Errors Cast Doubt on Matt McCarthy’s Baseball Memoir

Don't people realize that if you say things that aren't true -- and are provably untrue -- you're going to get caught

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/03/sports/baseball/03book.html

 

Wow, this author is a douche:

 

My memoir on my newspaper career will include passages about all the times that management stepped up to make sure the product improved, about how they were fair to their employees with deserved raises and bonuses and how I worked happily and was content with my job until it was time to retire.

Fact check that, suckah.

 

Chuck Barris had the right idea. I think there is a reason they call it a "memoir" and not an autobiography or non-fiction.

 

Everybody remembers stuff that didn't happen. It's how our minds work.

 

Well,

Well, the author claims to have taken notes all summer. And he got *a lot* of stuff wrong.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/03/sports/baseball/03bookside.html?ref=baseball

 

Then maybe he should quit relying on his memory when he's writing a book, and do some fact-checking before he puts any words to paper. You know, like a real author.

 

Agreed. I'm just saying it was likely lazy, not malicious.

 

Maybe getting some of the dates and stats wrong was just lazy, but there's a lot of stuff that can't be explained away so easily. When you quote a guy telling you how much he misses his kids and the guy didn't have any kids at the time, that's not lazy, that's making shit up.

 

Surely sounds like another "Even if it's not true . . . if it reads better, run with it."

Shame on SI, while we're at it.

 

So there are no ethics where this book is concerned, eh?

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/66827/

 

Ditto on SI. Even if their excerpt checked out, they were apparently aware there were problems with the rest of the book, but chose to ignore that fact.