made it to the Majors in his mid-20's.

3. That Major League scouts think Ivy Leaguers are an alien life form.

4. That most minor leaguers (if not all) care more about their personal performances than how the team does.

5. That most American players (whether Caucasian or white) view Hispanic players as an alien life form, and that they waited to take their showers until after the Hispanics concluded for reasons ascribed to cultural differences. Before you get judgmental, read the book, although it is odd and sad that the language barrier separates players who are spending so much time together.

6. That you wouldn't want your teenage daughter hanging around minor-league players.

7. That Casey Kotchman's father, Tom, a long-time manager in the Angels' system, is a good guy and good to play for.

McCarthy kept a diary and wrote the book five years after his career ended. In the book, you'll get a sense of some current Major Leaguers, including Bobby Jenks, Joe Saunders, Ervin Santana and Howie Kendrick, among others. McCarthy gives us a great sense of what it's like to be a minor leaguer, how the struggle for consistency plagues all players, but most particularly pitchers. You feel for him ever time he describes his warming up in the bullpen and his going into the game, and you sense his frustration when he cannot put two good games together.

You also learn that most baseball players don't go to college, let alone Yale. McCarthy paints a good picture of the relative intelligence of baseball players without being condescending or mean-spirited, and he writes with a light enough touch to give the reader at least half a dozen moments of laughing out loud.

This is a good, fast read. If you have a long flight or a vacation coming up, get this book and read it.

You won't be disappointed.

Because while Yale didn't teach McCarthy to throw over 90 miles an hour consistently, it did teach him how to tell a story.

Yes, even Yalies can tell one well.