The insider story of the cheating scandal that rocked Major League Baseball in 2019, bringing down high-profile coaches and players, and exposing a long-rumored 'sign-stealing' dark side of baseball.
While Martino’s history of cheating in baseball is almost superfluous to the main story, really, his account of the unfolding, and undoing, of the Astros’ plot is well covered and compellingly told.
Martino craftily leads readers through the scandal, with all of its twists and turns. He begins by providing interesting, relevant background information, and then lays out mountains of evidence, obtained through hundreds of documented interviews, and offers clues, all the while explaining their immediate relevance. The book culminates in a comprehensive, fascinating, yet incomplete conclusion ... The writing is engaging and casual throughout ... This disturbing tale will satisfy baseball fans, but will also be of great interest to many other sports followers.
... a well-reported and well-written book, one that details the extent of the Astros’ sins while also showing that while this recent scandal might be the one most prominent in our memories, it is far from the only time that a team has crossed a line in its efforts to gain a better understanding of (and advantage over) their opponents ... all fascinating stuff, rendered all the more engaging by the context that Martino constructs ... a compelling look at what can happen to a team when they wade into the murky middle and allow their competitiveness to push them over the line.
